The next physical Cold Comfort Scotland event will now take place on 22 April 2021 with its place in the calendar this September filled by a new virtual event – the Cold Comfort Digital Academy.
The Cold Comfort team decided to postpone the physical event after consultation with Transport Scotland, the NWSRG and other major winter service stakeholders.
Due to the expected continued travel and social distancing restrictions, it was felt that an event could not be put on this autumn that would deliver best value for exhibitors, sponsors and delegates.
The move to April 2021 will also bring the conference back in line with Cold Comfort due to be held in Harrogate in March.
Cold Comfort transport director Craig Donovan said: ‘The team are committed to making the physical conference a true celebration and showcase of winter service and to delivering best value to the industry. This means a postponement is the right thing to do.’
Mr Donovan said the Highways editorial team will be working throughout the summer to reconfigure some of the planned content from this year’s Cold Comfort events into a virtual platform and provide this content for free to the sector to help them prepare for the winter season ahead.
He added: ‘The team understands that Cold Comfort Harrogate and Scotland both have a central place in the winter service sector and many delegates rely on our expert content and training, as both are continuing to grow in both size and scope.
‘For over 30 years, Cold Comfort has never missed a year and to do so completely would be a real shame. For this reason, the team are proud to announce a new virtual initiative that will be launched on 21 September 2020, called Cold Comfort Digital Academy.’
‘We will be publishing various exclusive videos and virtual sessions to keep the sector up to date on best practice, guidance and learning.’
Throughout 2021, the team also plan to expand this new digital initiative to work alongside the physical events.
Mr Donovan concluded: ‘We plan to create a new and improved media offering to support the winter service industry throughout the year - starting with the Cold Comfort physical events in the spring and running through to Transport Scotland's resilience week in the autumn.’
Details of the new Cold Comfort Digital Academy programme, speaker places, how to get involved and how to register to view this exclusive content will be announced throughout the summer.
