To the citizens and businesses of the Winnipeg region of Manitoba, Canada, I send greetings.

Welcome to the City of Chicago.  The "City of Big Shoulders" and I hope the City of specific opportunity for your companies.  It is my hope that you will find great potential among the companies of the "Land of Lincoln."  It is my hope that these companies serve as partners not only in the best of times, but also in times of adversity.  

Illinois, and "Chicagoland" in specific, offers some American characteristics which may not be as pronounced on the Coasts.  Once defined as the "Second City," it may be more appropriate to think of Chicago's position on the sub-continental divide. A City in which innovation led to the reversal of the Chicago River and a system of canals which connected the waters of the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.  While brute force may have been a means of accomplishment, the underlying design was brought about by bright minds who dared to view the world in a unique way.

Through the work of the people at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Champaign, Illinois the ideas of Tim Berners Lee for the Hyper Text Markup Language" were realized through Mosaic and became the foundation for a new generation of navigating data networks with browsers for the World Wide Web.  So, too, has a series of optical networks evolved to traverse the globe.  The fastest of these, Internet2, StarTap, StarLight, and the National Lambda Rail have evolved from the willingness to address monumental tasks not only with big shoulders, but bright minds.

People don't come to Chicago to hold the status quo.  They think of ways in which the world can be changed, which is held in check only by a healthy skepticism that a new idea must be proven.  The ideas which can withstand the crucible are brought to market.  If the market is not in the Midwest, then the Chicago entrepreneur will take it to the market. 

Participants in the Chicagoland Electronic Commerce Initiative did very well for themselves when the economic conditions were very good.  What may be more important is that CECI participants also did very well for themselves even when economic conditions were less favorable.  Past CECI participants were willing to examine markets outside of the United States.  The reward for that willingness to think beyond the borders of our Country, meant exceeding domestic industry performance where the faint of heart would have faced more dire economic consequences.

It is my wish that your product or service has the ability to cause the "fire in the belly" that is needed for an entrepreneurial partner to take your message to customers for your mutual benefit.  Unleashed, a rugged soul from Chicago is often found to be a bit of a dreamer, a jaded optimist, and a force with whom to be reckoned.  In the words of Daniel Burnham:

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.

Think big.

Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1864-1912)  (Quote from: http://www.ontko.com/~rayo/burnham.html)

I wish you much success in my absence.  Please know that I would have joined you if I could.

- Tarkus

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2006 Meeting Information: