Jackie Brennan

Our events have a ‘Making a Difference’ theme and as part of the events we encourage people to make a contribution to society and their communities. We showcase some exciting achievements and excellent speakers and hope to show that business can be both profitable and have a positive impact.

At our events, people benefit from excellent networking opportunities, gaining inspiration from successful role models, meeting like minded business people and getting access to resources and new ideas depending on the stage of business they are at.

My idea started to take shape after I organised a women in business conference for charity. It was extremely successful and I realised I enjoyed the buzz of organising this. I have always been passionate about encouraging women in business; I had previously worked as a project manager and also really enjoyed working with people so setting up FreshIdeas Events allowed me to pull all this together.

Through FreshIdeas Events, I have built up connections with some very inspiring and influential business people. I have also been in a position to link people with mentors, business partners and groups as a result of attending our events. I also have a great group of friends who have really good connections.

Ensure that you know who is attending, what their needs are and what other attendees they are likely to benefit from speaking to.

Create a relaxed and informal atmosphere where people can feel comfortable to be themselves and do their most creative thinking and connecting.

Ensure good organisation and build up and an interesting venue.

If you have speakers, try to get great role models who can inform, inspire and entertain.

Create the feeling of making a difference and being part of something unique.

Continue to offer connections and advice where possible after the event and offer to put people in contact with those they may not have had a chance to speak to during the event.

The online networks are very useful including Ecademy, LinkedIn, Soflow and aSmallWorld. Some of the forums provide a lot of information including csr chicks and the aurora network. I am also part of toastmasters and a running group and these can be a good source of connections.