G20 LEADERS’ SUMMIT

Congress delivers in Bali

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.

There isn’t a much more demanding AV gig on the planet, and Congress Rental partners from Australia, Singapore, and Indonesia were on- site to handle anything this huge event could throw at them. It goes without saying that reliability is paramount when presidents, prime ministers and royalty are the customer.

The Solution

For the meeting, the client needed one fully integrated system to capture audio and video of the delegates, as well as 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, Congress 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 with a graphic to display the Indonesian presidency’s G20 branding.

For cameras, Congress used Avonic CM70- IP-B PTZ Cameras. They are high-quality PTZ cameras known for their ability to deliver in low-light conditions with their user-adjustable colour matrix. They were pre-programmed according to the seating arrangements, and they automatically panned to the active speaker upon activating their microphone. The meeting was captured in Full HD 1080p60 video.

Interpreters worked in Congress’s Audipack Silent 9300 Soundproof Interpreter Booths. Having been in the interpretation business for over 20 years, Congress 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 standard for interpreting equipment and easily integrated with the event’s microphones.

For leaders, the languages were provided through the conference microphone ISO 20108:2017, ensuring there was no possibility of feedback. A Bosch Integrus Infrared language distribution system distributed the language feeds to delegates. Audio was sent through the transmitter to 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.

Besides the key equipment, various hardware and software integrated the system, managed cameras, queued microphones, and ensured clean, stable audio and 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).

Setup

The main summit took place in the Candi Ballroom at The Apurva Kempinski Bali. To prepare for the setup, Congress studied the floorplans and created a custom schematic to ensure their cameras and microphones worked best in the client’s desired placement. They also carefully considered the best places to truss mount the radiators to ensure 100% coverage, even when security from various countries brought in jamming equipment.

“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,” said Paula Luciana, Event Producer for Congress Rental Indonesia.

Once all the cabling and equipment were set up, there were two days of rigorous technical checks to ensure the robustness of the setup.

Client’s Concerns

The predominant concern from the client was that they got the highest quality equipment and audio. Congress supported many lead-up meetings including G20 Sherpa, Finance Ministers, and Central Bank Deputies, among others. During these meetings, the client was able to get to understand the performance of the equipment and experience the audio quality.

At one meeting early in the year, with two concurrent high-level sessions, one room was provided by Congress and the other by an alternative supplier. The end client was able to see the stark contrast between the quality of equipment, audio quality and video quality, as well as the knowledge and capability of staff, such that delegates in the 2nd room questioned why they did not also get the same equipment as was in the Congress room. After comparing the alternatives, it was clear to decision makers who the preferred company was to support the leaders’ summit.

“Over our years of experience in this industry, we have supported plenty of high-level meetings using similar setups. We know what works and doesn’t, so we knew how to create the most fitting system to meet G20 requirements,” said Lucas Flood, Technical Producer at Congress Rental Australia.

The venue has large windows overlooking the beach. These windows let in a lot of light, and the client was worried that excessive light pollution would produce an overexposed visual output. Congress had initially planned to adjust their cameras to mitigate the problem, through prior on-site testing and checking, but in the end the client decided to shut all the windows with blinds. We therefore adjusted our cameras for a lower light setting. The final vision was clear and crisp.

Unique Challenges

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.

“We learned from the preliminary G20 meetings leading up to the leaders’ summit that there were bound to be last-minute changes, so we expected them. When they came, we were prepared and had extra equipment on hand to fulfil any additional needs,” said Azren Asbori, Technical Producer at Congress.

Complexity

In the ballroom, Congress provided 17 simultaneous language channels made for participating leaders, delegates and distributed to the press in the room. Each world leader and invited 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, Congress added some hybrid integrations and an additional layer of language integration to the meeting.

Due to the venue’s layout, the room with the interpreters 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. Congress planned to be set up and ready days prior because they 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 experience with other high-level leaders’ events, Congress had the skills to ensure their signals would remain uninterrupted.

How Congress Overcame Challenges

Congress had a team of trained technical producers from their Indonesian, Australian, and Singaporean offices for this job. 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.

“With all three teams working together, we can share knowledge, and everyone returns with something valuable after the job is finished. This internal learning elevates our standard and drives us further in this industry,” said Azren Asbori.

“The diverse cultural backgrounds of our team, as well as our experience with event production in many different countries, gives us an edge,” concluded Oliver Langbein, Technical Producer at Congress.

Congress Indonesia: www.congressrental.id

Congress Australia: www.congress.com.au

Congress Singapore: www.congress.asia

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KEY GEAR

• 6 x Avonic CM70-IP-B PTZ Cameras
• 42 x Bosch DCNM-MMD2 Multimedia Conference Microphone Devices
• 17 x Audipack Silent 9300 ISO-Compliant Soundproof Interpreter Booths
• 34 x Bosch DCN-IDESK Interpreter Desks 160 x Bosch Integrus infrared receivers
• 8 x Bosch Integrus infrared radiators
• 1 x Bosch Integrus infrared transmitter
• Various integrations for video and audio production