Nearly 1,300 business and community leaders to gather at Monona Terrace for Greater Madison’s premier business event
MADISON – On Oct. 8, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce will welcome 1,270 business and community leaders to Monona Terrace for its 73rd Annual Dinner, presented by Summit Credit Union. This is the region’s largest business event of its kind and the Chamber’s most impactful program of the year.
The evening’s keynote speaker is Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a world-renowned planetary scientist who serves as director of the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and the principal investigator of the NASA Psyche space mission, an eight-year, $1.2 billion mission to study an asteroid more than 200 million miles from Earth. Her 2026 book “Mission Ready: How to Build Teams That Perform Under Pressure” offers practical insights on building teams that can deliver exceptional results in any situation.
This year’s theme is represented by a symbol, “>”, signifying greater, better, forward. The Annual Dinner program will explore the origins of various symbols — images that carry meaning only through shared knowledge and community understanding — as well as the relationship between meaning and place. In her keynote address, Dr. Elkins-Tanton will elaborate on how mutual understanding of challenges and the ability to collaborate on solutions are essential for both places and meaning to endure.
“Through our collective action, Greater Madison has become a symbol of growth, innovation and progress” said Chamber President Zach Brandon. “At this year’s Annual Dinner, with the help of Dr. Elkins-Tanton’s expertise in building mission-ready teams, we will discover how we can become ready for the challenges ahead as we move toward greater.”
Dr. Elkins-Tanton received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research concerns the formation and evolution of rocky planets, and the art and science of creating effective teams and future-facing educational practices. In addition to “Mission Ready,” she is the author of “A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman.”
Tickets to the 73rd Annual Dinner are still available but expected to sell out soon. Learn more and purchase tickets on the Chamber’s website: madisonbiz.com/annual-events/
For media access or interview requests, contact Communications Manager Jess Miller at 608-443-1952 or jess@madisonbiz.com.
