It's hot outside! So take a few minutes to come inside, cool down, and learn something new with us! As always, if there is a topic you would like us to cover, please let us know!

Our monthly online ActiveCampaign sessions are offered on August 11th and August 13th, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon. Join our Managing Contacts session on August 11th to learn more about managing your contacts. To learn more about creating and sending campaigns, join our Creating Email Campaigns session on August 13th.

Accessibility Fundamentals: Hyperlinks

Join EIT staff for a quick (30-minute) training covering a fundamental accessibility principle. Hyperlinks are an essential element of accessibility, but are often used incorrectly. Learn best practices for link text and appearance. This session is on August 6th from 10-10:30 am, and you can find it in XLMS.

Accessibility Fundamentals: Tables

Join EIT staff for a quick (30-minute) training covering a fundamental accessibility principle. For this session, we will cover how to build data tables that are understandable and accessible. Learn the do’s and don’ts to create organized, user-friendly tables that are compatible with assistive technology. This session is listed in XLMS, and will be on August 18th from 2-2:30 pm.

Our monthly online Eventbrite session is on August 4th from 9-10:30 a.m. This session covers Extension Eventbrite requests through event publication, including budget forms, adding details to the event, online events, modifying ticket information, adding custom questions to the order form, making your event live for registration, and managing attendees once your event is published.

We are offering two Express sessions this month. Topics change each month, depending on questions received, suggestions, etc.

Let's Make a Date with Google Calendar!

Did you know you can use Google Calendar for more than just scheduling meetings? In this session, you will learn how to create meetings on Google Calendar, as well as a few other tips to help make calendar management easier. You'll learn how to add attachments, find available times for specific meeting attendees, and how to create a task from your calendar. Sign up in XLMS to join us on August 19th from 9-9:30 am.

Level Up Your Research: Mastering NotebookLM

Tired of digging through 100-page USDA reports, dense crop manuals, or endless community surveys just to find one specific statistic? Meet NotebookLM—Google’s free, AI-powered notes assistant that only uses the sources you give it. No internet hallucinations, just your trusted extension data, supercharged.

In this fast-paced, 30-minute session, we’ll skip the fluff and get straight to how this tool can save you hours of prep time for your programs. Join us on August 26th from 10-10:30, by sigining up in XLMS.

Photography Education Training

Join Ben Farmer for a virtual training to talk all things photography. We will cover the basics of photography and what makes a "good photo," as well as when and where we can use resources online. Find this session in XLMS, and join us on August 6th from 2-3:30 pm.

Photo Editing 101

Join Ben Farmer for a virtual training to go more in-depth on the photo editing side of Photography. We will cover Adobe Lightroom as well as a few other tools that you can use to make your photos stand out. This hour-long session will give you the knowledge on how to crop, color-correct, and enhance your images regardless of which device you used to take the photo on. Sign up for this August 13th session in XLMS.

Davinci Resolve Training

Join Ben Farmer as we take a tour of the Davinci Resolve video editing software, and learn how it works and how it differs from Adobe Rush. Join Ben on August 11th from 2-3:30 pm. Make sure to sign up in XLMS!

Extension Websites 101

This session will cover the basics of using our NC State Extension website platform to update your county center or topic website. We will demonstrate how to use the content block editor to create a new page or news post. We will cover image best practices, modifying your menu, and checking for accessibility. This session is appropriate for both county staff and specialists. All new employees or employees unfamiliar with our new web platform who will be working on Extension websites are encouraged to take this course. Additional training sessions will be offered for more advanced website editing. Join this session on August 5th from 2-3:30 pm. Sign up in XLMS.

County Program Pages

This session will cover how to customize and organize your program pages to best represent the programs offered in your county center! We will show you how to access your program page templates, customize them, and publish them. We will discuss the different types of pages (program index pages, program pages, and standard pages), how to move content, how the program area menu works, and how to set up nested pages. This session is applicable only to N.C. Cooperative Extension county sites and county staff. Sign up in XLMS to join this session on August 20th from 2-3 pm.

Beyond the Chatbox: CRAFTing Better AI Conversations

Ever feel like interacting with an AI is a bit of a gamble? Sometimes you get gold; other times, you get a hallucinated mess. The secret isn't in the model—it’s in the framework.

In this hands-on session, we will break down the CRAFT framework, a professional-grade strategy designed to transform vague requests into precise, high-quality results. Whether you are drafting reports, generating code, or sparking creative ideas, CRAFT provides the structural "blueprints" you need to succeed every time. This session takes place on August 25th at 10-11:30 am, so make sure to sign up in XLMS!