uSkinned’s Chicago Adventure

At the start of October, uSkinned founders (Marc and I, Paul) embarked on an exciting journey to Chicago! We were thrilled to be attending and presenting at the Umbraco US Festival, but we also made the most of our time exploring this incredible city.

Here’s a fun recap of our adventure in the Windy City!

We arrived on Monday, 30th September, flying from Glasgow via Dublin and touching down at Chicago O'Hare Airport. After the journey, we checked into the accommodation in the vibrant Fulton Market District. This lively neighbourhood, brimming with great bars, restaurants, and energy, was the perfect base for our adventure.

Tuesday, 1st October, saw us diving straight into the city’s sights. We explored downtown, starting with a walk along the stunning Chicago Riverwalk, taking in the beautiful architecture. We then visited Millennium Park, home to the iconic "Bean" (Cloud Gate). A fun moment was catching a live broadcast of the evening news from street level — and even managing to get a wave from the presenters!

On Wednesday, 2nd October, we ventured to one of Chicago’s most famous landmarks: the Willis Tower (Sears Tower to the locals). A 30-second lift ride whisked us up 103 floors to the Sky Deck, where the views were simply breathtaking. We even braved “The Ledge,” a glass balcony extending 4.3 feet outside the building – an exhilarating (and slightly nerve-wracking!) experience. Afterwards, we headed to Mr Beef on North Orleans Street for a legendary Italian Beef Sub – a must-try, especially for fans of The Bear TV show.

Thursday, 3rd October, was the beginning of our main reason for visiting: the Umbraco US Festival. We kicked off the day catching up with fellow Umbraco community members during the Umbraco Hackathon, reconnecting with old friends and meeting some of our uSkinned customers, such as Jackey Wong, Scott Hallett, Matt Bliss, Jenny Bradshaw, Alex Vilmur, Kyle Brigham, Erica Quessenberry, and Ben Szymanski, to name just a few. It was great to see so many familiar faces and meet new ones from across North America — sorry if we missed anyone!

After a classic Chicago deep-dish pizza lunch, we attended the Umbraco Partner event. We enjoyed some fantastic talks from the Umbraco HQ team and other Partners, including a great session from Kyle at Marcel, a uSkinned Expert agency. In the evening, the official pre-party took place at District Brew Yards, a self-service brewery where we got the chance to pour our own beers — a memorable and fun way to wrap up the day!

Friday, 4th October, was the big day for uSkinned — it was time for our presentation, "An Award-Winning Workflow: Umbraco + uSkinned Site Builder". With excitement (and a few nerves!), we started the day with a fantastic opening talk from Heather Burns at Umbraco HQ. Heather, who’s from Scotland too, even introduced some Scottish slang to the audience, which helped settle any lingering concerns about our accents!

The morning was packed with informative talks, including Adam Prendergast’s session on "Bake, Don’t Fry - Astro & The Content Delivery API" and Alex Vilmur and Joe Stoffel’s presentation on "Umbraco + SEO: How to Supercharge Your Site for Organic Search Results". After lunch, we attended a brilliant panel discussion, "Umbraco in Context - Carving Its Niche in the CMS Landscape". The panel included industry leaders Bradley Rockwood (Vice President of Strategy at BlueModus), Karla Santi (CEO / Founder at Blend Interactive), Colleen Campbell (Director of Client Strategy), and Jenny Bradshaw (Managing Partner at Moriyama).

Then it was our turn! Just as we were getting set up, we had the pleasure of meeting Umbraco’s new CEO, Mats Persson, who was excited to hear about uSkinned Site Builder and told us he was grabbing one of the best seats in the house. Our presentation was well received, and we were thrilled by the positive feedback from the audience. During the Q&A, Mats himself asked a question and mentioned he was keen to use our product — a fantastic endorsement for uSkinned!

The afternoon continued with another great talk by Joe Keply (CTO, Blend Interactive), titled "Let’s Make a Package!". Joe gave us a couple of shout-outs during his insightful session on Umbraco packages — much appreciated, Joe!

The day wrapped up with a social hour, with drinks served by the Umbraco HQ team, and a raffle, where both Marc and I won some fun prizes. I walked away with lightsaber chopsticks, while Marc bagged a WWE-style bum bag (or "fanny pack" for our US readers).

To celebrate the end of an amazing Umbraco US Festival, we headed to the United Center (home to the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks) to watch the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. Although the Blackhawks didn’t come out on top (final score: 6-1 win to the Wild), the atmosphere and experience of watching live ice hockey (a sport I've played since 1991) in Chicago was an absolute highlight.

Before heading back to Scotland, we spent the weekend soaking up more of Chicago’s sights. One of the standout experiences was the Chicago River Architecture Tour at sunset, where the city’s stunning skyline truly came to life. The way the buildings glowed in the fading light was the perfect way to end our trip.

Our adventure in Chicago was incredible from start to finish. The city itself exceeded our expectations with its vibrant energy, friendly people, and rich history. The Umbraco US Festival was an absolute highlight, and we’re incredibly grateful to the team at Umbraco US Foundation, Inc., including Kyle Brigham, Heather Floyd, Erica Quessenberry, Karla Santi, Alan Smith, Alex Vilmur, Blake Watt, and Adam Werner, for putting together such a fantastic event. We’re already looking forward to the next one!

Until next time, Chicago!

#h5yr