Michelle Chen and Kate Cassidy, Brock University
Keynote Session of the Day
DATA FINDINGS: Generative AI in Small Business: Benefits, Challenges & Considerations
An online event to help you gain valuable insights and practical resources to address growth, labour and community issues within your own organizations.
November 25th – November 28th, 2024
Sponsored by:
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SESSION SPONSOR
Running a business today means facing labor shortages, rising costs, and navigating constant uncertainty and change.
You’ve tried to adapt your business strategies independently, but much of the advice out there doesn’t address the real challenges you’re facing.
Maybe you’ve been told things like…
“Grow your business with this fool-proof method!” (Okay, but what about retention and workforce training?)
“Just follow these steps for a flexible, adaptable business!” (Sure, but how do I handle labor shortages?)
“AI will solve all your efficiency problems!” (Sounds great, but how do I actually implement it?)
You’re tired of trying to run your business with one-size-fits-all strategies, frustrated when they don’t fit your specific needs.
What you really want is to...
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Learn retention and employer education strategies so you can grow your business, learn how to scale and transition to a medium sized business
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Have a business that is adaptable to a changing workforce, labour challenges and combating brain drain of the pool of eligible candidates
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Use AI to help my business run smoothly, with tools that you can easily implement and start leveraging for growth and scalability within your business
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Make profits WHILE helping your community and learn how partnering, creating and fostering connection with your employees and community fosters sustainability and growth in business
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Reach whatever financial or success goals you have for your business that so far have felt out of reach, even though you’ve been following all the advice of those that have come before you – but it’s not working
You can grow your business by using strategies that address your unique challenges, not generic solutions.
And you don't don't have to navigate it alone.
The NCP Virtual Summit was created to help you strengthen employee retention, create adaptable business strategies and help you learn tools to implement them easily.
Our speakers are business experts, and over the course of the summit, they’ll teach you strategies you can use to build, grow and strengthen your business, even if you throw out the “rulebook” on what you’re “supposed to” do.
It’s time to embrace your business's unique challenges with practical solutions and build your organization to thrive with strategies that work for you, not against you.
What to expect at the NCP Virtual Summit
When & Where
The NCP Virtual Summit will run from Mon November 25th through Thurs November 28th, with a variety of presentations to choose from each day. This event is entirely virtual, so you’ll be able to attend from anywhere in the world with internet access!
Expert Presentations
Attend insightful sessions from industry experts on key topics like business growth, workforce adaptability, AI tools for efficiency, and community-driven sustainability.
Your free ticket includes 48-hour access to each presentation during the summit week, with options to purchase lifetime access for deeper learning.
Summit Networking Community
You’ll also have access to our private Facebook community of business leaders and entrepreneurs tackling the same challenges as you. This is your space to connect with speakers and fellow attendees, share insights, and discuss strategies for growth, adaptability, AI integration, and community-driven sustainability—before and during the summit!
🎁 Chances to Win Prizes
Show up and participate in the Facebook community for a chance to win prizes throughout the summit! Keep an eye out for your BINGO card, and join the conversation for chances to win things like business resources, templates, and even 1:1 strategy sessions with some of our expert speakers on topics like business growth, AI tools, and workforce adaptability!
🔬 Tues + Thurs live interactive “Action Lab” session
You can spend time applying what you’ve learned in real-time. Use case studies and guided discussions, you can collaborate with experts and peers to develop personalized strategies for your specific challenges.
Upgrade to the All Access Pass!
What makes this event unique
This is the first-ever NCP Fall Summit designed specifically to tackle the unique challenges businesses are facing today. From the session topics to the speaker lineup, every part of this summit was built to provide practical, real-world solutions for business owners like you.
Meet the Speakers
Check out the incredible lineup of amazing Niagara Region business owners that you’ll hear from at the Niagara Chamber Partnership Virtual Summit!
DAY 1: “I want to grow my business”
Growth, Retention and Employee Education Strategies
Andrew Soave
Simplify to Scale: An example of process analysis, simplification, and automation to grow your business as a solopreneur, small business, and beyond
Katy Letourneau
Growing Together: How Workplace Culture Drives Business Growth, Retention, and Community Impact
Larry Cartier
Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Andréa Jones
The Secret to Getting Paying Clients Through LinkedIn
DAY 2: “I want to have a business that is adaptable”
Combating Brain Drain, Labour Challenges and Changing Workforce
Janelle Van Halst
How to lead, motivate and retain top-tier staff in the modern world
Verne Milot
The 5 key elements needed to attract (and keep) “A” Players.
Dr. Maxine McLean
Rewiring for Success: Harnessing Neuroplasticity for Personal and Business Growth
Sean Reid
Five easy strategies entrepreneurs can use to live, work and lead their businesses with less stress, more purpose, and higher performance.
Randall Baran-Chong
The Most Important Plan You Probably Don’t Have: The Why, What, and How of Succession Planning
DAY 3: I want to use AI to help my business run smoothly”
Using AI Tools and Strategies for Creating Efficiencies
Sana Pabani
Boosting Efficiency with Microsoft Copilot: Explore the core features and functionalities of Copilot, and how it integrates seamlessly with your business applications.
Ed Unrau & Graham Love
Flipping the Paradigm: Decision-Centered Thinking for AI Integration
Clayton Letourneau
Discover how AI can optimize workflows, reduce costs, and free up time for innovation.
Debi Katsmar
AI for CRM Systems and Marketing Automation: Using AI to transform your marketing efforts
Nicole Campell
Use AI to set up systems and workflows to planning content and automating routine tasks
DAY 4: “I want to make profits while helping my community”
How Connection with Community Creates Sustainability with Business
Kimberly Wardell
Profits with Purpose: How Community Connection Fuels Business Success
Darren Fry
Building a Greener Future: Walker ND’s Commitment to Community and Sustainable Waste Management
Joel DeGroat
Building Strong Community Relationships for Long-Term Success
Timothy Nelles
Purpose to drive profit —when you are helping your customers, colleagues, and communities thrive, you will win and feel fulfilled.
As you can see by that incredible lineup, you are not alone, and you are *not* going to want to miss this event.
Plus these Live Events
Tuesday: Growth and Adaptability Conversations from the presentations
Join us for an engaging discussion on what it really takes to grow a business in today’s changing workforce. We’ll explore the challenges of retaining talent, navigating labor shortages, and adjusting to demographic shifts—all issues we’ve seen highlighted in the summit presentations.
Together, we’ll dive into real-world examples, share practical strategies, and explore how aligning your business with community values can create a foundation for long-term success. This session is all about turning insights into action, helping you adapt and grow with purpose.
Thursday: Efficiencies and Community Impact from the presentations
Meet Your Hosts 👋
Niagara’s communities have outstanding Chambers of Commerce, and we are especially proud of our partnerships within the Niagara Chamber Partnership.
In Niagara, nine local Chambers have joined together to give you outstanding value with a truly regional experience that offers you access to a strong regional advocacy voice, more exposure, more connections, and stronger relationships with businesses across Niagara.
The nine organizations that form the Niagara Chamber Partnership (NCP), bring a united presence to regional issues, opportunities for additional networking at joint events, and the power of exposure across multiple Chamber websites and communication pieces, such as newsletters and social media channels.
Here's what some of our past attendees of Chamber events had to say:
"I want everyone to know how much I appreciate all that the Chamber does for the community."
"Thank you so much for coming to our aid during a tumultuous time! So appreciated not only the resources, but the care given when distributing [rapid screening kits] and the connection I felt to the community. Your work matters, and is valued!"
"The topics being discussed at the Chamber roundtables are topics that I’m encountering every day at work. I was able to gain some insights and tips from professionals"
"Outstanding dedication along with prompt and helpful service."
"Amazing conversations, great people and an overall amazing event!"
"I appreciate how in tune you are with our business community…you really are our voice!"
It's time to...
Stop blaming yourself for struggling with your business. The real issue isn’t you—it’s outdated advice that doesn’t address the unique challenges you face in today’s economy.
Toss out the “rulebook” of business practices that no longer work in the face of labor shortages, AI integration, and changing workforce dynamics.
Build the business you’ve envisioned, with strategies that are practical, sustainable, and aligned with your values—without burning out or feeling overwhelmed.
Embrace the innovative solutions and insights from this summit, and celebrate the unique strengths you bring to the table!
Grab your ticket by clicking the button below and join us for the Niagara Chamber Partership Virtual Summit!
Frequently And/Or Hypothetically Asked Questions
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No, but it is your only chance to get it at this price!
For transparency’s sake, once the summit starts on November 3rd, the price will go up to $100 (our “regular” price)
The bonuses listed on this page are ready and waiting for you! As soon as you purchase, you’ll get instant access to your course login where you’ll find coupon codes for each of the individual speaker bonuses. You’ll have until December 16th to use the coupon codes to claim the bonuses you want!
You’ll get access to all presentations (in all formats) the morning of November 4th, the first day of the summit. No waiting for new presentations to drop at a certain time, no worrying about anything expiring!
For each of the bonuses, you’ll get a link and coupon code to use on the speaker’s website. This will allow them to send you the info you’ll need for accessing and making the most out of their contribution.
After logging in to the All Access Digital Coupon Book, you’ll need to take a few minutes to go through and claim each of the bonuses you want – totally worth it for the $1,000 worth of resources!
Be sure to claim all the bonuses you want by December16th. After that, the coupon codes will expire, and we are not able to give extensions.
Good god, no!
The only way a speaker/contributor will get your email address is when you self-select the resource they contributed and sign up for it (usually with a 100%-off coupon code they provided or a special sign up link), or if you sign up for the freebie they offer on their presentation page.
We’ve done everything we could to make the presentation recordings in the Busy Brains Pass as accessible as possible, including closed captions on all videos, transcripts, private podcast feeds, written article versions of all presentations, and .txt transcripts for braille machines.
(The free version of the summit presentations also have closed captions and clean transcripts, but not the private podcast feed or fully-formatted article versions of the presentations. The .txt files of presentations are available on request in the free version as well.)
Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee accessibility features in the speaker bonuses, because those are all resources that they manage and create in their own individual businesses that are separate from this one, but we are confident that if you reached out and asked them, they’d be more than happy to add whatever accessibility features you needed! We promise, they’re all super nice and awesome!
If there’s anything else that would make the summit and the Busy Brains Pass more accessible to you, please don’t hesitate to email us at claire@clairepaniccia.com, and we’ll do everything we can to get you the support and access you need.
It sure is! We are not able to offer price adjustments after the price has increased.
The Special Offer pricing you see on this page is only available until the countdown hits zero and will not be offered again, so click here to upgrade your ticket at the lowest price possible!
We are not able to offer discounts, but know that you are getting an incredible value, even if you have several of the speaker bonuses already.
The value of the All Access Digital Coupon Book is over $1,000 just for the bonuses, and even if you only signed up for 2-3 of the speaker bonuses, you’d still be saving compared to buying them at regular price!
Due to the digital nature of the product and the fact that it contains instant downloads and material from multiple businesses, we are not able to offer refunds for any reason.
Please look through all the details before you purchase and email info@lincolnchamber.ca with any questions you have!
No problem! Send an email over to info@lincolnchamber.ca and we’ll get back to you within 3-4 business days.
Dummy
Being neurodiverse/neurodivergent means that your brain doesn’t work the way the rest of the world’s does (or at least the way they expect it to).
That could be because you have ADHD, or autism, or OCD, or dyslexia, or chronic depression, or countless other neural differences (we don’t like the term “disorder”).
Abso-friggin-lutely.
I (Claire, the founder) am very pro-self-diagnosis.
There are a lot of barriers to getting a diagnosis in a lot of countries, including years-long waiting lists and prohibitive costs.
Plus, a person could have safety reasons for not pursuing diagnosis, like wanting to avoid discrimination from school admin or at work or even from family (just look at Britney Spears).
Not to mention that for a lot of neurodivergent conditions, the research (and therefore toooooo many doctors) just don’t fully know about or understand them, and therefore don’t accurately diagnose (i.e. “you can’t be autistic, you’ve been making eye contact with me” 🙄 That’s not how it works, doc.) It took me over a year to get an official ADHD diagnosis because of this very reason.
If you’ve done your research and have come to the informed and considered realization that you probably have a neurodivergent condition even though you don’t have a diagnosis, you can absolutely identify as neurodivergent in my book 🤗
You don’t need a doctor’s permission slip for community.
Also abso-friggin-lutely. We like to be as inclusive as we can here!
I’m not a fan of gatekeeping community based on a doctor’s permission slip.
The number of people who’ve gone undiagnosed their whole lives (especially those who weren’t raised as cisgender white boys) is astronomical. There are soooooo many of us (especially in the millennial generation) who got overlooked as kids, and now that neurodivergent TikTok is happening and more and more people are talking about their lived experiences online, more and more people are resonating with that content and then realizing that maybe that’s them too.
And maybe it’s you.
And also maybe it’s not.
And either way is totally fine.
You’re still absolutely welcome in this space, and if the stuff you’ve seen on socials has resonated for you, this stuff might too, and I think that’s pretty great 
It sure is! There are a lot of offerings out there for general online business owners, but this one has been created specifically for us neurodivergent people and how to build our businesses in a way that works for us.
Non-neurodivergent (aka neurotypical) online entrepreneurs could easily benefit from this summit as well — accessibility usually means more accessible for everyone, not just the people being accommodated, and in this case we’re making our businesses more accessible for ourselves!
There are disagreements in the community about the differences between “neurodiverse” and “neurodivergent”, and on a broader scope, the meaning of celebrating “neurodiversity” versus “neurodivergence”.
For the record, I (Claire, the founder and host) walk the line between the two philosophies.
Neurodiversity is about how our conditions are simply differences in our brains, and to that I say yes absolutely.
AND ALSO we have to also contend with the fact that we live in a society that expects us to be neurotypical, and for many of us, our conditions (while celebratory) are also real disabilities.
We can’t entirely ignore the fact that there is the binary of neurodivergent and neurotypical (which I think some people who support the neurodiversity movement would like to do). But on the other hand, I don’t think we should insist on it, at the risk of gatekeeping support and community to those who may have not realized that they’re neurodivergent.
So for me, I think it’s more nuanced than one or the other. I think it’s a little of both. Which is why you’ll see both terms used interchangeably throughout this event.
That’s a great question: yes, I think you’ll still get a ton of value from the event 🤗 Some of the presentations might not entirely apply or work for your business, and some of the details or examples that the speakers use in their presentations might be more focused on online businesses, but there’s soooooo much goodness that applies to business in general that you’ll still get a lot out of it.
The main portion of the summit runs from Mon Jul 22nd through Thurs Jul 25th. We’ll kick off on Sun Jul 21st with an opening call, and the Facebook Group will be available right away when you get your free ticket!
Each presentation (both video and private podcast version) will be available for 48-hours. I’m doing this because as an ADHD person, I hate when summits only allow 24 hours access to the videos – I have a life! And I’m also super forgetful and distractible! So I always end up missing the presentations I really want to watch. And I don’t want that for you.
However, after you register, you can grab the Busy Brains Pass to get lifetime access to all of the presentations as well as:
The whole summit in private podcast form (in case your brain does better with listening so you can multitask/fidget)
Fully-formatted, edited, written article versions of each presentation (in case your brain does better with reading than listening/watching)
Bundle of additional resources from speakers to help you build your brain-friendly business (total value: $2000+)
$200 off enrollment in my group coaching program Brain-Friendly Business- 💌 An invitation to my private FB Group, the Chaos Gremlin Water Cooler
You’ll have 12 hours to grab this deal at a super special price, so if you need to sleep on it, you can!
No way! The only person you’ll get emails from after you sign up is me, Claire, the founder of the Neurodiverse Entrepreneur Summit™.
That’s so you can get all the updates for the summit and links to each day’s presentations. After the summit is over, you’ll continue to hear from me, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
As for the speakers, the only way your email address will be shared with them is if you opt-in for their freebie during their presentations. That way, you only hear from the people you really love and don’t have to worry about getting added to 15+ email lists that you’re not interested in.
Learn more in our Privacy Policy.
To avoid tech glitches, save my sanity, and keep things easy for the speakers, the presentations are pre-recorded and will be released at the same time at the beginning of each day.
The live portion comes in with the speakers being in the chatbox for an hour after their presentation is released! You’ll get the schedule for these chatbox hours after you register.
In addition, there will also be a themed Live Panel each day with a handful of speakers, so you can ask them questions then and there!
The panels are live video calls about a specific topic with a group of our speakers.
All attendees will be able to attend the live calls and submit questions to be answered by the speakers, plus 48 hours access to watch the replays.
If you upgrade to the Busy Brains Pass (our all-access pass), you’ll get lifetime access to the replays of the Live Panels.
The panel schedule and speakers are listed above.
All of our speakers for this summit have been hand-picked and our slots are currently full. However, we’re open to additional affiliates or potential speakers for next year’s summit. If you’re interested in affiliate details for this year’s summit, or being considered for the Neurodiverse Entrepreneur Summit 2025, email claire@clairepaniccia.com !
We’ve done everything we could think of to make the event as accessible as possible, but if there’s something that you need that would make the event more accessible to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email at claire@clairepaniccia.com
Here’s what we’re doing to make the summit more accessible for you:
➖ All presentations have edited/cleaned-up closed captioning (one of the benefits of doing pre-recorded presentations) as well as fully edited/cleaned-up transcripts.
➖ .txt versions of the transcripts are available for those who need them for braille machines, just reach out to us via email at claire@clairepaniccia.com
➖ Fully-formatted article versions of the presentations as well as a private podcast of the presentations are also available with the Busy Brains Pass (the all-access pass upgrade option) that you’ll see after registering for the summit.
➖ Timers showing when the presentation you’re watching expires are visible right there on the page, because I know as an ADHD person, time-blindness is real, and it’s helpful to have reminders.
➖ For the special one-time offer to upgrade your ticket with the Busy Brains Pass that you’ll see after you register for the summit, we’ve made the timer on that offer 12 hours, instead of the industry standard of 15-30 mins.
Please reach out if there’s anything we can do to ensure you’re able to enjoy this event. We want to make sure this whole thing is accessible to everyone, so we’re super open to ideas!
No problem! Shoot an email over to claire@clairepaniccia.com and I’ll get back to you within 3-4 business days.
Get your $20 ticket!
Grab your free ticket to the Niagara Chamber Partnership Virtual Summit™ and move closer to the business of your dreams, the one that works with your unique brain!