Getting Started
First steps, plain-English explainers, and beginner checklists.
resources
Everything we've learned, in one place
A growing collection of guides, tools, prompts, and notes from our Northshore meetups. Come back often — this page grows every month.
new here?
Start with these three stops
Getting Started Guide
Never touched an AI tool? This is the five-minute version — what to try first and why.
AI Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll hear at every meetup, from "prompt" to "hallucination."
Prompt Library
Copy-and-adjust prompts for business, writing, and everyday tasks.
beginner guides
Start where you are
No jargon, no assumptions — written for someone opening these tools for the first time.
Getting Started
What is AI, really?
A plain-language answer, without the sci-fi framing — what these tools actually do and don't do.
Getting Started
ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini: which do I use?
A quick, opinion-free comparison to help you pick a starting point.
Prompting
How to write a good prompt in 5 minutes
The handful of habits that make AI answers dramatically more useful.
Automation
Your first automation, start to finish
A walkthrough of automating one small, repetitive task — the "aha" project for beginners.
resource shelves
Organized for quick browsing
Each shelf is ready to become a dynamic category later.
Recommended AI Tools
Tools members are trying, comparing, and using in real work.
Prompt Library
Reusable prompts for business, writing, research, and planning.
Videos
Short lessons and meeting recordings once they are available.
Books
Books worth reading without turning this into homework club.
Local Presentations
Slides and handouts from Southeast Louisiana speakers and meetups.
Meeting Notes
Recaps, links, and follow-ups from each monthly gathering.
Glossary
Common AI terms translated into normal human language.
Useful Websites
Reliable places to learn, research, and keep up with AI changes.
recommended tools
What people in the group are actually using
Chat & Writing
- ChatGPTGeneral purpose, most widely used
- ClaudeStrong for writing & reasoning
- GeminiTight Google Workspace integration
Image & Video
- MidjourneyImage generation
- RunwayAI video editing
- Canva AIQuick design work
Automation
- ZapierConnect apps, no code
- MakeVisual automation flows
Business
- Notion AINotes & docs
- PerplexityAI-powered research
prompt library
A few to get you started
Business
"Act as a small business consultant. Here's what my business does: [describe]. Suggest three ways I could use AI to save time this month."
Writing
"Rewrite this email to sound more [warm / direct / professional], keeping it under 100 words: [paste email]."
Marketing
"Write five short social captions for this post idea: [describe]. Keep the tone conversational, not salesy."
watch
Videos worth your time
- Intro to Large Language Models Beginner-friendly overview
- How AI Image Generation Actually Works Behind-the-scenes explainer
- Automating Your Business with No-Code Tools Placeholder for a future local presentation
read
Books our members recommend
- Co-Intelligence Ethan Mollick
- The Coming Wave Mustafa Suleyman
- Prediction Machines Agrawal, Gans & Goldfarb
the archive
Local presentations & meeting notes
Slides, notes, and recaps get posted here after every meetup.
Last Month: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini, live website review, prompt workshop
September 18: AI for Small Business
Downloadable PDFs, slide decks, and handouts will appear here.
— check back soon, this page fills up fast —
downloadable pdfs
Handouts will go here
Reserved for future meetup worksheets, local presentation notes, prompt cheat sheets, and beginner guides. No dead download buttons until real files exist.
ai glossary
Terms you'll hear at every meetup
- Prompt
- The instructions or question you give an AI tool.
- LLM
- Large Language Model — the type of AI behind tools like ChatGPT and Claude.
- Hallucination
- When an AI confidently states something that isn't true.
- Token
- A chunk of text an AI reads or writes — roughly a word or part of one.
- Fine-tuning
- Further training a model on specific data to specialize it.
- Agent
- An AI system that can take actions on its own, not just answer questions.
want more?
See what's coming up next
New workshops and meetups are added to the calendar every month.
See Upcoming Events