Prague summit 2022
Main category
CROSSOVER
Sub-category
1. Conference, Congress, Convention
Event Description and Key Objectives
Under the Czech Presidency of the EU, two successive meetings at the highest political level, the Prague Summit, were held at Prague Castle in early October.
The first day was a new format for a meeting of the wider European political community, while the second day was an informal meeting of the European Council. This is the most prestigious political event held in the Czech Republic in the last decade.
Key challenges
One of the main challenges was the location - Prague Castle required a very careful approach due to its historical and symbolic value. A large part of the castle was without sufficient power and connectivity, which fell on our shoulders. So we had to install connectivity and bring our own power to some locations.
Another challenge for us was the scale of the event, we were not prepared for a production of this size, either in terms of people or equipment. Thanks to our membership of the Congress Rental Network, we were able to hire equipment and use team members from other audiovisual partners, our main partner being Robotrade from Slovenia.
Of course, the Summit in itself is a huge security challenge, which made everything more complicated not only for the production team, but also for all the other staff and suppliers.
Basic information about the event
Name of the organiser
AV MEDIA EVENTS
Location
Prague Castle, Czech Republic
Event duration
06. 10. 2022 - 07. 10. 2022
Client
Office of the Government of the Czech Republic
Event results
Creativity
The role of AV MEDIA EVENTS was also an advisory one. This means that together with the Government of the Czech Republic we discussed the suitability of the location of individual parts and meetings, their possible form and, above all, the suitability of technical and technological solutions in relation to current European standards and ISO norms.
Drawings of the individual locations and a concrete solution proposal were prepared together.
Innovation
During the Prague Summit, we faced a number of technical challenges, particularly in terms of secure communications and security in general. The Prague Castle premises were not designed for the number of journalists, TV crews, politicians and summit staff in terms of data connectivity. We therefore had to create a completely new fibre optic network and Wi-Fi connectivity to meet these requirements. Another important technical issue to be addressed was the interpretation into the 27 languages of the European Union, which was done in Brussels and transmitted to Prague via a state-of-the-art encrypted P2P link, where a team of additional translators was ready to take over the complete translation into the 6 basic languages of the European Union within 40 seconds in case of interruptions. Another important aspect was the provision of a complete and separate CCTV system for internal security, installed in every single room of the summit, of which there were dozens.
Execution
We had only 1.5 months to prepare for the event. Within this preparation time we prepared 13 versions of the task.Each version had significant changes. The last version arrived the day before the installation. The installation itself took 4 working days. Every day we coordinated more than 12 contractors and more than 80 workers who had to install more than 90 tonnes of equipment all over Prague Castle. Everything was covered with the highest possible security, with every person, including subcontractors, undergoing detailed background checks and accreditation.
Measurable results
Media coverage of the Prague Summit was worldwide, with only positive feedback on the technical support and organisation. In addition to politicians from all Member States, Prague was visited by more than 2,400 journalists from around the world and dozens of TV crews. This made Prague the most watched place in the world for those two days.
We received an official thank-you from our client, the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, which was satisfied with the preparations and the course of the Prague Summit. Thanks to our unique expertise and seamless organisation of the Prague Summit, we are currently being approached by many organisers of similar events.
Thanks to this event, we have already won several international awards, such as the BOSCH Most Innovative Rental Event, the CRN Brand Ambassador Award and the Czech Events Awards for Best Production.
Communication
As this is a political project organised by the European Union and the Government of the Czech Republic, the communication of this summit was prepared and realised by their in-house PR department.
Sustainable practices
By using one of the most innovative technological solutions of its kind, we did not have to fly in official translators who specialise in translating for this kind of governmental event. The translators stayed in Brussels, where we connected them to Prague via a special encrypted line. By using this technical solution, we saved a lot of CO2 by not flying them to Prague and back.
