NextGEN Vibe-a-thon — Planning Hub

The goal

Every attendee leaves feeling capable — AI is more approachable than they thought — with one useful thing in hand, worked on their own real problem.

Neither a hackathon (no winner) nor a course (no lecture) — a mindset shift with a personal win attached. The "I spent 4 hours on that; you showed me 20 minutes" moment, for whatever each person brought.

The idea in one line: instead of another AI panel, we run a room where every attendee does one real thing with AI on their own work — hands on keyboards, a guide at every table, something to take home. Show, not tell.

Sept 16

Summit Day

~90 min

Post-lunch

~150

Afternoon crowd

Lanes

4–5

Table themes

Three lanes — everyone gets a comfortable option

CORE

1 · Hands-on tables

Small groups, bring-your-own-problem, facilitator-guided. Where most people land.

2 · Safe stage

A live demo on the main screen + a short peer-leader story — for anyone who'd rather watch than perform.

3 · The patio

No-pressure networking off-ramp. Self-selecting out is a fine outcome, not a failure.

What "success" looks like

Fast first winSomething usable early — momentum is the game.

It's theirsBuilt on their own real problem, not a canned one.

They can redo itLeave more capable, not just impressed.

No one left behindThe least technical person still gets a win.

Run-of-show

~90 min · post-lunch

0:00–0:05	Emcee frames it: the goal + your three options (table / stage / patio), no pressure either way
0:05–0:10	Shared warmup, everyone together — "is this a good problem for AI?"
0:10–0:20	Get seated — tables by theme, stage-watchers find a spot, patio folks drift out
0:20–0:65	Build — facilitators flex ~2 scripts to who's at the table; stage demo + peer testimony run in parallel
0:65–0:75	Checkpoint — facilitators make sure everyone has something, even rough
0:75–0:85	Light close on the main screen — a few highlights, no winner, no ranking
0:85–0:90	Wrap: where to go next; patio stays open

One projector = one shared "wall" for the room (no per-table screens), so the highlight close is the one moment everyone sees together.

How a table runs

Bring your own problem, around a theme — not a canned scenario. "Bring a thing, leave with a thing."
Facilitators guide a process, not a script — keep it simple; over-engineering is the failure mode.
Everyone starts with the 5-min warmup — "is this even a good problem for AI?" (teaches problem selection).
Train on ~2 scripts, flex live to who shows up (beginner ↔ daily user); split a crowded table.
Own device, own data — nothing shared, nothing exposed to the table.

Designing for safety

investors in the room

Many attendees are pitching companies or sitting across from investors — admitting "I don't get AI" feels risky. A few deliberate moves make it OK to be a beginner:

Explicit permission to be a first-timer — said out loud in the framing, not just implied.
The safe stage lane — a real, sanctioned way to just watch, not a consolation prize.
Peer-leader testimony — "when I finally decided to use it…" from someone credible, before anyone's asked to perform.
Own device, own data — nothing exposed to the table.

The table themes

starter menu of 5

Narrowed from "20 pre-baked scenarios" to a handful of real business problems people already have — one line each on what someone leaves with.

Strategy & Documents — bring an RFP/strategic doc; leave with the analysis + a drafted response. ("3 months of my team's work, done today.")
Data & Spreadsheets — bring a real spreadsheet; leave with it cleaned, analyzed, and visualized. ("4 hours down to 20 minutes.")
Marketing & Content — bring one idea; leave with posts, site copy, or a campaign draft.
Operations & Automation — bring a repetitive workflow; leave with it automated.
Experience & Communicate — no build: call an AI voice agent, learn prompting-as-communication, or rehearse a pitch. Laptop optional.

The shared warmup

~5 min, every table

"Is this even a good problem for AI to solve?"

A quick filter before anyone touches a keyboard (credit: Jack). Four tests:

Is it text / knowledge work? (not "assemble a physical thing")
Do you have the inputs in front of you right now?
Is it repetitive or structured enough to describe the steps?
Can you tell if the output is good?

Frame your problem: "I want AI to help me [verb] my [thing I have] into [thing I want]."

Who's actually in the room

from planning meeting #1

Audience mix (last year's tally)

Founders / startup staff	~50%
Community members	officials, program leads, supporters
VMS mentors	tech founders 20 yrs ago; rusty now
Ecosystem partners	~10%
Investors & sponsors	the remainder

Skill reality — bimodal, not beginner

≈ half already use AI most days but "don't fully understand what's going on." A real minority has no exposure and will fear being called out. Very few are truly AI-illiterate.

Design implication: not "teach beginners" — level up the daily-dabblers AND give first-timers a graceful on-ramp (plus the patio for anyone who opts out).

Where we are

✓ Decided

Venue: Judson MillOne main projectorWifi confirmed8-seat tablesThree-lane model~150, ~90 min, post-lunchBring-your-own-problem~15 facilitators opted in

○ Still open

Goal sign-offFinal 4–5 themesWhich 2 to script firstTool equityRegistration surveyConfirm priming speaker

Decisions to make

for the group

Sign off on the goal — one sentence everyone can repeat.

Confirm the three-lane model — and that the stage lane gets real screen time + a peer-leader lined up.

Lock the 4–5 table themes — finalize the menu + pick which 2 scripts get built first.

Confirm footprint — 90 min, post-lunch, one room (25–30 tables possible, ~15 facilitators — plan for flex/split).

Registration survey — founder? · AI level? · pick a business-problem category · describe your problem.

Tool equity — chase a sponsored shared AI workspace (Anthropic / Atlas Local lead)?

Next steps & timeline

~10 weeks to Sept 16

When	What	Owners
Mid–late July	Lock decisions — goal, three lanes, final themes + first 2 to script, footprint	Group / NextGEN
Late July–Aug	Build — finalize scripts, launch attendee comms + registration survey, chase tool-equity + sponsor, confirm priming speaker	Andrew · NextGEN · Peter
Aug–early Sept	Recruit facilitators + run a short training / dry-run	NextGEN · facilitators · Andrew
Early Sept	Final logistics + rehearsal — venue/AV, walk the run-of-show	NextGEN · Andrew · facilitators
Sept 16	Event day — run it	Everyone

Already drafted & ready for review: the attendee pre-event message, the ~5-min emcee stage script, the facilitator "how to run your table" one-pager, and two full exercise scripts (Strategy & Documents; Data & Spreadsheets) with the shared warmup and beginner/dabbler/daily-user flex levels.