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The date was 17 September 2008. I was on holiday with friends in Verwood and over the moon following what I had felt had been a successful telephone interview (conducted on a fire escape at the Fleet Air Arm Museum) for my dream summer internship.

Serendipitously, my grandparents were on a coach holiday that week in Bournemouth, so while my friends saw relatives elsewhere in the county, I arranged to see my grandparents by the seaside. We met outside their hotel, took a wander down to the park to grab a bite to eat and then walked back along the sea-front.

At the tender age of 18, I had not quite started university. I certainly did not, as now, possess a mobile phone with a camera, so you will have to take my word for it when I say we stopped outside an imposing hotel proudly flying yellow flags, watched a strange collection of photographers grouped outside the entrance as though hoping for an A-list celebrity to emerge half-cut, and then stood as passive observers to Nick and Miriam emerging from that hotel and being carried away along the sea-front by a wave of paparazzi.

Now at the tender age of 30, that is still the closest I have ever been to a party conference. Sure, I have only been a member of the Liberal Democrats for a little over three years, but despite having first joined a political party at the age of 15, a combination of work commitments and financial pressures have always meant that the next-closest I have ever been to a conference has been watching them on BBC Parliament.

Until now. Because this year I will at last be attending a party conference for the first time.

While COVID-19 has been absolutely devastating on our economy, killed tens of thousands and impacted hundreds of thousands more, the technological race to keep the wheels of business, politics and the voluntary sector moving in these unprecedented times has set welcome precedents which must remain in the “new normal”.

As a local party treasurer, our executive may have been prevented from meeting in person, but our work continued through virtual meetings – and there have been suggestions of continuing to allow virtual access indefinitely, even when those meetings are in person once again.

And while COVID-19 may have scuppered the party conference in the way it has been traditionally enjoyed by many, moving it online opens the doors to members like myself who cannot normally afford the time or expense to attend in person.

Our MPs led the charge in insisting that the virtual parliament remain, allowing members to speak and vote remotely, and our party must lead by example. While remote access to speak and vote at conference means others may be disenfranchised this year, when the coronavirus dust has settled, the Liberal Democrats should explore a hybrid physical/virtual conference to ensure maximum participation in future years.

* Alan Collins Rosell is a blogger and treasurer of the Medway local party.