01 Oct 20 Years. 20 Stories: Growing with the Projects

Long before Matt Virgona became one of Concept AV’s most trusted senior project managers, he knew the business through cricket.

Concept AV Founder Tom coached Matt and his son Andrew’s junior cricket team. Matt remembers Tom arriving at training in one of the company’s earliest vans, not long after taking over the business.

Even then, conversations would occasionally turn to work. Matt showed an interest, which eventually led to school work experience, holiday jobs and, after finishing school, an apprenticeship.

“I started doing work experience in Year nine, then Andrew and I would help during the school holidays,” Matt says. “Straight out of school, Tom offered me an apprenticeship.”

Matt has now worked full-time with Concept AV for around 16 years. Including his work experience and school-holiday years, and his connection with the business his contribution stretches back almost to its beginning.

During that time, he has grown alongside Concept AV, progressing from basic classroom installations to managing some of the largest and most technically demanding projects in the company’s history.

When ten classrooms felt like a major project

Concept AV was a very different business when Matt first joined.

The team consisted of about 10 people, and many projects involved upgrading classrooms at schools across Sydney.

A typical classroom system included a projector, wall plate, speakers and a simple push-button controller.

Compared with the projects Concept AV delivers today, the technology was relatively straightforward. But rolling the same system out across 10 classrooms during a short school-holiday window created its own challenges.

“The job had to be finished before the students came back,” Matt says. “Sometimes we would be working until all hours of the morning. Everyone was on deck, including Tom. Everyone was on the tools to get it over the line.”

Those early projects captured something that remains part of Concept AV today. When a deadline matters, job titles become less important, and the team finds a way to deliver.

They also show just how far the company has come.

“What we saw as a big job then was probably 10 classrooms,” Matt says. “Now we are completing whole buildings and multiple-floor fit-outs.”

Learning nearly every part of the business

Matt’s apprenticeship began on the tools, although he did not remain there for long.

After approximately six months, he moved into the office and began working across estimating, drawings and other project activities. He later spent time in commissioning and programming, returned briefly to sales and eventually moved into project management.

For at least the past decade, project delivery has been his main focus.

That varied experience gave Matt a detailed understanding of how Concept AV operates. He could produce and verify drawings, understand procurement requirements, communicate with the installation team and anticipate issues before they reached site.

“Having the opportunity to work in those other parts of the business definitely helped with project management,” he says. “Because I knew how most aspects of the company worked, I could be across the complete project.”

It also meant Matt understood the work that clients rarely see.

A finished room may appear to come together quickly, but behind it are weeks or months of drafting, system verification, procurement, asset management, programming and coordination.

“People sometimes think the equipment comes in and goes straight out,” Matt says. “They do not always see the time and effort that goes into the drawings, engineering, verification and making sure everything arrives when it is needed.”

From VGA cables to connected buildings

The technology Matt encountered early in his career would now feel unfamiliar in many modern workplaces.

Projects relied on VGA connections, composite video, DVD and VCR combinations, projectors and basic button controllers.

Today, Matt manages environments involving sophisticated video conferencing, networked audiovisual systems, complex audio and video routing, LED displays and integrated control across entire buildings.

One project that captures that change is the UTS Super Lab, which included more than 30 screens, multiple teaching stations and extensive switching and audio routing.

Another is UTS Building 2, also known as UTS Central.

The 17-storey development was one of Concept AV’s largest projects and ran for two years. Matt was involved from beginning to end.

“That is probably the standout project,” he says. “It was the largest project we had completed, and I saw it all the way from the start through to the finish.”

Other significant projects have included new Western Sydney University buildings in Liverpool, Bankstown, Parramatta, and Westmead, as well as The Cutaway at Barangaroo.

The Cutaway presented a different kind of challenge. Concept AV delivered a fire public address system, extending the team into an area outside its usual project scope.

For Matt, these projects demonstrate not only an increase in size but also the confidence to take on unfamiliar technical requirements and find a way forward.

The projects that nearly break you

Not every important project is remembered because everything went smoothly.

Matt points to Global Switch as one of the most challenging projects of his career.

The system involved an early deployment of network-based keyboard, video and mouse technology, along with video routing and network switch configuration. It introduced requirements that Concept AV had not previously delivered at that scale.

As handover approached, several missing elements threatened the timeline.

“At the time, I thought it was going to be catastrophic,” Matt says. “We were only a few days away from trying to hand it over.”

Another employee, Dale, had strong networking knowledge and stepped in to help. He identified what was needed, supported the switch configuration and helped the team complete the project.

The experience reinforced an important lesson. No project manager needs to have every answer personally, but they need to know when to bring in the right expertise.

It also reflected a pattern Matt has seen throughout his career.

AV is often one of the final trades to enter a completed space. If construction falls weeks behind, the final deadline rarely moves by the same amount.

“The builder might be four weeks behind and then suddenly tell us we have two days to finish,” Matt says. “We have had projects where nearly every staff member is on site, working late into the evening, just to get it completed.”

Those moments are demanding, but they also reveal the strength of the team.

Trust begins with honesty

After years of working with clients, builders, consultants, technicians and suppliers, Matt’s approach to trust is straightforward.

Be honest from the beginning.

“If you are upfront, people are more inclined to help you and work with you on a solution,” he says. “If you try to hide something, you will probably be found out.”

That principle has helped Matt become one of the team members trusted with Concept AV’s most important projects.

It has also shaped his view of successful project management. The role is not simply about keeping a program updated. It involves understanding the technical detail, recognising risks early and maintaining relationships when pressure increases.

More than a place to work

When asked what has kept him at Concept AV for so long, Matt’s answer comes back to the people.

Many of his colleagues have become close friends. They have played cricket and football together, spent time together outside work and shared much of their adult lives.

Andrew, now leading the next stage of Concept AV, has been one of Matt’s closest friends for almost 20 years.

“It is pretty good coming to a place where you are essentially hanging out with mates,” Matt says.

As Concept AV celebrates its 20th anniversary, Matt is proud of the role he has played in many of its defining projects.

He began when classroom projector installations represented a significant rollout. Today, he helps deliver connected buildings, complex learning environments and large-scale workplace systems.

The technology changed. The projects grew. Matt’s responsibilities expanded with them.

Now, as leadership transitions from one generation to the next, he looks forward to seeing where the business goes next.

After growing with Concept AV for most of its first 20 years, Matt remains an important part of the team that will help shape the years ahead.