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“I’m just a guy running all over the place chasing my tail,” said Rob Bliss.
For Bliss and many other small business owners, that pace is exactly why a growing number of hands-on learning opportunities are popping up across the Metrocrest area.
Over the past week, a series of workshops and training sessions, from small business Lunch and Learns to workforce development programs, highlighted a rising demand for practical, accessible education that can be applied immediately.
At The Meeting Place on April 22, a Lunch and Learn led by Kellye Kamp introduced attendees to Notion, an all-in-one platform designed to consolidate business operations.
Kamp framed the challenge in simple terms. Business owners are not lacking tools. They are overwhelmed by them.
“The problem is, we don’t need another app,” she said. “We just need one place where we can keep all the information together and start solving problems faster.”
She acknowledged the platform’s learning curve, describing it as “not intuitive,” but emphasized its potential once users push past that initial barrier. Her demonstration showed how a single system can replace multiple tools, bringing together customer management, notes, calendars and workflows.
The goal was not mastery in an hour but giving attendees a clear starting point.
After Kamp trained him and his office manager, Bliss, owner of The Meeting Place in Farmers Branch, asked her to share the system with the broader business community.
For him, the value goes beyond efficiency.
Offering these sessions, he said, is about helping people across the community, whether they are small business owners, nonprofit leaders or residents building new skills.
The following day, April 23, the Metrocrest Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its own Lunch and Learn focused on immediate application.
Led by Jason Gardner of Stingray Worldwide, the session walked attendees through how to use Jotform to create customized forms for their businesses, from client intake to internal processes.
The idea for the session came from a simple problem. After Membership Relations Director Bertina Green handed Gardner a printed questionnaire when he became a chamber ambassador, he was not sure how best to return it.
Instead of typing or photographing his responses, Gardner built a digital form.
When completed, the form automatically organized responses into a clean, downloadable table, eliminating manual data entry. Green saw the potential and asked Gardner to teach the system to other members.
Gardner led a room of business owners through the basics, including how to build forms using the platform’s free tier.
Green said the chamber’s goal is to retain members by offering professional development and networking opportunities that would otherwise come at a much higher cost.
In many cases, similar training can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Through the chamber, sessions are free for members and $5 for non-members.
Both Gardner’s session and the chamber’s artificial intelligence workshops are part of the Ignite Small Business Series, which runs monthly through August. While some sessions are structured as a series, attendees can participate in as many or as few as they choose.
The push for hands-on learning is not limited to business tools.
On April 27, Dallas College launched a series of FIFA training sessions at Brookhaven Campus, part of a broader effort to prepare the region for upcoming international events and expand workforce readiness.
The training will continue through May across Dallas College campuses and focuses on skills tied to large-scale event operations. More than 3 million visitors are expected in the region between June 11 and July 19, with global broadcasts reaching an estimated 5.1 billion viewers from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
The program includes logistics, customer service, cultural awareness and international protocol.
Colleen A. Rickenbacher, who helped design and lead training sessions, said North Texas residents and businesses need to be prepared for the scale of the event.
“Do not, do not, do not drive your own car,” she said, referring to travel to matches and festival events. “Transportation is going to be an absolute nightmare.”
Participants are also trained to assist international visitors with transportation, dining and entertainment recommendations across North Texas, along with practical knowledge such as converting temperatures to Celsius and understanding global customs tied to FIFA events.
Taken together, the sessions point to a broader shift in how learning is happening locally.
Instead of traditional classrooms or long-term programs, many professionals and community members are turning to short, focused workshops that offer immediate, practical value. These are skills they can apply the same day.
The goal is not theory. It is traction.
And as demands on both businesses and workers continue to grow, these opportunities are becoming less of a bonus and more of a necessity.
To see more learning opportunities, visit The Meeting Place and Metrocrest Area Chamber's calendars.
For more information about the chamber's AI series, visit this page.
For more information about Dallas College's FIFA trainings, which are free and open to the public, visit this page.
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