The AV Chain Behind Simultaneous Interpretation at Kenyan Conferences

Interpretation is judged by the delegate wearing the receiver, and that experience depends on a signal chain most organisers never see. Booking interpreters is only half the job.

We supply ISO-standard booths, consoles and receiver stock alongside the main AV system, so the floor feed and the language feeds are engineered together.

Interpreters work from what they hear. A clean, direct feed from the mixing console, not a microphone pointed at a speaker, is non-negotiable.

Panel discussions need every microphone in the interpreter feed, including audience roving mics, or entire questions vanish from the translation.

Booths need a clear view of the stage and the screen, working ventilation and enough space for two interpreters per language rotating every 20 to 30 minutes.

A booth placed behind a pillar at the back of the hall guarantees complaints by mid-morning.

Plan one receiver per delegate likely to need a language, plus 15 percent spares, and staff a collection desk against ID or a deposit. Recovery at the end of day one is a real logistics task.

Channel labelling in the delegate's own language avoids the queue of people on the wrong channel after the first break.

Online audiences need language channel selection in the stream, and each language should be recorded as a discrete track for the record and for post-event reporting.

To plan interpretation for a multilingual conference, email info@cara.co.ke.

Booths, consoles, receivers and interpreters, coordinated with the main programme. See our conference management service.