Teesside has the distinction of being one of only three institutions across the North of England designated as a Skillset Academy, meaning courses have benchmarked standards for working directly with the film and television industry.
Commenting on the announcement Peter Salmon, BBC Director North said: 'It’s great to announce that the BBC will hold its 2010 annual Connect and Create Conference at Teesside University. The Conference will bring together the best creative ideas from the BBC’s Connect and Create partnerships across the North of England and will include the BBC Connect and Create Awards.'
An excellent venue 'Teesside is an excellent venue to hold the awards in the North East for the first time as they have first-class facilities and also have the distinction of being one of only three accredited Skillset academies in the North of England.
'We want to work even harder with partners like Teesside and Skillset to find and develop the talent of the future from all parts of the North of England - that must be part of the BBC's enhanced commitment to the whole region - and I look forward to seeing the ideas and entries that next year’s BBC Connect and Create Awards will generate.'
Tom Gutteridge, Chair of the Skillset Northern Media Skills Panel and visiting Professor of Media at Teesside said: 'I am delighted that the BBC has chosen the University to host the Connect and Create Conference in 2010. Skillset is trying to encourage links between education and the creative media industry – that’s why we set up the Skillset Media Academies – and I’m thrilled that the most important employer in Britain’s broadcast media industry has selected the only accredited Media Academy in the North East to host this exciting event.'
Strength of our partnership with the BBC Professor Graham Henderson, Vice-Chancellor said: 'I am delighted that this prestigious conference will be held here. Media is a crucial part of our provision and it is excellent to see the strength of our partnership with the BBC demonstrated in such a significant fashion.'
The BBC’s Connect and Create partnerships are specifically designed to provide direct practical experience by bringing BBC specialists to work on projects with students – for example students at Teesside are able to work with interactive producers from the BBC’s Entertainment department in Manchester - working on live challenges run with students across an academic year. Both BBC Tees and BBC Newcastle offer the potential for work placements.
There are currently 39 educational partners and 26 community partners involved in around 400 individual projects right across the North of England. The Education and Community Partnership Awards were launched as part of the BBC’s new partnerships agreements, which are designed to extend new opportunities across the whole of the North of England, as the BBC prepares to open a major network centre at MediaCityUK in Salford in 2011.