EVENTS
REMEMBER
WHEN...
Those were the days. When we used
to actually meet people, shake hands,
discuss local issues and network over a
cuppa and a sandwich.
It seems such a long time ago now, but just
three weeks before lockdown on March 23, we
held the official launch of This Is Tees Valley
– our new national publication – in front of a
packed 300-plus audience in the newly-opened
conferencing facility at Teesside International
Airport.
A lot has changed in the four months since,
with remote meetings and networking – via
online facilities like Zoom and Teams – becoming
the so-called ‘new normal’.
At Tees Business, we’re already adapting.
We’ve announced exciting plans to hold
the inaugural Tees Tech Awards virtually. We
still plan to have a small number of people in
attendance, but we’ll be beaming the event live
via social media.
You can read more about that on pages 18-19.
Before then, however, we have replaced
what used to be the Tees Business Leaders
panel – which would coincide with the launch
of every issue of Tees Business – with a weekly
debate on Facebook Live involving three leading
business personalities, discussing various
subjects with my co-editor Dave Allan.
Online discussions are here to stay and it’s
something we’ve certainly embraced at Tees
Business.
But we hope the old-fashioned person-toperson
events will make a slow return and we
can get back to enjoying large gatherings like we
did back in February.
In the meantime, let’s all try to keep Talking Up
Teesside.
Martin Walker
Co-editor, Tees Business
4 | Tees Business