Alternative
School for Product
Hands-on workshops for product makers,
run by product makers who've done the work.
WHAT AND WHO
Alternative School for Product is a Product Makers program that builds skills through
🌱 SMALL ROOMS
12–15 people per workshop, so you actually practice in breakout rooms, get peer feedback, and do Q&A that run as long as needed.
🛠️ PRACTITIONERS, NOT FULL TIME TRAINERS
Practitioners running hands-on workshops on approaches they had to figure out themselves.
🎯 PICK WHAT'S RELEVANT
Each workshop stands alone. You're picking the 2–5 hours that match what's on your plate right now.
🆓 FREE TO ATTEND
Powered by Product Makers, run by volunteers from the community. The only cost is your time - and it's the right investment.
you have a concrete challenge (a positioning problem? a stakeholder situation? an AI workflow you can't quite figure out?) and need focused hours with a practitioner who's solved it.
OR
you're investing in your craft — picking up new workflows, tools and mindsets before they become table stakes in your role.
Practical sessions led by experienced product makers. Pick one, enroll, and walk away with skills you can apply on Monday.
It took me 3 months to "get" Claude Code — pure friction, until one project made it click. Now it's my daily driver for consulting, research, writing, automation. Workshop goal: get you there in half a day.
Most PMs use Claude as a glorified writing assistant. It's actually a thinking partner across all 5 phases of product work — discovery, design, data, dev, testing. Hands-on: leave with prompts and workflows you'll actually reuse.
MS
Most websites fail before a single line of code is written — not from bad design, but because brand strategy and web execution live in separate rooms. Walk through a real project arc: brand brief → content architecture → message hierarchy.
AI agents are moving past task tracking into actual work completion. Hands-on: build a custom agent that reads your Jira, takes action, and moves work to done. Pick your flavor — Style Guide, Social Media, or a full Dev Workflow squad.
Most product failures aren't execution problems — we build things nobody needs. This JTBD workshop moves past theory into practice: decode why people "hire" or "fire" products, and what progress they're actually after.
11 years of building Romania's strongest Product community
Product Makers Romania has grown to become the largest community of professionals developing and growing digital products: engineers, designers, marketers and product managers. What started over a decade ago, as a small group of passionate professionals has evolved into an active ecosystem of 2,000+ members who share knowledge, experiences, and opportunities.
Our community serves as a bridge between experienced product leaders and those just starting their journey in any Product related field.
Through 100+ meetups and events, we've created countless opportunities for learning, networking, and professional growth.
Yes. Alternative School for Product is a community-driven program funded by Product Makers and run by volunteers. All we ask is that you show up and come prepared — workshops have small cohorts, and a no-show takes a spot from someone who would have used it.
No. Each workshop stands alone. Pick the one (or several) that match what you're working on right now.
It depends on the workshop. Most are online (Zoom or similar), some are offline in Bucharest. Each workshop card lists the format clearly.
Between 2 and 5 hours, depending on the topic. Some include a break, some are followed by an optional Q&A. Specific timing is listed on each workshop card.
Generally no — these are working sessions, not webinars. The format depends on participants speaking openly, sharing real situations, and practising in breakouts. A few trainers may share slides or templates afterwards; this is decided per workshop.
Workshops in the current selection target mid-level product professionals (PMs, designers, engineers, marketers, founders) with hands-on product experience.
For some workshops, yes — a few trainers send pre-work or ask you to bring a real project to work on. Anything required will be communicated by the trainer.
Yes — and many people do. There's no cap.
The Call for Trainers runs once per edition. Watch the Product Makers Slack and LinkedIn for the announcement, or write to us if you want to be on the trainer shortlist.
Alternative School for Product is a Product Makers initiative, built and run by community volunteers. Product Makers Romania has been around for 11+ years and is the largest community of product professionals in the country.
Joining an Alternative School for Product workshop is a fast way to sharpen a specific skill, work alongside other practitioners, and pick up patterns you can use on Monday — all part of a community.
See you in the training room.
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