Winning Wednesday Workshop  ·  Distillery Labs  ·  Peoria, Illinois
Wednesday
12:00 – 1:00 PM
September 2026

AI Without the Hype: practical tools you can use today.

A lunch-hour workshop for business owners, nonprofits, and people who keep hearing about AI and want to know what it actually does. Live demonstrations on real work — no slide deck, no jargon, and an honest look at what these tools get wrong.

No technical background required.

Free & open to the public
Add it to my calendar Tell Adam I’m coming

Distillery Labs also keeps a headcount — register on their site (needs a free Proximity account). Either way, walk-ins are welcome.

§ 01  ·  What you’ll leave with

Four things, all of them usable Thursday morning.

This is a working session, not a survey of the industry. Everything demonstrated is something I use to run my own business — quotes, marketing, paperwork, client work.

01
How to ask for what you actually want
Most bad AI output is a bad request. The handful of habits that separate a useless answer from a usable one — shown live, on real tasks from the room.
02
How to tell when it’s wrong
These tools state false things with total confidence. You’ll see one do it, and learn the checks that catch it before it reaches a customer.
03
What not to put into it
Customer records, financials, anything covered by a privacy rule. Plain guidance on where the line sits and how to work on the safe side of it.
04
Two or three jobs worth handing over
The repetitive work in your week that’s genuinely a good fit — and how to start on one of them without buying anything.
§ 02  ·  What this isn’t

The part most AI talks skip.

A section of this workshop is dedicated to showing you AI failing — confidently and convincingly — because knowing the failure modes is the difference between a tool and a liability. To be clear about the rest:

  • Not a sales pitch for software. Nothing is being sold in the room, and I don’t resell anybody’s tools.
  • Not a course. There’s no upsell at the end and no “secrets” package.
  • Not a prediction about the future of work. I’ll stick to what these tools do right now, this month.
  • Not for engineers. If you already write code for a living, this session is probably below your level.
§ 03  ·  Details

Getting there.

Where
Distillery Labs 201 SW Adams Street
Peoria, IL 61602 Open in Maps →
When
Wed, Sept 23 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Doors 11:45
Parking
Street & garage Metered spots on SW Adams and Fulton; garages on SW Adams and neighboring streets.
Lunch
Bring or buy Bring your own, or grab something from Chef Jeremy Washum’s ‘Reservations’ residency at Cafe Distilled in the main lobby.
§ 04  ·  RSVP

Let me know you’re coming.

Two fields. This just tells me roughly how many people to expect so I can bring enough handouts — and I’ll send you one reminder the day before. Nothing else, ever.

Goes straight to me — Adam. I don’t sell or share lists, and this isn’t a newsletter signup. Can’t make it but want the tools list afterward? Say so in the box above and I’ll send it.

§ 05  ·  Who’s running it

Adam Gurski — Petersburg, Illinois.

I’m a one-man creative shop about an hour south of Peoria. I build websites, shoot photo and video, and run essentially every part of my business on AI — which is the only reason I’m qualified to talk about it. I’m not a consultant with a framework; I’m a small-business owner showing you my actual working setup, including the parts that break.

I’ve delivered practical-AI sessions for libraries, a school district, chambers of commerce, and community organizations around Central Illinois, and NPR Illinois interviewed me about practical AI for people and businesses in June 2026.

PORTA 202 School District
Two AI-training sessions — one for the school board, one for high-school teachers — plus a ready-to-use lesson-plan package.
Athens Municipal Library
An AI toolkit for staff and a live summer-reading tracker, built and delivered.
Chambers & libraries
The AI 101 talk, delivered to the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Central Illinois libraries including Chatham.

More of the work: adamgurski-creative.com  ·  adam88gur@gmail.com  ·  (217) 381-5394