Meet our people: Simon Kong

Introducing Simon Kong. With nearly three decades of experience in the events industry, Simon brings a wealth of knowledge and technical expertise to his role as Senior AV Project Manager at Te Pae Christchurch. Simon joined the team almost three years ago, and since then, he has played a pivotal role in delivering seamless audiovisual experiences across a wide range of events hosted at the venue.

Before stepping into his position at Te Pae, Simon spent time working as a bicycle mechanic – a role that may seem worlds apart from event production, but one that honed his eye for detail and his hands-on, problem-solving approach. His longstanding passion for live events, however, goes much further back. Over the course of his career, Simon has been involved in every aspect of event delivery, from production and logistics to audiovisual design and execution. Simon also holds a degree in Event Management from Ara Institute of Canterbury, further grounding his practical experience.

What inspired you to be an AV professional?

My Dad was into electronics and part of his job was working with film projectors and public address systems, so I grew up around tech and was rewiring the stereo when I was just a kid. My older brother was a tech before me, so while it felt like I just sort of “fell into it” I’ve always had an affinity with systems and technology.   
 
My technical career has been very diverse, but I started in corporate AV in the early 2000’s in Queenstown.  While I still love outdoor music festivals and a cool live show, there is also something to be said for a working environment that is all carpets and air conditioning.

What do you like the most about your job and working at Te Pae?

The events & technical industry took a big hit during covid. A lot of people left the industry.  I came to work at Te Pae to support an industry that has essentially built me up to who I am today.  It is a privilege to be able to contribute my part to rebuilding capacity and capability back into our industry.   
 
Now more than ever it is important that we are attracting young people to work in events. Te Pae provides a great platform for people to launch careers and get a lot of exposure to the events industry.

Helping to drive the AV side of business at Te Pae and creating the growth that will facilitate those opportunities for the next generation has been my key motivation at Te Pae.

How is working at Te Pae is different from other organisations?   

I joke with friends about working for the world’s largest venue management company and contracting to the NZ Government, which are two extremely large bureaucratic organisations.

Even after working for a District Council for five years, work at Te Pae is a step change in compliance and processes.  Ultimately it has been a very valuable exposure and education in professional best practice.  The fact that we are operating ISO standards, alongside high standards of H&S and sustainability can be incredibly challenging in moments, but the work has shown me the value of meeting these standards.   
 
Engaging with and embracing the complexities of corporate management professionally levels you up.  As a result, work at Te Pae has made me more prepared and confident as a business professional. 
 
At every level, working at Te Pae had shown me what striving to be world class involves. It’s certainly demanding, but Te Pae provides the chance to engage with those standards and to see the outcomes of putting in the work.

What is the project you are most proud of, that you worked on at Te Pae? Can you tell us more about it? What does it mean to you? 

Helping pull the AV Department together and making it functional. When I arrived at Te Pae six months after the building opened most of the original AV Team had already moved on, and things were chaotic! Opening a new building and setting up new management systems with a junior team while being fully booked and operationally under pressure is a very tough gig for everyone.  
 
Finding a way through the chaos, embedding systems and processes, figuring out together how the building works, how the systems that run the business work and pulling the team together to configure systems so that we can focus on delivering events. It has been a big task.  
 
Buildings like Te Pae, purpose built for events, provide an incredible platform for event experiences. There is so much potential in the building and that potential extends beyond the walls of the building to the city, the region and the wider events industry.  
 
Working through the noise, the systems, the spreadsheets, the escalating compliance needs, the relentless schedules while also being able to support people to not just survive but thrive in these environments is a success marker for me.  Helping people link their own personal aspirations to the potentials available in the work is what I am most proud of.   

What inspires you?

At many levels I am the classic jaded event professional. I’ve literally seen it all or I’m waiting to be dragged out to see the next amazing thing as soon as it arrives.     
 
Technology has been the inspiration and motivator for most of my life.  These days it’s perhaps more esoteric things. A well-appointed greenspace in a city, efficient public transport, riding my bike on an overgrown trail, jumping into cold water, watching the light change at sunrise, having moments to see the world in a different light.   
 
For example, a small thing about Te Pae that inspires me is that it is a walkable venue.  

 Any hobbies/interests/things that mean a lot to you?

Music and Dj’ing has been a “hobby” most of my life. It has allowed me to be involved in so many aspects of cultural life and has been a driver for much of technical career.  
 
These days I’ve swapped a lot of Dj’ing for riding bikes, racing cyclocross and working on reducing my carbon footprint. Finding ways to meaningfully meet the challenges of living with climate change is something that means a lot to me.  It’s complex but the most significant challenge ahead of us.

Any interesting AV trends? 

I used to be obsessed with technology, an early adopter, trying to use technologies before they were fully mature, wanting to push the curve constantly.  As I’ve moved on in my career, I’ve become less focused on the latest innovations.   
 
If there is a trend I see in AV it’s that the technology is becoming more invisible at the surface and more complex in the background. Increasingly the technology “just works” for the end users, which is the goal really.  
 
Ironically Te Pae is the new trend in AV Technology.  The integrated systems in the building represent the where the AV industry is heading. What we often take for granted day-to-day already represents the cutting edge.  It’s been fantastic to see the AV Team grasp the systems and skilfully leverage them daily.

 What's next for Simon?

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Shenzhen in China for the AIPC Congress, which is a conference about convention centre.  The ultimate meeting about meetings!  
 
This experience shifted my perspective about the global convention centre industry, of which Te Pae is a meaningful part. It helped me see where our daily work does contribute to an even greater whole and how working at Te Pae is link to this wider network.  
 
In the meantime, there are still plenty of things to fix in the AV Department, clients to contact, events to price and spreadsheets to update.  Oh and I have to fix my bike when I get home so I can go riding on the weekend.