Free · Live on Zoom

Set up + build AI tools
useful for your IEC practice.
Live.

We’ve seen many AI demos. This workshop is the part they often skip - the messy middle. The first prompt from scratch, the rough draft, the working fix. Come and build together with me, get your AI running, and coast into app season in August!

You had me at messy middle!

Why now

Recently, when I’ve excitedly shared an AI tool or workflow - at our local IEC meetings, and especially at the HECA conference - the same thing happened: we always ran out of time! The questions kept coming, and they had shifted, less about what or why, more about how.

What’s missing right now? Seeing AI tools and workflows get built in a way that works for your practice. By a regular person. From a blank screen.

You’re a practice of one. Your calendar is the bottleneck. AI is moving fast, and there’s not always a clear look at what to do or how to do it, when you need it, in a way that builds on your strengths. By going through simple, clear demonstrations while we build and chat, you can get comfortable with your AI footing, ready to start our new admissions cycle.

The tools are the easier part. The harder part is knowing what actually works, tested with real students. That’s what we’ll discuss.

What you’ll build, live

You’re not watching a polished demo or presentation, and I’m not a vendor. You are hands-on building with me, with us walking through the steps together.

Two Wednesdays. We set up your AI, then build two real tools, one each session. You leave with working drafts and templates to make them yours.

Below are actual examples I use in my own business - yours will reflect you and your brand!

You build it · July 22

A Branded Marketing Piece

One example: A bright, personalized timeline a family gets the moment our initial consultation ends. It’s just a sample of what we’ll work on, but it includes specifics from our meeting and the interactive checklist gives it an “action” momentum.

Variants you might buildLive Resource ListInteractive Lead MagnetParent Night HandoutWebinar Companion Page
You build it · July 29

A Client-Facing Tool

One example: a tool taking the ocean of UC admissions data, distilled to one clear simple view a parent can immediately grasp.

See it in action ↗Co-branded with Audrey Slaughter
of Roadmap4College
Variants you might buildSimplified InfographicsNet-price comparisonsPrimers or Explainers
Where we go next

Personalized Workflows and Systems

The promise of AI is that it helps your own ideas and thinking shine. The deeper program is where you build your branded pieces and tools into a system - one that carries your business while you focus on the values-driven work with students and parents.

Variants you might buildBranded welcome pagesPersonalized onboarding checklistsReusable frameworksOutcome trackersDecision dashboards

Sunny on the surface, serious underneath.

Come to the

Sunny Summer AI Buildout

You don’t need to be technical. If you can use a browser, you can follow every step. Bring one real task from your practice you’d love to hand off.

We’ll also work across these three main AI models, and show where each one shines.

For example, tap a model, then a task - any pick works, they each have a flavor.

ClaudeClaude
Summarize a 90-minute consult transcript
GeminiGemini
Compare net price across a college list
ChatGPTChatGPT
Draft a warm reply to an anxious parent

Hi, I’m Marge, your IEC Colleague

Marge Cortes presenting to a full lecture hall at Splash, UC Berkeley
Twice a year at UC Berkeley’s SPLASH parent program, I partner with local IEC friends to speak on college admissions.Co-presenting here
with Haruka Yamashita
of Plan-It-Education
Marge Cortes

In case we haven’t yet met, I’m Marge Cortes, a licensed Professional Engineer and the founder of Engineering Next. I’ve spent 20+ years building “things that have to work” - first as an engineer on projects like SF’s Bay Bridge and Boston’s Big Dig, and related technology like tolling transponders. Now, I’m also an educational consultant helping families navigate engineering admissions, and I’m a colleague so thankful for our IEC community.

I’m very pro-tech, and I dive in deep, BUT I’m just as pro-privacy and safety. The easy part is getting excited about new tools, the harder part as we all know is protecting our students, families, and our own practices online.

I build the tools I teach. Everything you’ll watch me make runs in my own practice, with real students, under real ethical guardrails. I’m not here to sell you on AI. I’m here to show you, plainly, how a practice of one uses it to do better work without losing the human part families actually pay for.

Save your spot

Warm up your AI before app season heats up.

Free. Two Wednesdays. Bring your pain points and your AI(s) of choice.

So… it’s like Happy Hour with AI? I’m in!
July 22 + 29 12 PT / 3 ET One hour each On Zoom +30 min Q&A after
Is this competing with other AI-related IEC programming?+
Not at all, just the opposite. It complements the wealth of AI discussions and training already out there, and I’d encourage you to soak all of it up! Attend the HECA AI Learning Labs with Vinay and Swami, review the HECA Silicon Valley AI Collaborative discussions led by Swami and Haruka, and catch the AI guests Cyndy brings to her Friday Forums. The recent HECA conference had a wealth of AI discussion too. There’s so much for us all to learn together. What I’m adding is a friendly, no-pressure space to build (and laugh), and to get your AI foundation set up properly and quickly, so you can keep building on it.
Do I need to be technical?+
No. If you can use email and a browser, you’re set. This is a no-frills, no-jargon approach. That’s the whole point of AI: it’s accessible to all.
Which AI tool do I need?+
We’ll touch all three (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini). I’ll tell you exactly what to set up before we start.
Will it be recorded?+
Yes. A recording goes to everyone who registers, so sign up even if you can’t make it live. Participants’ own AI notetakers are also welcome and encouraged. The real magic is building alongside me in real time, so come if you can.
Is this engineering-specific?+
No. Some examples may draw from my own engineering advising practice, but the actual build process works for any niche.
Why learn AI from you, Marge?+
In my engineering career I had to process and research enormous amounts of data, sometimes by hand, so I truly appreciate what AI can do for us when we use it well. I’ve used AI frequently, for my business, and with my family, client parents, and students. I see how fast it’s changing, and how useful it can be for so many tasks (a fun one: working on our family tree!). I’ve also spent 5+ years co-leading our HECA Silicon Valley community and recently served on HECA’s Ad-Hoc AI Ethics Committee - so I weigh both what AI can do for our professional work and how to use it responsibly.
Do I need AI if I already use CPP, CounselMore, Achieve, GradBetter, or similar tools?+
These are great platforms for IECs and our work, and address different tasks. Some of these platforms have also incorporated or use AI themselves. AI is separate and complementary. If there’s something you’re still repeating, or spending a long time on, AI can help, and that’s exactly what we’ll explore. And because AI changes so fast, it’s worth having a clear baseline of what it can and can’t do right now. We’ll cover that too.

Two Wednesdays. Two tools. Built live. Save my spot