Chicago-style Jun 20 2011
17 comments Latest by Martin
Here’s a great little copy bit from the SecondConf website. The headline on the home page says:
Three-day, Chicago-style, single-track conference
I can easily imagine a more mundane version:
Three-day, single-track conference in Chicago
I don’t know what “Chicago-style” means, but it sure beats the mundane version. It’s more interesting and unique than merely stating that the conference happens in Chicago.
I like stuff like this because I personally struggle with making my writing interesting. It’s hard enough to be clear and get your point across. Being clear and interesting—that’s a goal to shoot for.
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17 comments so far
carlivar 20 Jun 11
Chicago-style means no ketchup on the conference.
Erik 20 Jun 11
If you don’t know what it means, is it really clear?
Will 20 Jun 11
So, style over substance. Got it.
Jonas Schneider 20 Jun 11
Irony, ever heard of it?
William Donohue 20 Jun 11
I believe they’re referencing Wolf Rentzch’s C4 conference, and before that the Evening at Adler panel put together by Michael Bell (aka drunkenbatman of the now-defunct Drunken Blog). And yes, unless you have some context for it, ‘Chicago-style’ isn’t very informative.
Berserk 20 Jun 11
Of course, “Chicago-style” doesn’t say that it actually happens in Chicago any more than “going dutch” has anything to do with the Netherlands?
Pies 20 Jun 11
Chicago-style doesn’t mean it’s in Chicago.
Ben Kinnaird 20 Jun 11
It is perhaps more interesting Ryan but is far from clear if you don’t know what it means
Also too many hyphens for my liking, I prefer your ‘mundane’ version
Mark 20 Jun 11
All I get from it is that it’ll be an aggressive conference full of dirty politics and hot dogs.
Got to agree with the others, the more mundane is less sexy, but it’s clearer.
And if you have to sexy up a tech conference for programmers, then you’re probably trying to hard to be more than what you are.
Kyle 21 Jun 11
As a Chicagoan, I understand the phrase as it’s used to describe our pizza and our hot dogs, which is a very pleasant sensory association. And as a Chicagoan, just like with the pizza, if you don’t “get it”, just GTFO . Seems clear to me.
Drew Dara-Abrams 21 Jun 11
“Chicago style” usually refers to formatting and citing following the guidelines of The Chicago Manual of Style.
Mostafa Hajizadeh 21 Jun 11
They’re referring to The Chicago. That’s why they’re using dashes, just like what The Chicago suggests.
Bill McNeely 21 Jun 11
Thanks for the inspirational blurb. Hello I’m Logistics is trying to write a snappy 1 pager to convince Fortune 500 firms to use our site to hire military vets for logistics jobs. My Dad (in retail for 35+ years) response to our first attempt was “That was just a page of words, no call to action.” I know what he was saying now.
Ben Lowery 21 Jun 11
Silly people. Chicago-style means to do something without your pants on. The canonical definition!
Colin Summers 21 Jun 11
It means it is deep-dish. Not a shallow conference. There’s going to be a LOT of meat. And some muck-raking. Gansters will be mowed down.
You might want to stay at home.
Michael Smith 21 Jun 11
I agree with Summers, deep dish…not shallow. Although since the Daley family ran that town for decades…I am sure there is more to the story…there always is in Chicago.
Do we like “chicago-style” pizza more than NY? Or should we be going to the mother country with a Margherita in Naples?
Martin 23 Jun 11
It will be exciting for the visitors.
They will be welcomed to the … family. Then the get to watch the organizer getting arrested for corruption on the second day with dirty in-fights starting mere minutes afterwards.
Visitors are asked to bring their own guns.
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