This week we heard from two brilliant women at dinner on the topics of bootstrapping and PR (a great way to prepare for International Women’s Day next week!). To get more of an insight from them and our other awesome speakers, check out the top tips articles on our blog. Read on for the low down on each dinner:

Bootstrapping to success: Frugl by name, frugal by nature
Suzanne Noble, founder of Frugl, joined members of TableCrowd for dinner at Tom’s Kitchen, St Katharine Docks, speaking extensively on how to achieve awareness with no budget. Prior to launching Frugl, an award-winning marketplace connecting Londoners on a budget with great events and offers, Suzanne produced a TV series, wrote best-selling books and helped small businesses grow using her business development expertise and background in PR. At dinner, Suzanne provided ample practical tips and advice about PR on a shoestring. Covering everything from getting in with journalists, what social media channel is best for what, and a host of other tips for her fellow diners – this was one dinner not to be missed. (Read more about Suzanne’s advice here.)

Dine with Caroline Hyde, business presenter on Bloomberg TV
On Wednesday night, we had the much anticipated dinner with Caroline Hyde on what makes a great story – as we all want to know how to spark the interest of a journalist or two. Dining at Aubaine in Mayfair, Caroline talked about the 3 Ps for PR (read all about them here) as well as answering plenty of questions on the best ways of communicating with journalists, and what types of stories are more compelling. Some of the hints and tips that fell out from the informal Q&A included

Be as helpful as you can be. Be an expert and lead the journalist through the story.

And

• Never spam
• Always spell a person’s name right
• Know your audience
• Don’t make people think you are selling your story everywhere
• Become the King (or Queen) of sound bites

Our speakers were joined by Worry+Peace, thevoyantist.com, CCgroup, GAIA HR Consultancy, USPAAH, International Centre for Social Franchising, Grist, Buto, ComplianceOnline, Theodo, WiseAlpha Technologies, Inq.social, Solely Original, MyFriendsRoom, MixMatchMe, Friends Recommend It, and Decorilla amongst others.

Special thanks to Caroline and Suzanne for speaking this week. Take a look at upcoming TableCrowd dinners that just might take your fancy.