NAMTA Connect Schedule

 Summer Connect Series 2025

AI as Your Business Transformation Partner Session 1: AI as Your Thought Partner

When: Thursday, June 12th at 3 PM ET
Speaker:  Steve Robinson

What if you had a strategist available 24/7—one that helps you ideate, test assumptions, and sharpen your thinking? In this session, we’ll explore how AI can become your go-to sounding board. See how other business owners are using simple prompting techniques to overcome creative blocks and make faster, sharper decisions.

AI isn’t about replacing what makes your business great—it’s about scaling it. This Zoom series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is helping art & craft retailers and their suppliers work smarter, compete harder, and reclaim their time. This isn’t a how-to. It’s what’s possible. You’ll leave each session with a clear picture of what’s working, what’s next, and what’s in it for your business. Ready to see just how far AI can take you?

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AI as Your Business Transformation Partner Session 2: AI as Your 24/7 Research Analyst

When: Tuesday, June 24th at 3 PM ET
Speaker: Steve Robinson

Drowning in data but starved for insights? This preview shows how AI can make sense of customer feedback, market trends, and competitive intel in minutes. You’ll see how AI-enabled businesses cut through the noise and turn cluttered data into actionable insights.

AI isn’t about replacing what makes your business great—it’s about scaling it. This Zoom series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is helping art & craft retailers and their suppliers work smarter, compete harder, and reclaim their time. This isn’t a how-to. It’s what’s possible. You’ll leave each session with a clear picture of what’s working, what’s next, and what’s in it for your business. Ready to see just how far AI can take you?

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 AI as Your Business Transformation Partner Session 3: AI as Your 24/7 Copywriter and Content Creator

When: Tuesday, July 15th at 3 PM ET
Speaker: Steve Robinson

No more blank pages or missed deadlines. AI can help outline, generate, or edit weeks of on-brand content—email campaigns, blog posts, social media—in one sitting. We’ll show you how to keep your voice intact while using proven frameworks that make AI-assisted content useful and authentic.

AI isn’t about replacing what makes your business great—it’s about scaling it. This Zoom series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is helping art & craft retailers and their suppliers work smarter, compete harder, and reclaim their time. This isn’t a how-to. It’s what’s possible. You’ll leave each session with a clear picture of what’s working, what’s next, and what’s in it for your business. Ready to see just how far AI can take you?

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About Steve Robinson: Steve is an accomplished sales and marketing leader with over twenty years in the art materials industry. As a business coach, advisor, and consultant, Steve helps small and medium-sized businesses reach their full potential with innovative strategies and AI-enabled digital transformations. Using proven frameworks for change and optimization that now include AI-enabled tools, his approach remains grounded in practical business sense. Steve makes powerful solutions accessible and practical for SMBs like yours.

When: Tuesday, July 29th at 3 PM ET
Speaker:  Cindy Shih and Carlos Lopez, Nerdrock Media

In this class, you’ll discover straightforward strategies to ensure your message gets noticed across key platforms—like YouTube, mobile devices, TV, Spotify, and more. You’ll learn how to appear in the right places at the right time, without overwhelming your audience, and gain a clear understanding of the return on investment (ROI) across all your marketing channels.

If you’re ready to make your marketing work smarter—without working harder—this is the perfect place to begin.

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More Efficient Digital Marketing for the Art Industry Part 2: Executing Campaigns with Confidence

When: Tuesday, August 5th at 3:00 PM ET
Speakers: Cindy Shih and Carlos Lopez, Nerdrock Media

Ready to roll up your sleeves?

This hands-on follow-up class dives into the digital marketing ecosystem, with a focus on the tools and solutions available to art suppliers and retailers. We’ll guide you through the essentials of setting up a campaign—using the Google Marketing Platform as our example—from selecting the right ad formats (like video, display, or audio) to reaching the right audience and managing frequency caps.

You’ll walk away with practical tips, checklists, and real-world examples to help you create smarter, more strategic campaigns that drive measurable results.

If you're looking for actionable guidance to turn your digital marketing ideas into impact, this is the class for you.

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About Cindy Shih: Cindy is a California-based visual artist and digital marketer with a unique blend of creative and strategic expertise. Her journey in digital marketing began at Google, and she brings extensive experience working with clients from individual artists to major agencies, resellers, as well as global brands in the art supply industry.

About Carlos Lopez: Carlos is the founder of Nerdrock Media and brings 18 years of experience in digital advertising and advertising technologies. After working at Google, he launched his own firm to support smaller marketers and agencies, offering them access to enterprise-level technologies and tailored training.

About Nerdrock Media:

Nerdrock Media is a California-based digital marketing consultancy specializing in platform solutions and strategic consulting for brands and agencies. Comprised of former Google professionals, the company emphasizes the importance of streamlined data, integrated technology, and strong partnerships to drive impactful digital marketing outcomes.

Nerdrock Media focuses on building future-proofed infrastructure that meets high expectations for privacy, transparency, and control. By integrating and accessing data, the company helps clients gain a more complete view of their customers and connect data with cross-device and intent signals to identify valuable audiences. Their approach includes multi-touch attribution to uncover the value associated with every touchpoint and media investment. www.nerdrockmedia.com

AI as Your Business Transformation Partner Session 4: The AI-Enhanced Sales Pro

When: Tuesday, August 19th at 3:00 PM ET
Speaker: Steve Robinson

Busy salespeople are using AI to personalize outreach, prep faster, and spend more time building relationships and making sales. In this session, we’ll give you a peek at how top sales teams are offloading admin work and increasing conversions—without losing the human touch.

AI isn’t about replacing what makes your business great—it’s about scaling it. This Zoom series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is helping art & craft retailers and their suppliers work smarter, compete harder, and reclaim their time. This isn’t a how-to. It’s what’s possible. You’ll leave each session with a clear picture of what’s working, what’s next, and what’s in it for your business. Ready to see just how far AI can take you?

Register Now

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