The 1st annual Midwest Urban Tree Care Forum was held in Chicago, IL and surrounding suburbs in early April of2003. This forum was an opportunity for students, teachers, practicing arborists, and urban foresters from all over the Midwest to come together and discuss the state of urban tree care. Despite unseasonably cold weather and lots of rain, we traveled to over 14 different sites and listened to over 20 different speakers all around Chicagoland during this three-day period. ISU attendees included Rex Johnson, Derek Mercer, Andrea Frost, and Dr. Jan Thompson. The forum presented countless networking opportunities, and it would not have been hard for one to leave the forum with several prospects for future employment. Every speaker and site presented unique circumstances for the care of urban trees, but over the three days there were a few major topics that almost every speaker mentioned.