What happens when you mix five powerhouse AEC marketers, a room full of curious professionals, and just enough flair to keep things fabulous?

You get the AI Exchange From Practice to Implementation, an energizing, insight-packed event brought to life by SMPS North Texas. This wasn’t your average Happy Hour. With Robins & Morton hosting us in their beautiful Plano office (thank you, thank you) on Thursday, March 27, over 50 attendees floated between four expert-led breakouts, getting hands-on with real conversations about what AI looks like in action, not just in theory.

Moderator Sarah Kinard, Head Bird here at The Flamingo Project, kicked us off with a confession: She asked AI what we should talk about—relatable. The room laughed and the conversation began. 

Each panelist shared how they’re using AI in their day-to-day work, from content strategy to company-building to team-wide adoption, and then hosted their own themed breakout session, giving attendees a chance to visit two out of four conversations. Think roundtable meets brainstorm meets real talk. 

“If AI writes the proposals and clients use AI to score them…who’s actually talking to whom?” participants in the panel Q&A

Julie Huval, FSMPS, CPSM, owner of Marketing Ops Advisor, challenged attendees to think bigger—way bigger—about how AI could be used to build a business from the ground up. Her breakout pushed participants to move beyond the chatbot and explore AI as a true business engine: for strategy, innovation, and scalable systems.

Julie came in hot with her mantra: “Become ungovernable.” She’s not just using AI, she’s built an entirely separate company powered by it. At her table, the vibe was pure possibility: If you could build a business from scratch using AI, what would you create? More importantly, what’s stopping you from doing that now? 

• Attendees explored how to use AI to dream big and implement practically 
• Ideas flew: content calendars, risk analysis, internal hackathons 

Julie reminded us that AI isn’t just a chatbot. It’s a business partner; one that doesn’t judge your wild ideas.

Courtney Kearney, CPSM, owner of CKearney Consulting, turned her breakout into a CRM truth-telling session, demonstrating how AI can only be as smart as the data you feed it.

Courtney’s session was a wake-up call and a CRM masterclass. The big idea? Dirty data kills AI dreams. Whether you’re trying to analyze win/loss insights or build predictive Go/No-Go tools, your outputs are only as good as what you feed the machine. 

• She discussed how to use AI to analyze past RFPs and decision data 
• Attendees learned how to feed CRM history into a custom GPT (yes, really) 
• We talked AI as coach, analyst, strategist, and how marketers can lead the charge on clean data 

IYKYK! Courtney’s the one who coined AI as “your intern, your coach, and your assistant, but you’re still the boss.”  

Julie Shaffer, FSMPS, CPSM, owner of Shaffer Creative, discussed how AI is changing the way AEC marketers tackle content, from proposal workflows to visuals and beyond. Her breakout was packed with practical tools, cautionary tales, and ethical reminders, all grounded in the idea that AI should empower you—not replace you.

Want practical AI tips you can actually
use in your next proposal?
Follow Julie on LinkedIn and
Shaffer Creative on Instagram.

Laura Hernandez, Marketing Division Director at Robins & Morton, led a breakout on the human side of AI: workflow and adoption. She shared lessons from her firm’s multi-year AI journey and encouraged others to build momentum inside their organizations, one team, one use case, one champion at a time.

Laura didn’t just talk about AI adoption, she’s living it! Since 2021, she’s played an integral role in leading a 23-person marketing and communications team through a full-on transformation: centralizing content, implementing firmwide AI tools, and bringing team members along one conversation at a time.

• Her session focused on the human side of AI, and how to create space for learning, curiosity, and safe experimentation
• Attendees discussed how to align AI tools with company-wide goals
• One highlight: using AI to build personas from transcripts and meeting notes, then running proposals through those voices for greater authenticity

Her breakout felt like a support group and a strategy session—the kind of vibe we all love.

At The Flamingo Project, we’re all about unlocking what’s next. Events like this aren’t just about tools, they’re about empowerment, experimentation, and creative disruption. AI is part of our future, but you are the changemaker. Thanks to our panelists for showing up and showing off. Thanks to Robins & Morton for hosting us in style and a big thanks to SMPS North Texas for organizing this magic. Until next time—stay curious, stay collaborative, and keep showing the AEC world how bold (and beautifully weird) marketing can be.

This blog was proudly crafted by The Flamingo Project team, with real voices, real insights, and a little help from our favorite AI wingbird.