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Software and technology experts from around the world have appeared in Middlesbrough to speak at an inaugural tech conference.
Middlesbrough Front End 2023 took place in July at Middlesbrough Town Hall - the first event of its kind on Teesside.
In the course of the day-long conference, 200 attendees heard from 10 speakers from household name businesses such as Spotify, Monzo and Shopify.
Organiser Lewis Morris said: “Bringing hundreds of people together for one day in Middlesbrough was awe-inspiring, and this was this is the first event of its kind to be ran in Middlesbrough at this scale.
“The whole day was a huge success, but highlights included speaker Jake Archibald, formerly of Google and now working at e-commerce giant Shopify, introducing himself by sharing his TeesEXPO profile from the early 2000s when he graduated from Teesside University
“It was also great to hear from Teessider Sarah Heward, who delivered a powerful and impactful talk about the effects of digital poverty on children in Teesside and how tech companies can come together to do more to solve this issue.”
Middlesbrough Front End has been holding regular events in the town since 2019, but this was the largest scale yet. After the conference, speakers and attendees were also invited to an afterparty held in the town’s first craft brewery and taproom, PLAY BREW Co.
Fellow organiser Jamie Bradley added: “Times are tough for many people at the moment, so we were pleased to be able to keep ticket prices down. Tickets for this year were priced at just £85 each, which represented incredible value for money; most speakers on the lineup are often talking at events which charge two or even three times that.
“Afterwards, we all celebrated with an afterparty, and the leftover food from this was donated to a local foodbank.”
Attendee Danni Young, a software developer at Datum 360, said: “Middlesbrough Front End's first conference was excellent. They brought together some of the best speakers for a day of knowledge sharing and networking, all right on our doorstep here in Middlesbrough!”
Middlesbrough Front End Conference will return in 2024 at the Town Hall Crypt on July 17, with tickets remaining under £100. Videos of all the talks from this year’s event are free to view on the Middlesbrough Front End YouTube channel.
For more information, visit https://www.middlesbroughfe.co.uk/
