01
Prototype Without Code
Getting started
Go from an idea to a working prototype fast, without writing a line of code.
making space / ai playground
The difference between using AI and building with it.
Most people type a prompt and take what they get. In the Playground you learn to orchestrate the tools, so what comes out is yours: your voice, your standards, produced with the same quality every time.
Using AI
“Write me a newsletter”
One generic draft. Sounds like everyone. You edit it into shape from scratch, every single time.
Building with AI
ProjectFilesSkillsDesign
A newsletter in your voice, on brand, out the door in minutes… because you built the system once.
What it is
A maker space, not a webinar.
Each session takes one tool and shows you how to actually use it. No expertise required, no preamble. You leave having built something real, or having moved your own to-do list forward.
15min
Live demo
One tool, one clear walkthrough, watched start to finish before you touch anything.
30min+
Make time
You build. Bring your own task or follow along, with live support in the room.
10min
Share back
Show what you made, see what others made. The fastest way to learn is watching a peer solve it.
The mental model
Three layers that turn a chatbot into your system.
The whole Playground rests on one simple distinction. Once it clicks, everything else is just practice.
01
Instructions
How to act.
A short standing brief, five to eight lines, loaded every message. Not a personality transplant: just enough so its defaults match yours. Show up on time, favour clarity, suggest don’t rewrite.
02
Files
What to know.
Your about-me, your voice-and-style, the references you reach for. Plain markdown you own and can carry to any platform. The voice file is the one most people skip, and the one that makes output sound like you.
03
Skills
How to do one thing well.
A recipe it follows every time: your taste and standards, made explicit. The point isn’t that AI can write a recipe or a deck. It’s that your judgment becomes the filter, applied consistently.
Every skill needs a WHAT it does and a WHEN to use it. That is how the system knows to reach for it.
What you can build
From a prompt to a real thing.
A few examples. Open one to see the whole path, from the ask to the finished artifact.
01The weekly newsletter
Draft it once, ship it every week.
Type the same short prompt you would on any Monday. The newsletter skill and your voice file do the rest, so what lands is yours: on brand, in your register, ready to send.
“Draft this week’s newsletter”→skill + voice file→a finished issue
02A link that tells you what’s working
The humble share link, with a memory.
Paste a link, name where you’re sharing it, and get back a tidy short link that quietly counts the clicks. Now you know which post, email, or DM actually did the work.
Marketers call this a UTM builder. Everyone else calls it “the link that tells me if anyone clicked.” Same tool, fewer acronyms.
paste a link→name the campaign→short link + clicks
03Client postcards
A customer quote, made share-ready.
Turn quotes from customers and partners into branded, export-ready postcards, PNG or PDF, sized for LinkedIn, an email, or a deck. Minimal inputs, one action, a polished asset out.
pick a quote→brand it→export PNG / PDF
04A build that runs itself
One input, the busywork handled.
The step you graduate to: a small automation. Drop in a call transcript and it comes back with the decisions, the action items, and a follow-up email already drafted in your voice.
transcript in→agent→actions + email out
The sessions
See the substance for yourself.
A few examples of the kinds of sessions we run. The prep decks are open, built in HTML, so you can walk through exactly what each one covered.
02
Build Your Persistent Workspace
Projects · a seven-file starter kit
Stop starting from zero every morning. Set up a workspace once, so every chat already knows who you are and how you work.
03
Build Your Skills Stack
Skills · the skill-creator
Turn the things you do well and repeatedly into skills, so the output matches your standards without re-explaining yourself.
Others run as a short demo plus open playground time.
On the bench: September to December
Septrunning now
Setup, refreshed : tune your project and voice files for the season.
Skill of the week : build one skill live, start to finish.
Octshaping up
Design your words : turn your writing into a reading experience.
Automate one dull thing : your first connected workflow.
Novin development
Agent + Notion : calls in, published pieces out.
Build a small app : idea to working tool in a session.
Decsketching
Ship something real : polish and publish before the break.
Year-end make-a-thon : bring a project, finish it together.
A rough map, not a syllabus. The same core practice each time, with room to experiment. Nearer months are firmer; the later ones are still taking shape.
What people made
Real things, built in the room.
Not demos of what AI can do. Tools people walked out with and kept using.
A few of the things people build here, and keep using:
- A persistent workspace, so every chat already knows your role, your voice, and how you like to work.
- A proposal or scope-of-work skill that turns a discovery call into a strong first draft.
- A leadership-brief skill that turns scattered inputs into a tight one-page read before the meeting.
- A grant and impact-report skill that shapes funder questions and program data into a fundable draft.
- A weekly-update automation that turns your notes and calls into a finished, on-brand newsletter.
How it stays
What happens in a session stays in the session. Recordings aren’t shared; the prep decks are open so you can see the substance, and the hands-on work lives in the room with the people in it.
In their words
What it feels like inside.
The rhythm
Twice a week, same time.
A standing slot you can build your week around. Bring a task, or just show up and make progress alongside others.
Mon
Tue
10:00 ET
AI Playground
60 min · members
Wed
Thu
10:00 ET
AI Playground
60 min · members
Fri
All times ET. Included with membership.
Bring something you want to make.
No expertise required. Show up with a task you’ve been putting off, and leave having built the thing that handles it.
Join a session