AI comes to Main Street.
A one-day working conference for small & mid-sized businesses. Not passive presentations, not vendor pitches. You work through real decisions for your own business and leave with a written plan and tools you can use immediately.
Presented by Main Street Event with support from the University of Rochester Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
A working conference, not a conference you sit through.
The Main Street Event AI Summit is a one-day working conference for small and mid-sized business owners, leaders, and professionals who want to understand where AI could actually help their organization and leave with a practical plan for what to do next. It is designed especially for organizations with 1–500 employees and small or no dedicated IT teams. No AI experience or technical background is required, whether you are curious, cautious, overwhelmed, or already experimenting.
Participants will work with local experts through facilitated sessions focused on their own organization. Attendees will build an operational inventory to identify a strong AI use case, a one-page AI use policy, a scored comparison of potential tools, and a focused 90-day pilot plan. They will also develop practical prompting skills for getting better results from AI and have access to follow-up opportunities after the Summit.
There's too much AI noise.
We cut through the jargon and show you where to start, what to ignore, and how to make your first useful move.
Yes, this is for you.I'm not sure AI is worth my time.
Good. This is a no-hype event. We'll talk limits, risks, costs, and practical wins you can actually use.
Yes, this is for you.Show me what works.
Local examples, practical demos, and takeaways you can copy on Monday morning.
Yes, this is for you.Primary audience: owners, operators, and functional decision-makers from organizations of roughly 1–500 employees, with an emphasis on businesses that have limited internal AI or IT capacity. Nonprofit leaders, workforce and economic development partners, and students are welcome too.
New to AI? You are welcome here. No AI experience or technical background is required. Before the summit, attendees will be invited to a live preparation webinar, with a recording available afterward. We will help you understand what to expect, prepare for the day, and set up access to a free AI tool if needed. Please bring a laptop so you can participate in demonstrations and working sessions.
Six things you'll walk out having done.
Every session is built around your organization, not a generic case study. You do the work in the room, with a facilitator at your table.
Become excited by what is possible and feel like they are more well informed abour their options for small and mid-sized businesses, including communication, workflow support, process improvement, and decision-making, through a virtual workbook.
Explore practical AI use cases for small and mid-sized businesses, including communication, workflow support, process improvement, and decision-making, through a virtual workbook.
Identify one realistic opportunity where AI could create value in their own organization.
Build practical prompting skills to get clearer, more useful results from AI tools.
Learn how to use AI as a thinking partner to expand ideas, challenge assumptions, improve problem-solving, and increase productivity.
Build a focused 90-day pilot plan with a clear goal, a measure of success, and a decision point for what happens next.
The day at a glance.
Single track, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Each session adds a page to the plan you carry out the door.
Set the stage for the day and why practical, responsible AI adoption matters to SMBs and the region.
You leave withClear understanding of the Summit's purpose, regional economic development, and takeaways
Hear an honest account of implementing AI: one real use case, what worked, what didn't, and the learning curve.
You leave withA realistic picture: adoption doesn't have to be perfect to be useful. And an answer to "why now?"
See practical SMB use cases across communication, process, automation, and decision support; complete a self-assessment.
You leave with2–3 opportunity areas in your own business worth exploring.
Use guided prompts to examine your own business for repetitive work, bottlenecks, and friction; narrow ideas by impact, effort, and risk.
You leave withReusable AI thought-partner prompts — mirror, coach, strategist — and one defined business opportunity to carry through the day.
Connect with regional leaders, students, and sponsors; browse student capstone work.
You leave withNew relationships and practical ideas from peers.
See real-life demos of practical SMB tools
You leave withReal life examples and seeing how people are using them
Draft a one-page AI use policy; compare tools on fit, cost, ease of adoption, and data handling.
You leave withA draft AI use policy, a repeatable tool-evaluation framework, and a set of questions for evaluating any AI tool or use case.
Bring the day together: opportunity, people involved, first actions, guardrails, success measures, and a stop/change condition.
You leave withA practical 90-day AI pilot plan tied to your real business opportunity.
Reflect, commit to a next step, and learn about ongoing community and follow-up programming.
You leave withA completed AI Starter Framework and connections to keep going after the Summit.
Agenda and speakers are in development; timings and names may shift as sessions are finalized. Includes morning and afternoon breaks with all-day coffee.
Everyone builds, together.
No concurrent breakouts, no picking the wrong room and writing off the day. The whole room moves through one shared arc, with trained facilitators at every table, plus two dedicated facilitators for virtual attendees.
Find Your AI Opportunity
Use guided prompts to inventory your own operations: what's repetitive, what's rules-based, what eats hours. Narrow the list by impact, effort, and risk.
You build: your operational inventory, one defined opportunity, and a set of reusable thought-partner prompts.
Your Guardrails & Your Options
Draft a one-page AI use policy from a template, then score real tools against your chosen opportunity on fit, cost, ease of adoption, and data handling.
You build: a draft AI use policy and a repeatable tool-evaluation framework.
Your 90-Day Plan
Bring the day together: opportunity, people involved, first actions, guardrails, success measures, and an explicit stop/change condition. And if the honest answer is "AI isn't worth it for this process," that's a successful outcome too.
You build: your 90-day pilot plan.
Practical voices from your community.
Every speaker earns their slot the same way: real experience, honest lessons, and zero vendor pitch. More speakers to be announced.
The AI Starter Framework
A working plan you build live across the day.
- Your operational inventory & one strong AI use case
- Your one-page AI use policy
- A scored comparison of potential tools
- Your 90-day pilot plan with a success measure and a decision point
- Reusable prompts & regional resources
Leave with a plan you built, pressure-tested by a facilitator.
- You build it live. Each working session adds a piece, so the framework walks out the door finished.
- It's your business, not a template. Your processes, your policy, your tools, your pilot, reviewed at your table by a trained facilitator.
- You get better at prompting. Practical skills for using AI as a thinking partner — to expand ideas, challenge assumptions, and solve problems faster.
- Follow-up doesn't stop at 4:00 p.m. Attendees get access to ongoing community and follow-up opportunities after the Summit. Check out our calendar of continuing events!
Save the date.
Registration is open!! One price, everything included: the full working day, continental breakfast, lunch, all-day coffee, and your AI Starter Framework. A short intake at checkout (sector, team size, biggest time sinks) lets us seat you well and gives your facilitators a head start.
- Full working day · every session
- Breakfast, lunch & all-day coffee
- Facilitator at your table
- AI Starter Framework built by you
- Full working day · every session, live
- Two dedicated virtual facilitators
- Virtual workbook & guided exercises
- AI Starter Framework built by you
Bringing your team? Ask about group rates for 3+ registrations: hello@mainstreetevent.com
A stronger Main Street.
When our small businesses, nonprofits, and community leaders thrive, Rochester thrives. The Summit serves Greater Rochester and Western New York in the room, and business owners anywhere through 1,000 virtual seats.
Registration is open.
Not ready to commit, yet? Join the interest list and we'll send the speaker announcements, the final agenda, and other updates.
Help Rochester businesses put AI to work.
Sponsorship here means visible civic leadership in front of 1,200 high-intent decision-makers, 200 in the room and 1,000 online. The University of Rochester, Center of Excellence in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence leads as our Cornerstone sponsor, and premier placements are open now.
Founding academic partner and host of the Summit at the Feldman Ballroom, with support from the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and a graduate student facilitator corps at every table.
For speaker & sponsor inquiries, contact us at hello@mainstreetevent.com
FAQ
Do I need a technical background?
No. This event is designed for business owners, operators, and functional decision-makers, not developers. No AI experience is required. Whether you are curious, cautious, overwhelmed, or already experimenting. Trained facilitators at every table meet you exactly where you are. If you can describe how your business runs, you can build your framework.
When does registration open, and what does it cost?
Registration is open. Tickets are $300 for in-person and $200 for virtual attendance. This includes the full working day, breakfast and lunch for in-person attendees, and your AI Starter Framework.
How does the virtual option work?
1,000 virtual seats run alongside the 200 in the room. Virtual attendees join every session live, work through the same guided exercises in a virtual workbook, and have two dedicated facilitators supporting them through the working sessions. You build the same framework and leave with the same 90-day plan.
Why one track instead of breakout sessions?
Because the working sessions only work if the whole room is at the same point in the same exercise at the same time, and because the most common failure of business conferences is picking the wrong session and writing off the day. One room, one shared arc, and the peer conversation at your table is worth more when everyone shares it.
What exactly do I leave with?
Four things, all built by you during the day: an operational inventory that identifies one strong AI use case, a one-page AI use guidelines, a scored comparison of potential tools, and a focused 90-day pilot plan with a success measure and a decision point. Plus practical prompting skills and access to follow-up programming after the Summit.
I'm skeptical about AI. Should I still come?
Especially you. Our panel, Expand Your Thinking & Find Your AI Opportunity, covers various ways to use AI responsibly and securely. And we'll say it from the stage: for some businesses in the room, the correct conclusion is that AI isn't worth it for the process they chose. Reaching that conclusion is a successful outcome of the day.
Where is the Feldman Ballroom? Is there parking?
The Feldman Ballroom is on the University of Rochester campus in Rochester, NY. Parking and arrival details will be sent to all registered attendees before the event and posted here once finalized.
Can I send my whole team?
Yes, and you should. Teams that attend together implement faster. Email hello@mainstreetevent.com about group rates for 3 or more.
What's the refund policy?
Tickets are fully refundable through October 30, 2026, and transferable to a colleague any time. If you can't make it, your framework and community access still come with you.