The Allegro Hotel’s ballroom was decorated with pops of yellow Sept. 10 as about 200 employees of Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) sponsor Ernst & Young (EY) gathered to discuss innovation with CIW’s founder – and get a behind-the-scenes look at what’s in store for them during CIW 2013.

“We as a firm are so passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation, the city of Chicago and connecting all of those concepts in a really impactful way,” said Kelly Grier, the managing partner of Ernst & Young Chicago. “CIW has exactly that. This is our DNA.”

EY is sponsoring two Talks for 2013 that Grier said directly align with EY’s new purpose statement: “Building a better world.”

Work: Fueling Performance reveals the future of the work landscape, with speakers like Renetta McCann, Leo Burnett’s chief talent officer and award-winning actor Gary Sinise (known as Lt. Dan to Forrest Gump fans), who launched the Gary Sinise Foundation to help veterans through unique

At EY’s Entrepreneurship: How I did it, folks will hear from groundbreakers, including Groupon and Lightbank co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, Slava Rubin, CEO and co-founder of the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, and Scott Case, co-founder of Priceline.com and CEO of the Startup America Partnership, which provides resources and other support to early-stage companies across the country. 

CIW executive director Jessica Malkin highlighted those events along with other dynamic Labs, Talks and programs at the EY afternoon event. And as part of a surprise raffle, EY employees Joey Harubod and Andrew J. Doman each won two tickets to go on a Divvy bike ride and have lunch with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“It will be great to see Chicago through the mayor’s eyes and pick his brain,” 23-year-old Doman said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll share a few ideas of my own. But overall, I’m really looking forward to the entire week.”

After hearing the lineup of events 39-year-old Hao Nguyen, who works in finance at EY, said she felt rejuvenated.

“It’s great to be part of CIW, because … this is so innovative and free-thinking that, in a sense, it breathes a new light into our atmosphere,” Nguyen said. “It shows that a big company can still be edgy.”

As an additional dose of inspiration, Grier led an upbeat Q-and-A session with CIW’s founder and co-chairman, Brad Keywell.

In a room full of people dressed in business attire, Keywell drew a roar of laughter when said he dressed up by sporting his black jeans and converse.

Grier asked him just how important failure is to an entrepreneur.

“Be proud of your entrepreneurial failure,” Keywell said. “It’s a necessary element to entrepreneurial success.”

Keywell also shared why he created CIW: Because the Midwest needed a major ideas conference in a big city, and Chicago was the perfect place to turn big ideas into action.

“My philosophy going into it was, I’ll be the financial backstop but it needs to be a 501(c)(3),” he said. “It needs to absolutely have no ulterior motives…and I’m not going to take a penny out of this ever. By removing all agenda and bias, it had the right ingredients for success.”

The floor opened up for questions, and Keywell told everyone the three qualities of a successful startup: being either super efficient with limited capital talented or talented in raising money, being able to iterate fast and being resourceful. Keywell said there is no excuse for not evolving and learning when the cost of building technology is at an all-time low.

“Learning what doesn’t work and pivoting really quickly is a major factor to success,” he said.

The conversation led to whether Chicago is competitive with Silicon Valley. Keywell said Chicago needs to unite four sectors – big companies, startups, universities and capitalists­­ – to make early-stage companies a vibrant part of the city’s economy

“A professor becomes a [startup] founder all the time on the West Coast, but rarely around here,” Keywell said.

Once the Q-and-A ended, Grier reminded everyone to use CIW as a networking tool for alumni and clients –  something 42-year-old Armecia Cooper, an EY senior associate of finance, said she was motivated to do.

“What I took from today’s event was the enthusiasm surrounding entrepreneurship,” Cooper said. “It sparked something in me to ask myself, ‘What problem can I solve?’”

Grier expressed her excitement for EY’s second year as an integral CIW partner. She said she knew her company had to be involved after she picked up a newspaper in 2011 and first learned about CIW.

 “I think this [partnership] has the potential to transform the city’s influence on entrepreneurship and innovation,” Grier said. 

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Written by: Sophia Coleman

Photography of EY event by: Sophia Coleman