Agreed. Not only are CME/CBOT Java shops, but we have hundreds of fortune 500 companies with all sorts of internal tools, infrastructure and messaging projects

Agreed. Not only are CME/CBOT Java shops, but we have hundreds of fortune 500 companies with all sorts of internal tools, infrastructure and messaging projects that are anything but light and fluffy. There are trading firms, telco, retail, banking etc. Don't forget Orbitz, Chase, Motorola. As for the startup scene, I agree it is not the west coast, however you are selling Chicago short. We have 1871, Lightbank, Sandbox, Excelerate, etc.