Kelly Tutors
Events &
Reviews
Wise people always say, “Never be the smartest person in the room,” so we’ve got that covered!!
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The blogs blend humor, storytelling, and insightful commentary about the experience of attending top-industry events as an outsider trying to learn. I document what is said (and not said).
Late and Great Prep for Exiting + Buy Outs
TLDR: Kelly attends an early-morning startup event on preparing businesses for mergers, acquisitions, and exits, covering EBITDA valuations, customer concentration risks, earn-outs, and carve-outs, while reflecting on her own entrepreneurial journey.
Benefit of the Doute pour la Calamité du Discours
TLDR: Part 2 of a French cultural event at an art school where a promised "workshop" turned out to be more talks, redeemed by a passionate student-led discussion about whether AI-generated art can ever match human creativity.
L’Envoy de Paris Saved la Soirée
TLDR: A French cultural event at Seattle's town hall that started slow with an awkward atmosphere, but was rescued by a visiting Paris-based professor who gave a brilliant talk connecting the Enlightenment to AI, arguing that organizing knowledge is a political act and that AI can either restore intellectual dependency or foster courage.
Importers Assemble!! Flexport is here to help!!
TLDR: Flexport hosts a deep-dive seminar on customs audits, the CAPE refund system, and drawback programs, teaching importers how to navigate tariff compliance, avoid CBP scrutiny, and potentially recover duties paid on exports.
Growing Mammalian Cells, Drugs, and Vaccines in Shakers? A Mini Conference
TLDR: A highly technical biotech mini-conference about shaking incubator technology for growing mammalian cells, covering oxygen transfer rates, vessel geometry, and cell cultivation -- way over the author's head but attended with good humor and a free laptop bag.
Duty Calls: Custom(s) Fandom for Flexport's Tariff Talk
TLDR: The author attends Flexport's tariff update webinar covering Section 232 changes that simplified steel and aluminum duty calculations, learning how the new rules affect importers' costs across different product categories.
Open Claw for Ya’. The first in the Emerald City
TLDR: Seattle's first OpenClaw AI meetup featuring demos of agentic AI deployments including a dairy farm intelligence system, team memory management tools, AI patent scanning, and discussions about giving AI agents persistent identities and virtual pets.
Sugar Pushin’ towards Quantum Day 2029 (Security Tech Conference + West Coast Swing) / Double Feature
TLDR: A full-day corporate security tech conference covering AI data security, quantum computing threats (Q-Day 2029), post-quantum cryptography migration, and cybersecurity preparedness, followed by a West Coast Swing dance event in the evening.
Super Terriffic Indo-Pacific Tech Policy Conference
TLDR: An extremely dry Indo-Pacific tech policy conference covering US-Korea-Japan-China digital regulation and cybersecurity, where multiple attendees were visibly falling asleep during dense governmental panel discussions.
The Affordable Housing Flirty Social & Lunch
TLDR: The author returns to an annual affordable housing luncheon in Seattle, excited to hear the new mayor speak about accelerating housing production, bolder policy, and building near transit, while observing the event's famously flirtatious networking atmosphere.
FINALYLLYLYY BUILDING AN AI AGENT!!!… (Well… Not Quite - BUT - FINALLY an AGENTIC WHISPERER)
TLDR: Author attends a virtual workshop on AI agents hoping to learn how to build one, but discovers the product (MuleRun) is actually a workflow automation tool -- not an agent builder -- and provides candid feedback about confusing marketing and event naming.
Across Town for Some Leadership and Equality
TLDR: A women's leadership and entrepreneurship event where Kelly arrived an hour late, found the first workshop on "bad business ideas" unhelpful, switched rooms to a career narrative rewriting exercise, and sat through an AI 101 resume talk, with the main takeaway being two consecutive events telling her to replace "hope" with action.
Forecasting Fundable Founders
TLDR: The author attends a startup funding event featuring speakers on capital access, company culture, and acquisitions, including an inspiring blind PhD speaker advocating for accessibility in tech entrepreneurship.
Brah! Even the Protestor Couldn’t Muster a Reason to Stay: How I Built Zero Agentic AI Agents in Three Hours at the Second Misleading AI Workshop in a Week
TLDR: A disappointing AI workshop marketed as hands-on agentic AI building turned out to be lecture-only with no actual agent creation, leaving Kelly frustrated by the gap between marketing promises and delivery.
Breaking Even as OpenAI Patronizes its Power Audience… and the Handsome, Bullied, Gaslit Mayor Throws a GPT Hail Mary
TLDR: Kelly attends an OpenAI workshop for small businesses and is frustrated that the content is extremely basic, noting that even the 70-year-olds in attendance already know how to use ChatGPT, while the mayor reads a ChatGPT-generated speech at the event.
Gamifying Education? Not Likely Against the Lobbying Curriculum Cartel
TLDR: Author attends a gaming-in-education panel featuring a Portal game designer and school district tech directors, learning that curriculum lobbying cartels and strict Common Core standards make it nearly impossible for indie game developers to get educational games into classrooms.
KT’s Favorite Showdown + The Most Unique Event Yet
TLDR: A double-header weekend starting with Kelly's favorite annual event -- the NW Garden Show's live Container Showdown competition -- followed by a "Mix and Manifest" wellness event featuring dance-offs, yoga, sound baths, caprese salads nobody recognized, and a teenager who didn't know what "self-care" meant.
Hickies for the Bank’s V.P. + Pre-FIFA Economic Rundown (w/ Remote Viewing… 13/16 Accuracy)
TLDR: A bank-hosted small business panel covering FIFA World Cup economic preparation, access to capital, scaling strategies, and workforce development, combined with Kelly's "remote viewing" experiment where 13 of 16 predictions came true.
First Day Remote Viewing Training + Week of Wonder
TLDR: Kelly documents her first week of intentional spiritual practices including fasting, tarot, meditation, dream journaling, and remote viewing exercises where she draws images before revealing target photos, exploring intuition and metaphysical experiences.
Coercively Tricked into a Predatory Date… Plus 5th Dimension Goals and “KT Dreams”
TLDR: The author recounts a disturbing predatory date experience, pivots to discussing 5th dimension spirituality and personal growth goals, and shares insights from dream journaling as creative fuel for her brand.
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