It’s been a while since we updated this site, and I want to make sure I connect with you, Chicago, and fill you in on the workings of our organization in 2021.
The last time I wrote on this blog, it was the beginning of the year, and society started to have some signs that we were going to be leaving the world of the pandemic and entering whatever came next. As it had with everything, the global COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected ChiTownBio; we had to shift from in person events to largely virtual events. We have kept up an active Slack account where we have many interesting conversations (Please writ us to join). We experimented with a number of formats, including virtual seminars, outdoor nature talks, virtual book clubs, and video game play alongs. We have struggled to find our place during the pandemic, and we’re ready to move on.
But what does it mean to move on? We know that the consensus of the scientific community that the pandemic is not over, yet people are ready to start working together to build a new world. So how do we strike the balance between building our community, something we have struggled to do online, and make sure we are fulfilling our obligation to our city and our community in terms of health and safety.
We’ve also been meeting with consultants to figure out how to sustainably move forward. How in this new paradigm, do we get ChiTownBio to grow? What is the fastest way forward in a way that still lends to stability and sustainability.
Our plan forward right now is raising a relatively small but still substantial bit of funding, and then moving forward with gaining a space. The physical space is going to be key in us fulfilling our mission of bringing biotechnology to and sharing with all Chicagoans.
In the interim, please watch this space. We’ve accumulated a large amount of equipment and material, and we want to start using it to start creating demos and workshops virtually until we have a space. We’re continuing to hold planning meetings (Next meeting soon to come!), and we are working hard to create a critical mass. We’re working on restructuring our social media accounts (Please check us out on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook), and expanding to new media (Tik Tok, here we come!).
We appreciate everyone who donates to our organization (Please feel free to drop us a few dollars), and will be updating more regularly in the future! Thank you for your patience, and feel free to write us if you want to help us achieve our goal of democratizing biotechnology here in Chicago.