arrow up
All news
Data News Awards

By Laila Bougria

May 23, 2019

Data News awards 2019

Most of us in the industry have read a Data News magazine at one point or another in our career. This popular IT-focussed periodical keeps us up to date on innovations and developments in our industry. Each year, Data News selects the most innovative companies in a celebration called the Data News Awards for Excellence. A few weeks ago we were honoured to join in on the 20th edition of this event.

The event started a bit early for us at Teal Partners, as the office transformed in an actual Suits set. Our clothing rack filled up with elegant suits and cocktail dresses. By 4 it was time for the girls to get ready, so they pulled out the shiny high heels and the make-up bags. About at least a few hours later it was time for our men to suit up. As we basically have no dress code at work and everybody mostly chooses a pair of jeans to come to work with, it was an absolute delight to see everyone channel their inner Harvey Specter or Donna Paulsen.

The evening was hosted at one of the Brussels Expo venues. Mesmerizing circus personalities welcomed us at the red carpet with a smile and a bow. We shared drinks and laughs at the reception but the true show began when we were asked to take our seats. The Cirque Mystique teaser we saw on the invitation was thoroughly delivered upon as we were entertained by fire-breathers, mind-blowing aerial acts and sword-swallowing women. The nominees and winners were presented by no other than chief editor Kristof van der Stadt and hostess Anne De Baetzelier. After inviting the winner to the stage, the presenters touched upon their accomplishments as they received their prize.

Unfortunately, we weren't amongst the lucky winners. Nevertheless, we are so very proud of what we've accomplished in just a few years at Teal Partners. We are particularly fond of our values, our work ethic, and the amazingly powerful platform we've built with Viren and the problems we are solving with it. But let's be real, we were surrounded by some amazing companies at the awards, with the trusty giants we all know like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Huawei, and Proximus, but also smaller companies with some very remarkable realisations that really caught our eye. So, we take away tons of inspiration and even more motivation to change the world in doing what we do.

We had an amazing time as a team and we can't even think of a dull the whole evening. We claimed about half of the available beer glasses, tested the cages that were set for the circus artists and made an abundance of jokes. This might sound cliché, but one of our greatest accomplishments is the compatibility of our team. Put us together in an office (with the necessary amount of coffee and sweets) and we'll do great things work-wise. Take away the work, add in some drinks and we'll have a great time. It was an absolute pleasure to attend this event.