Chicago Finance Exchange upcoming events

Book Club: West Suburban (10/06/2026)

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Join fellow Chicago Finance Exchange members on Tuesday, October 6, for dinner and a social discussion of the book, The Displacements, by Bruce Holsinger. The novel is a suspenseful read plotted on a vast national tapestry that thrillingly explores what happens when privilege is lost and resilience is tested in a swiftly changing world. Enjoy great company, delicious food, and a lively discussion. Whether you've finished the book or are just curious, all are welcome to join the conversation!

About the Book

To all appearances, the Larsen-Hall family has everything: healthy children, a stable marriage, a lucrative career for Brantley, and the means for Daphne to pursue her art full-time. Their deluxe new Miami life has just clicked into place when Luna, the world’s first category 6 hurricane, upends everything they have taken for granted.

When the storm makes landfall, it triggers a descent of another sort. Their home destroyed, two of its members missing, and finances abruptly cut off, the family finds everything they assumed about their lives now up for grabs.

AI Leadership Series: AI 101 Getting Started - The World of AI (10/08/2026)

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:30:00 GMT

The Chicago Finance Exchange's AI Leadership Series is a progressive learning journey designed to take financial leaders from AI basics to strategic application. The series runs across four virtual webinars and culminates in an in-person event, with peer-to-peer sharing woven through every session. Participation in all five sessions is not required. Members are encouraged to customize their experience and join as their schedule allows.

Session I - AI 101: Getting Started

What is AI? Key terms & glossary
• Types of AI companies & fintech landscape
• AI tools comparison for finance leaders (Claude vs. ChatGPT vs. others)
• AI 101: Organizing & summarizing your emails
• Best practices in prompting — good vs. bad prompts
• Building your own Executive Assistant with AI
• Readily available assistant options & tools

Series Overivew:

Session II (virtual) - Making AI work for YOU
Session III (virtual) - Watch Out - The Risks & Reality
Session IV (virtual) - Complex Uses & What's Next Beyond AI - The Next Frontier
Session V (in-person) - AI After Hours: Cocktails & Conversations

Book Club: Downtown (10/22/2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

The Downtown Book Club will gather on October 22 at Leigh Harter's home to discuss The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. This will be the last book of our American literature series. Enjoy great company, delicious food, and a lively discussion. Attendees are asked to bring a dish or wine to share.

About the Book:

First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.