So you have an idea. How do you turn an idea into an actual product? Why not meet with other people in the area who are in the same boat? Join Practical Startups to give and receive practical advice on how to start and develop a business.

We bring together entrepreneurs, developers, investors, corporations and media by organizing conferences, workshops and meetups. Current conferences include: the Data 2.0 Conference in San Francisco and TechWeek Chicago. Techweek conferences have featured speakers from Google, Microsoft, Groupon, ChaCha, and crowdSPRING.  We've help launch new features from over 10 startups and companies including Twilio, Hipmunk and Windows Phone. Our mission is to connect the Midwest startup and technology sce …

The Venchure Community brings together like-minded professionals through roundtable discussions, user groups, training workshops, seminars and civic community activities. If you're an entrepreneur, startup, or a small business owner we welcome you to join!   *This group will be limited to specific types of professionals and your membership will be pending upon approval.  **This is not a group for MLM, sales leads, real estate or insurance sales. And definitely not a group for dating leads!! Any …

… How to invest in start-ups and find investors ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------             LINK TO OUR WEBSITES: OUR GOLF AND TENNIS MEETUP GROUP http://www.meetup.com/Playgolfandtennis/ OUR BUSINESS WEBSITES COMING IN 20212 http://startabusinessinchicago.com We host workshops and offer consulting services to Startup business, and have a 10 step Small Business Startup program. http://Chicagobusinesspartners.com Is  private startup and small bus …

The Chicago Lean Startup Circle is a group of smart and driven high-tech entrepreneurs that have learned how to discover customers and build products they want. Lean Startups (which can include for profit and not for profit organizations, new product/innovation organizations within larger companies and even government agencies) achieve success faster than most because they get out of the building to talk to customers, validate business model assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible, use ag …

Entrepreneurship permeates the culture of the Digital Age. The advent of the Digital Age has democratized innovation and entrepreneurship. Never before has it been more possible for anyone from anywhere,  with  a great idea and a burning desire to succeed,  to make it big, and,  in the process, change the world in a relatively short period of time. HP, Intel, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Yahoo,  eBay, Amazon, Google, Facebook and many, many, many other iconic companies all started with just …

Tech In Motion is an event that originated during Chicago's 1st annual Tech Week. The event went so well we decided to continue to do more. The basic idea of the group is to explore how to create a company from an idea and what it takes to become a successful business. We will explore this process by focusing on three critical areas and inviting a panel of experts talk about each phase: Idea, Build and Go. We will be speaking about the full life cycle of an idea from inception to profitability.  …

BuiltInChicago.org is an awesome community of entrepreneurs, engineers, marketers, developers, designers, investors, technologists and academics working hard to create the next big web or mobile business. Our mission is to connect, educate and promote the growing digital community in Chicago. And we want you to JOIN today. This group will be used to help connect members of the community in person.   Feel free to reach out if you have any questions: adam@builtinchicago.org  

For anyone who is working for themselves or wish they could. Our goal is to build a support network of experienced freelancers, entrepreneurs, and independent thinkers to help each other and anyone who wishes they could make the leap out of their unfulfilling, soulless jobs. We have great ideas on how to grow this group, but to kick things off we are starting a speaker series of experts to speak on topics like: Account & Legal for Entrepreneurs, Health Insurance, Communication, Financial Plannin …

Do you have questions about what web marketing or social media can do for your business? Let's talk about making your business a success! This group is dedicated to helping businesses get more clients and make more sales through smart online marketing. Our in-depth, round table approach means that you'll walk away from each meeting with ideas for how your business can use online marketing to build stronger relationships with existing, new and potential customers. You should join us if: - You own …

Technori Meetup is a group of impassioned entrepreneurs, developers, designers, tech companies, investors and general tech enthusiasts who have a deep love for Chicago and who want to see our emerging tech community flourish.   By way of editorial content and an assortment of events throughout the year, Technori is dedicated to fostering relationships and celebrating those who make the Chicago tech scene what it is.  One of the group’s primary events is Technori Pitch; held on the last Tue …

Educelerate is an education industry accelerator focused on Chicago and the Midwest. We are starting our efforts through this bimonthly MeetUp to grow and develop an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors and partners.

The worlds of hackers and journalists are coming together as reporting goes digital and Internet companies become media empires. Journalists call themselves "hacks," someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code. Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds. This group is to bring all these people together -- those who are working to help people make sense of their world. It's for hackers exploring technologies to filter an …

Obama for Technology | Technology for Obama was created on My.BarackObama.com in February 2007 shortly after Barack Obama announced his intentions to run for President of the United States of America (POTUS). We are the "original" Technology for Obama group (just Google "Technology for Obama" or "Obama For Technology" and watch the videos, etc). Because I organize several Meetups, I've decided create this "Technology For Obama" Meetup Group to help get President Barack Obama reelected in 2012. M …

Digital Diva 2.0, a start up community for women entrepreneurs, experts and future founders of female online and technology companies. Our vision is to bridge the gap for women in technology by providing resources, seminars, consulting and networking opportunities to start ups. Digital Diva 2.0, host monthly women technology networking events providing a platform for company founders of women owned and other minority companies to profile their start ups, and secure business guidance. Although ou …