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BizBurgh Presents: AI Small Business Conference
Date and Time
Tuesday Jun 16, 2026
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM EDTTuesday, June 16th 2026
8:30 AM - 3:00 PMLocation
Duquesne University Power Center Ballroom
1015 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15219Fees/Admission
Attend - $75.00/attendee
Contact Information
John Higgins Manager of Marketing, Programs, & Informatics Duquesne University SBDC – Palumbo-Donahue School of Business 600 Forbes Ave, Rockwell Hall 108, Pittsburgh, PA 15282 P: 412-396-1631
Send Email
Description
From Practical Prompts to Automated Workflows
A hands-on AI conference for small and mid-sized businesses ready to move from experimentation to execution.
This is an in-person conference (Breakfast, lunch, and parking included)
Most AI events explain what AI could do. This one helps you build what AI should do for your business.
You’ll work through a realistic business scenario and leave with:- A repeatable AI decision framework
- A reusable prompt pack
- Draft content and multimedia assets
- A starter AI workflow
- A clear 30-day implementation plan
Who It’s For- Business owners and operators
- Managers and team leads
- Marketing, operations, training, and admin staff
- SMBs/SMEs looking for immediate, low-risk AI impact
What You’ll Do
Through short presentations and guided Skills Labs, you’ll progress step-by-step:- Choose the right AI use case (value, feasibility, risk, ROI)
- Build better prompts for real business outcomes
- Create content and multimedia assets with guardrails
- Map a simple AI workflow using the tools you already use
What You’ll Leave With
Conference Implementation Kit (digital)
Printed Skills Lab Workbook
Reusable business prompts
A starter AI workflowFormat- In-person experience
- Structured instruction + guided labs
- Bring a laptop or table
Detailed agenda (morning + lunch + early afternoon)
Total program time: 8:30 AM–3:00 PM (includes breakfast, lunch)
8:30–9:00 AM — Arrival, coffee, exhibitor networking- Check-in, Wi-Fi, seating
- “Tool readiness” (participants encouraged to bring laptop/tablet)
- Exhibitors open
9:00–9:15 AM — Welcome + outcomes- What participants will leave with
- How the Skills Labs work (structured, guided)
9:15–9:30 AM — Futurecasting (grounded): what’s changing and why it matters- What’s shifting in the AI market for SMBs in the next 12–24 months
- “What to do in the next 90 days” framing
9:30–10:05 AM — The practical AI landscape for SMBs (what it is / isn’t)- Where SMBs get real value vs hype
- Core capability map: text, search, summarization, planning, content generation
- Limitations and common failure modes
10:05–10:45 AM — The SMB AI decision framework (use-case selection + guardrails)- Pick the right use case (volume, repeatability, risk, ROI)
- Resource assessment (people, process maturity, data readiness, budget)
- Guardrails: privacy, IP, client data, and basic regulatory considerations
- How to run pilots safely and measure outcomes
10:45–11:00 AM — Break + exhibitor touchpoint
11:00 AM–12:00 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 1): Text → Strategy → AssetsStructure: guided individual work with timed checkpoints (no ambiguity)
- Lab 1 (30 min): Prompting for business outcomes- Build a reusable “Business Prompt” (inputs → constraints → voice → output)
- Produce: a 1-page plan (e.g., campaign, SOP, onboarding outline)
- Lab 2 (30 min): Content Velocity Sprint (quality-controlled)- Turn the plan into a week/month content outline + draft assets
- Apply quality checks: brand voice, claims, compliance flags, review steps
12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch + guided practice- Participants continue the Lab exercises
- Optional table “show-and-tell” moments
- Exhibitors open
1:00–1:40 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 2): Multimedia content engine- Lab 3 (40 min): Image, audio, and video generation for SMB use cases- Produce: a short onboarding/training script + visual concept
- Optional: intro to AI avatars for training/onboarding
- Guardrails: permissions, brand safety, disclosure norms
1:40–2:55 PM — Skills Lab Sequence (Part 3): From tools to workflows (agentic AI mapping)- What “agentic” means in business terms (multi-step, multi-tool execution)
- Guided workflow build:
- Define the task end-to-end
- Identify inputs, outputs, approvals, and integrations
- Map to a simple multi-tool workflow (email/docs/scheduling/content pipeline)
- Ecosystem note: why Microsoft and Google matter for many SMB workflows
2:55–3:00 PM — Wrap + next steps- Distribution of Implementation Kit + prompt pack
- How to continue learning (resources + local vendor support)
- Optional: book availability if completed in time
Register now and leave with AI tools you can use the very next day.
Speaker/Moderator: Ray Sidney-Smith, Digital Marketing Strategist, Hootsuite Global Brand Ambassador, Google Small Business Advisor for Productivity, and Managing Director of W3C Web Services
