In our quest to build the greatest possible workplace for founders, one crucial thing we have to account for is "events." The tech community moves extremely fast, and keeping yourself current is a challenge. Your media diet can only take you so far — at some point it pays to show up: sit in a room full of your peers, make new friends, and learn something important.
At the same time, events have friction. You need to register, maybe pay, then travel across town or even out of town. When you're in the middle of building a company, that time is precious. So, often, you just don't go.
Ferris & Co. offers a compelling alternative. We bring the events to you. We are fortunate enough to have the space in the heart of Chicago to accommodate events of up to about 150 people. If all you have to do to attend an event is walk upstairs, the friction of going is drastically diminished. You get the benefits of community and the injection of creativity without losing your most precious resource: time.
Recently, Ferris & Co. hosted back-to-back events by Anthropic Ambassador Christian Somora. The first was a community workshop that surfaced questions and concerns about how AI is impacting lives across society — from our kids, to our jobs, to our social services. The follow-up event was a hackathon, where 100+ builders in Chicago converged at Ferris & Co., formed into teams, and built prototype solutions that addressed these challenges. The energy, creativity, and optimism in the room were incredible.
In the summer of 2026, Ferris & Co. hosted OnionDao, a month-long technology festival sponsored by the Solana Foundation and masterminded by the incomparable Dev Bharel. This community brought together over 500 people who learned, built companies, experimented with new tools, and built warm relationships.
We've also hosted recurring events with AI Collective, Code & Coffee, and Grassroots. We've got a couple of book launches on the books too. If you want to host an event with us, please reach out. Or, better yet, come to one of our events and pitch me.
David Dewane
Executive Director
Ferris & Co.