View All guides Conversation skill · updated 2026-09-21
Maryland SBDC Toolkit

Skill guide

Training Newsletter

Build the monthly training newsletter: Neoserra events export → one clean course table → Constant Contact template → course images on request.

For: Maryland SBDC consultants and staff
Maintainer: Brandon Mason
Source: the skill’s own instructions
What you getWhat you useSetupHow to useFAQ

Start here

What you get

Three stages, in order. Stage 1 turns the Neoserra training-events export (list or PDF) into one chronological course table and shows it to you first so you can check the data. Stage 2 merges that table into the Constant Contact newsletter template. Stage 3 generates one course-themed image at a time, when you ask for it.

Conversation skill. You start it by saying what you want; it asks for what it needs and hands back a deliverable in the same chat. Nothing to install beyond the plugin, nothing to configure.

What it never does

  • Never drops a course because a field is missing — it writes "(Not listed)" and keeps the row.
  • Never merges into the template until you've confirmed the table.

Step 1

What to have ready

Step 2

Setting it up

Getting it on your side

The skill is plain instructions, so it runs wherever you already work. Pick your row:

  1. Get the files: everything is in the public GitHub repository — the skills themselves, and the ready-to-install plugin file on the latest release. MIT licensed; no GitHub account needed to download.
  2. Claude desktop app: download sbdc-toolkit.plugin from the latest release, drag it into a chat, click Accept.
  3. ChatGPT: this skill is a plain Markdown file, not Claude-specific. Open skills/sbdc-training-newsletter/SKILL.md, copy the whole file, and paste it into a ChatGPT Project’s instructions or a custom GPT. Same instructions, same outputs.
  4. Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add bwfnx/sbdc-toolkit then /plugin install sbdc-toolkit@maryland-sbdc

Your first conversation

Open a new chat and say:

Build this month's training newsletter from this Neoserra export.

It will ask for:

  • Confirmation of the aggregated table before it merges.
  • Which course you want an image for, one at a time.

Step 3

How to use it

Say

Aggregate these Neoserra events into the newsletter table.Merge the table into the newsletter template.Generate the image for the [course name] session.

What comes back

  • Stage 1: one chronological course table.
  • Stage 2: the newsletter body in the template's structure.
  • Stage 3: one image per request.

Then

  • Paste the merged body into Constant Contact; add images as they're generated.

Tips from the field

  • Fix the table before Stage 2 — every correction there flows into the newsletter automatically.

Questions people ask

FAQ

It did something odd. Who do I ask?
Brandon Mason. Say which skill and what you said to start it; a screenshot of the reply helps.