VB Codebehind reference issues

[gordonta]

I am trying to set the text of a textbox from a vb code behind file. Unfortunatly, Visual Web Dev. 2010 is not recognizing the name of my component. The error reads 'demo1' is not declared. It may be inaccessible due to its protection level

In .aspx:

<asp:textbox id="demo1" name="demo1" TextMode="multiline" runat="server" rows="20" columns="50" />

in .aspx.vb:

demo1.Text = Session("event").ToString

This must be a simple thing I'm missing but I am lost-in-the-sauce as to what...

Thanks