6000
delegates
2
day
17
languages
Delivering a Fully Integrated Conference Solution for the G20 Leaders Summit
The G20 Bali Summit was held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, on the 15th-16th of November 2022 under the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’. The summit was joined by delegations from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
It provided the opportunity for world leaders to meet in person and focus on this year’s three key priorities: global health architecture, digital transformations, and sustainable energy transitions.
Client
G20
Main Venue
The Apurva Kempinski Bali
Date
15th – 16th November, 2022
Discussions centred around many different topics, including:
The war in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy
Challenges to agriculture
Supply chains and food security
Global demand for energy supplies being met with affordable prices
Reaffirming and strengthening the Paris Agreement on climate change
Funding for future pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response
Reaffirming commitments to global health governance
Encouraging international collaboration to develop digital skills and literacy for the digital transformation of the world economy
G20 Bali Leaders’ made the following joint declaration: “We recognized, as large global economies, that collectively we carry responsibilities and that our cooperation was necessary to global economic recovery, to tackle global challenges, and lay a foundation for strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth”.
Designing and Deploying a Multi-Language Conference Environment
For the meeting, the client needed a single, fully integrated system to capture audio and video of the delegates and to provide 17 channels of simultaneous interpretation, so that each delegate could participate in the meeting in their own language, using their own interpreters.
For microphones, we used Bosch DCNM-MMD2 Dicentis Multimedia Devices equipped with conference-style, long microphone stems. This is Bosch’s most premium conferencing system for delivering high-performance, secure, latency-free audio. They were also pre-programmed to display a graphic featuring the Indonesian presidency’s G20 branding.
For cameras, we used Avonic CM70-IP-B PTZ Cameras. They are high-quality PTZ cameras known for delivering in low-light conditions thanks to their user-adjustable colour matrix. We pre-programmed them according to the seating arrangement, and they automatically panned to the active speaker when that speaker activated their microphone. The meeting was captured in Full HD 1080p60 video.
Interpreters worked in our Audipack Silent 9300 Soundproof Interpreter Booths. Having been in the interpretation business for over 20 years, we consider these the best you can get. They are fully ISO 4043:2016 compliant for proper sound insulation.
Inside the booths, Interpreters worked using Bosch DCN-IDESK Interpreter Desks. These are reliable and intuitive. They conform to ISO 20109:2016, the internationally agreed-upon standard for interpreting equipment, and integrate easily with our microphones.
For Leaders, the languages were provided through the conference microphone ISO 20108:2017, ensuring there was no possibility of feedback. We used the Bosch Integrus Infrared language distribution system to distribute the language feeds to delegates. We sent our audio through the transmitter to our truss-mounted radiators, which beamed a strong, secure infrared signal throughout the room. Delegates tuned in using lightweight receivers with headphones, and with a button on the side could easily toggle between channels 0 to 17. A small card came along with each receiver to indicate their preferred language channel.
In addition to the key equipment, we used various hardware and software to integrate the system, manage cameras, queue microphones, and ensure clean, stable audio/video feeds.
With this setup, the delegates were able to communicate seamlessly in Indonesian, English, Russian, Hindi, Chinese, German, Spanish (ARG), Spanish (MEX), French (EU), French (FRA), Korean, Japanese, Arabic (SAU), Italian, Turkish, Khmer, and Arabic (UAE).
Interpreter Booths
Avonic PTZ Cameras
Bosch DCNM-MMD2 Dicentis Multimedia Devices
Setting Up
The main summit took place in the Candi Ballroom at The Apurva Kempinski Bali. To prepare for the setup, we studied the floor plans and created a custom schematic to ensure our cameras and microphones would work best in the client’s desired placement.
We carefully considered the best places to truss-mount our radiators to ensure 100% coverage, even when security measures from various countries deployed jamming equipment.
Once all the cabling and equipment were set up, there were two days of rigorous technical checks to ensure the robustness of our setup.
We were able to begin running cable from the 31st of October and setting up equipment from the 3rd of November. Even though the summit was just the 15th-16th, most of our time was spent setting up and testing.
- Paula Luciana, Event Producer
Managing Global Logistics, Technical Precision, and Security Constraints at Scale
Planning
With an event of this scale, the allocation and scheduling of equipment to be brought in started weeks out from event day. The required equipment was sourced from each of three warehouses in Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia, all while supporting other ongoing jobs. Bringing it into the venue was a slow build, with the first cables being laid 15 days before the summit.
The technical producers flew in from these three locations to support the event. The planning, although extensive, had to remain flexible enough to accommodate last-minute changes.
Complexity
In the ballroom, we provided 17 simultaneous language channels made for participating leaders, delegates, and distributed to the press in the room. Each world leader and guest had a conference microphone to speak into and a PTZ camera nearby, pre-programmed to pan to the active speaker's microphone automatically.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called into the meeting via Webex and brought an English-to-Ukrainian interpreter who also joined virtually. To accommodate this, we added some hybrid integrations and an additional layer of language integration to the meeting.
Due to the venue's layout, the room where we hosted the interpreters in soundproof booths, and the equipment was two floors away from the main ballroom itself. Giving the interpreters live audio and vision of the ballroom required extensive cabling and organisation.
Security
There is always a massive security overlay for a high-level event such as this one. This meant that movement and access to certain rooms were tightly controlled.
We planned to be set up and ready days prior because we knew that the venue would be locked down two days before the event and wouldn’t be able to make any additional changes to the setup.
Various countries also brought signal-jamming equipment, which can potentially interrupt the event. From our experience with other high-level leaders’ events, we had the skills to ensure our signals would remain uninterrupted.
How we overcame challenges:
We had a team of trained technical producers from our Indonesia, Australia, and Singapore offices for this job. Our daily and direct communication was vital to integrating the teams.
There were also critical benefits to having teams from each region work together. It provided each other with unique perspectives and collaborative solutions to any issues that needed to be resolved.
Seamless Multilingual Communication for World Leaders
The G20 Leaders Summit was delivered with complete reliability, enabling seamless communication between world leaders across multiple languages. The fully integrated system ensured clear audio, accurate interpretation, and smooth meeting flow, supporting high-level discussions on a global stage without technical disruption.
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