Crafty Fest 2025: Insights, Sunshine & Spin-to-Win Magic ☀️
- Sinead Moloney
- Jul 21
- 2 min read
What a fantastic Crafty Fest 2025! 🌟
We had such a great time creating new connections, soaking up the sunshine, and seeing the buzz around our Spin & Win competition - thank you to everyone who stopped by and joined in the fun!
Insightful Conversations on ‘Fire watching for your business: staying agile in an Uncertain World’ 🎤
One of the standout moments of the day was the session “Fire-Watching for Your Business: Staying Agile in an Uncertain World”, featuring:
Michael Doran, VP of Managed Legal Solutions & Legal Operations at Johnson Hana
Máire Barr, General Counsel, Kellanova Europe
Stephen Heitkamp, Co-Founder, Hence Technologies
The panel shared real-world advice and timely strategies for legal professionals navigating constant external change that impacts the businesses’ they support.
Máire’s Take on Fire-Watching 🔥
Máire explained her view of firewatching as: staying vigilant and scanning the horizon for not only major crises but also the small sparks that can escalate into serious reputational issues. For her, it’s about staying abreast of “off the plan” developments and empowering the business to make decisions, even in complex, uncertain conditions.
She spoke about how the role of Legal teams has evolved from focussing on tracking developments in Brussels, London, and Dublin (in terms of regulatory change) to now a much broader myriad of risks. She highlighted two particular areas of focus:
Regulatory Acceleration: From safety and quality, labelling, Sustainability, GDPR and AI - compliance challenges have intensified. Her team is proactive in scanning a huge range of regulations to assess for impacts to the business and the list continues to evolve.
Unexpected Risks: These are the unpredictable events - like COVID-19, geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions or risk of cyber-attacks. You can’t always see them coming, but you can prepare by keeping up to date and engaging with the business. The intention is to support the business to make decisions and react in a prepared way should the risks materialise.
Michael on Enabling Agility Through Cross-Functional Engagement 🔄
Michael spoke from Johnson Hana’s perspective about how cross-functional engagement plays a critical role in enabling teams like Máire’s to stay agile and proactive. By fostering collaboration with business stakeholders, legal teams are better positioned to adapt quickly, move with confidence and support the business in driving the right decisions in a calm collected manner, even in challenging circumstances.
Until Next Time 👋
A huge thank you to the entire Crafty team for putting on such a thoughtful and high-energy event. We’re already looking forward to what’s in store for next year!
