The G20 Leaders’ Summit, held on 15 and 16 November 2014, was the most significant gathering of international leaders ever hosted in Australia. Some 27 Heads of State and Government, their finance ministers, seven heads of international organisations, many senior officials, and around 7,000 delegates and domestic and international media congregated in Brisbane, which became the centre of worldwide media attention for a few days.
The G20 Taskforce, which was set up within the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, naturally sought to ensure the high-stakes Summit would run as smoothly as possible. As part of their efforts, they entrusted the Summit’s conference interpretation services to the Sydney-based company Language Professionals Pty Ltd which teamed up with Calliope-Interpreters for global interpreter identification and management throughout the event.
Organising simultaneous interpretation in 15 languages
The Summit required simultaneous interpretation in 15 languages for all plenary sessions, as well as consecutive or whispered interpretation for a number of leaders’ bilateral meetings. As one would expect for an event of this calibre, the highest global standards of quality and professionalism were required.
With tight lead times, the coordination team, led by Chief Interpreter Bertold Schmitt, fielded a team of 53 highly experienced conference interpreters from 17 countries.
It also arranged all the team logistics, including accreditations, visas, air travel, and accommodation in two hotels as well as team rostering and ground travel between the event’s various venues. To meet the Summit’s requirements, the interpreters and the Chief Interpreter were continually travelling between the Summit venues.
The quality of simultaneous interpretation service did not go unnoticed
“Your delivery of the simultaneous interpretation services was outstanding. The Taskforce was highly impressed by the level of skill and professionalism of both the individual interpreters and the organizing staff….
We greatly appreciated your expert advice in the lead-up to the event, your seamless delivery of services during the event and the highly detailed and comprehensive nature of your post-event documentation….
The Taskforce was very pleased to receive fantastic feedback on the high standard of the simultaneous interpretation provided at the meeting…
It was a great comfort to Taskforce staff to know that there was no need to worry about the delivery of interpretation services…. “
G20 Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Australia
The President of Calliope, Christoph Renfer, commented: “It was a special honour for Calliope to serve the G20 Leaders’ Summit through the local partnership with Language Professionals Pty. Ltd, and to be recognized for the quality and scale advantage that we bring as the only AIIC-recognised global consultancy.”
Learn more about Calliope’s interpretation services
