AI Beyond Chat: Getting Ahead at Work and in Life

Build AI skills to get ahead: create websites, improve reports and presentations, and save time at work, in business, or in the classroom. Get ahead with AI. Build new skills. Do better work in less time. You have tried ChatGPT. Now learn how to turn AI into an advantage in your career, your business, or your classroom. Turn scattered notes and numbers into a report your manager can use. Build a presentation without spending the whole evening on slides. Create a simple website for your business, a personal project, or a potential client. Free up time for higher-value work and life outside work. Could a task you do every week become 2x, 3x, or even 10x faster? Bring it and test the possibilities. We will compare the time before and after, and check the quality of the result. The improvement depends on the task and how you use the tools. Join Angelo Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Qandaba, for six hours of practical instruction, live demonstrations, and hands-on work. A room capped at 30 attendees means time for questions and help as you put the tools to use. What could getting ahead look like for you? • Professionals: become the person who gets things done. Prepare recurring reports, analyze spreadsheets, turn research into presentations, and convert meeting notes into clear next steps. Spend less time assembling work and more time delivering the insight, initiative, and results your manager notices. • Business owners: get more done across your business. Use AI to help troubleshoot everyday IT questions and draft how-to guides; organize expense data and prepare questions for your accountant; understand basic legal terminology and prepare questions for a lawyer; draft marketing content; and research customers, competitors, and suppliers. Check sources and figures, and have a qualified professional review legal and accounting decisions. • Educators: spend more time teaching. Draft lesson plans, quizzes, exams, answer keys, and marking rubrics. Explore how AI can suggest feedback and help score sample papers against a rubric, with the educator reviewing and deciding final grades. Use anonymized or sample student work. • Freelancers and aspiring builders: create something you can offer. Learn how AI can help you build a simple website or landing page without starting from code. Use that skill for your own business or as a starting point for a paid client service, with testing and refinement before delivery. Learn the skills, then build your Thing This workshop is for professionals, business owners, freelancers, educators, and curious learners. No coding background is needed. You will explore practical examples across these uses, then choose one task for your hands-on build. • Get useful results: give your assistant clear instructions, useful context, and examples of what good work looks like. • Work with real material: turn notes, documents, spreadsheets, and research into useful reports, presentations, and other outputs. • Create and build: explore AI-assisted websites, images, video, and voice, and choose a relevant project to practice. • Make the result repeatable: save reusable instructions and explore app connections and agents, with clear limits on access and spending. • Check before you rely on it: verify sources, calculations, and outputs, and know when human judgment or professional review is needed. Leave with something you can use Choose one recurring task that usually takes at least 30 minutes, such as a weekly report, presentation, marketing plan, spreadsheet review, or lesson plan. Or choose a small build, such as a simple website prototype. Your goal for the day: a tested workflow or working prototype, reusable instructions, and a practical 30-day plan. For a recurring task, record the time before and after so you can measure the difference. No task in mind yet? No worries. We have examples you can try. A laptop and charger are optional, but encouraged if you want to build along. Bring non-sensitive or sample material. You will also work on a one-page AI-use checklist or team policy. Specific topics and examples may change based on participant feedback and interests. Your instructor Angelo Rodriguez brings 30+ years of software engineering and executive leadership experience. He is the founder and CEO of Qandaba, an AI-native business process automation firm based in Southern California, and Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Philippines. Qandaba helps small and mid-sized companies improve everyday work with AI and automation. Angelo brings examples from how he uses these tools in his own business, including reusable instructions, meeting follow-ups, templates, and connected workflows. The day at a glance Saturday, December 5, 2026 · 8:30 am-4:30 pm, Pacific time. Registration and setup begin at 8:30 am. See the Agenda section for the session schedule. Specific topics and examples are subject to change based on participant feedback and interests. Location and tickets Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, 3985 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501. See the event location above for the map. Limited to 30 attendees. General admission is $49. FAC Tri-County Chamber and Riverside Chamber members receive $29 admission with their respective chamber discount codes. Getting here The venue is on University Avenue in Riverside. See the event map above for directions. Food and refreshments Lunch, coffee, water, and pastries are included in your ticket fee. Dietary restrictions or food allergies? Please use Eventbrite's Contact the organizer option to let us know before the event so we can discuss your needs. What to bring • Laptop and charger: optional, but encouraged so you can try the exercises yourself. • AI account: if you plan to try the tools, have a working ChatGPT or Claude login and check it before arriving. Some demonstrations use paid features; sample materials and paired work provide alternatives. • A task or sample files: optional. Bring a non-sensitive email draft, spreadsheet, meeting notes, or product photo, or use our examples. Use anonymized or sample material where needed. Do not bring passwords, payment-card details, or confidential client information for practice. We will cover checking outputs, recording consent, and reviewing AI actions before they affect other people. Bring your curiosity. Try the tools. Take a practical next step.