Hi al32,
Welcome to our forum.
Like CielDuMatin said, one of your first steps is finding out if there are any poly groups local to you. Try "polyamory Chicago" on Google, you might get some hits.
On this site, you can go to the "Dating & Friendships" area (use "Forum Jump," bottom of this page, right hand side, to get to it), to see if there's anyone in the Chicago area sharing in your search.
Another important way of "getting into poly" is learning as much as you can about it, so take your time to read various threads on this forum, and go ahead and post if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, etc.
Anywayz ... glad you're with us.
Sincerely,
Kevin T.