Up to sixty protesters gathered in front of the Intercontinental Hotel for a small but spirited demonstration against the annual Bankers Association for Finance & Trade conference on Thursday evening, two days after the election which had left many emotionally drained and outraged. The BAFT conference agenda on its first day included discussions on the USA PATRIOT Act and the occupation of Iraq, focusing on the Trade Bank of Iraq, which was formed by the United States government and Western banks.

The protest, which was a part of the Don't Just Vote Week of Resistance, began when about half a dozen activists stood near the front of the entrance of the hotel at 505 N Michigan Ave towards the end of the conference day. Police demanded that they move to the corner of Illinois & St Clair, at the southeast corner of the bloc, and the protesters refused. The police suggested that when the group doubled, it would then have to move to that hidden location, but the matter was never raised again, and the group remained at the front entrance for the duration of the protest.

The crowd grew to over fifty, with a vampire puppet, bank robbers, vampire slayers, vampire bankers, Food Not Bombs, and other activists, and then formed a picket line. People stayed there into the evening, raising the volume to such levels that delegates actually exited the building to complain directly to the protesters that they were could be heard inside and were being disruptive. Some delegates came out and argued with two members of the crowd, and they were heckled as they left to go to clubs, bars and other leisure events.

The rally remained until about 9:00pm, after people were told that they could not continue making noise through their megaphones, whistles, drums and other instruments, due to alleged city ordinances. Then the highly spirited rally dispersed.

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Protesters returned the next day at six o'clock in the morning for the nine hour Our World is Not For Sale really free market. Dozens of activists came and left the make-shift bazaar, offering free books, clothes, music, computersoftware, DVDs, toys, candy, food, hot cocoa, and literature to passers-by. The very spirited and festive crowd entertained pedestrians, who took most of the donated inventory. The group closed shop at about 3:00pm, donating some of the left-over clothes to a women's center.

During the BAFT conference, autonomous actions were engaged in, including but not limited to the tracking of delegates and a couple of nighttime noise-mobs that emerged to wake up the delegates, and then disappeared into the night.