Access All Areas Supplements The Next Generation Supplement | Page 15

NOVEMBER 2018 | THIRTY
The thirty
Simon Skelt, Kilimanjaro Live
Mehram Sumray-Roots,
YADA Event Technology
Nomination comment: Eóin Smyth or “Smythy”
as he is more affectionately known is a born and
bred Dublin boy. He has been on the flip through
House & Techno for the most part of his life.
Dragged up on 70’s Disco and 80’s groovers by his
parents as a child. A love and respect for all things
that make the masses move was carved into his
soul since the early days.
Having always been attracted to the percussive
element of sound, Eoin found himself leaning
more towards the electronic side of music.
Educating himself within the culture of the sound
enabled him to take it all in. Like many before
him the natural progression from enthusiast to
DJ began in 2003 when he found himself with
an ever growing collection of records but with
nowhere to play them. This soon changed over the
coming years as he began to ply his trade around
the Dublin circuit holding residencies at some of
the best local parties of that time.
Fast forward to 2007 and his love affair
with that infamous island in the middle of the
Mediterranean began. From here his passion
truly flourished. Having played a number of gigs
in Space Ibiza and Bora Bora within the first
few weeks of arrival, the thirst for more was now
very much apparent. Not only did he find himself
heavily involved with industry heavyweights such
as DanceTrippin TV, a world leader in providing
clubbers with up-to-date performances of DJs and
electronic music news, he then joined the mighty
Safehouse Management team and Carl Cox at
Space. This year has been amazing and with
so many highlights; we have raised tens
of thousands of pounds for charity by
running several events and I’ve seen the team’s
hard work come to fruition with the launch of the
latest version of our events platform and for it to
be a finalist in three Event Tech Awards.
This time last year I did my first presentation
and I was terrified, so over the past year I’ve faced
my fear. Through training and hard work I have
now successfully presented in a leading technology
focused debate and now have several future
speaking engagements lined up - including being
selected to speak alongside Daniel Priestley at the
2019 Thriving Entrepreneurs Conference.
Everybody is creeping into the festival
landscape; even corporates and organisations are
using events as an engagement tool and creating
their own festivals. This has created a more
competitive market place and encouraged the rise
of niche events - the smaller and more obscure
the better as everyone now wants a more tailored
and exclusive experience. But niche events need
specific promotional campaigns, so I think we
will see more organisers take advantage of the
new generation of event tech that enables them to
reach a more targeted audience. “
Written by Zac Fox, head of operations: Simon
came to work for me ahead of our summer season
in 2014 for an initial three-week period. He had
pretty much no experience, but I really liked his
attitude, so I thought I’d give him a try. It has
turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever
made for both my own sake and for the company.
He stayed with us after that summer and has
worked alongside me for four years on a wide
variety of events, mainly outdoor concerts.
In 2018 Kilimanjaro had its busiest ever
summer, with my small team responsible
for 15 stadium shows for Ed Sheeran, 2 for
Stereophonics and 10 other outdoor concerts
in difficult sites (four in the Royal Hospital,
Chelsea and six at Kew Gardens). Due to all of
these shows taking place within 8 weeks and
there being clashes we had no choice but to have
major shows happening without me being there
to personally manage them. Simon took the lead
for the Stereophonics concert at Cardiff City
Stadium and for the four Live at Chelsea concerts.
That the concerts went well was obvious to see
externally but in addition I have had nothing but
amazing feedback on the job he did. Considering
his recent entry into the industry and his youth he
has a remarkable ability to get all suppliers, artist
teams and venues on his side and working towards
the same goal. His manner is always friendly and
respectful, but he doesn’t shy away from being
firm when needed. He is proof that you don’t need
to be arrogant to get things done in this industry.
He will be mortified when he hears that I’ve
nominated him for this but he very much deserves
to be recognised for how well he is doing.
Eoin Smyth, Game Over
Promotion