Complete checklist by deadline to organize simultaneous translation at congresses and trade shows in São Paulo. 3 months, 1 month, 1 week and event day.
By deadline: 3 months, 1 month, 1 week and event day. For congresses and trade shows in São Paulo.
Congresses and trade shows bring together several rooms, several speakers and an audience that moves around all day. Simultaneous interpretation in this format fails less because of the interpreters and more because of planning details: a channel with no receivers, a room with no power outlet, a speaker who arrives without sending the presentation. The checklist above organizes the work by deadline, and the sections below explain the reason for each step.
The organizer does not need to master the technical side. What is needed is to decide early: languages, rooms, schedules and number of participants. With this information, lingo assembles team, equipment and timeline. The earlier the decision, the more interpreter options exist, especially for less common languages and for congresses with parallel sessions.
The first step, three months ahead, is to close the list of languages. At congresses, the right question is not only which languages the speakers use, but which languages the audience needs to hear. A congress with English-speaking speakers and a Brazilian audience needs an English-to-Portuguese channel. If there are also Spanish-speaking participants, a second channel is needed. Each output language has its own pair of interpreters and its own booth.
The second point is parallel sessions. When two or more rooms run at the same time with interpretation, each room needs its own team, booth and channels. It is not possible to reuse the same pair in two rooms at the same time. For this reason, the preliminary program should state clearly which sessions have interpretation, in which room and at what time.
The third point is the estimate of participants per room. It defines the number of receivers and the choice between ISO booth and portable equipment. The comparison between the two options is in ISO booth vs portable equipment, and the detail of what is included in the rental is in simultaneous interpretation equipment rental in SP.
Reserving the booth space in the event layout is a three-month planning item because fixing it later is expensive. The booth must be in a position that allows the interpreters to see the speaker and the presentation screen. Booths behind columns, in walkways or far from the stage harm interpretation quality, because the interpreter loses body language and the visual references of what is being shown.
Electric power, ventilation and access must also be planned. The team arrives 2 to 3 hours early for setup and testing, so the venue must allow entry at that time. At trade shows, where setup access usually has restricted windows, it is worth confirming with the hall organization. For large events, the guide on equipment rental for large events in SP has more detail.
The quality of interpretation at congresses depends on the material received before the event. One month ahead, the organizer sends the preliminary program with the topics of each session. One week ahead, it sends the presentation deck and the technical glossary. Interpreters who receive presentations in advance study terms, acronyms and figures, and arrive at the booth without surprises.
When the content is confidential, lingo signs an NDA valid for 5 years before receiving the material. The vocabulary of each sector is covered on dedicated pages, and the simultaneous interpretation glossary gathers the most common terms of the service.
At congresses with many participants, receiver distribution is the most visible operation for the audience. A badly placed handout point creates a queue at opening and delays the start of the first session. The protocol must be defined one month ahead: where receivers will be handed out, who hands them out, how the participant returns them and what happens to someone who leaves in the middle of a session.
For large congresses, lingo provides a support team for distribution and collection at the entrances and exits of each session. The kit includes spare receivers and a redundant transmitter, so an isolated failure does not interrupt the session. The final number of receivers is confirmed one week ahead, based on actual registrations.
Wireless equipment simplifies the operation, because it does not require cabling between the room and the audience. How it works is explained in wireless equipment for simultaneous interpretation.
If the congress needs accessibility for deaf people, Libras interpretation is a service separate from simultaneous interpretation between languages. The Libras interpreter is a different professional, with different training, and must be confirmed one month ahead. The organizer should also define where the Libras interpreter will stand on stage, so that they appear on broadcasts and are visible to the audience.
On the day of the congress, the lingo team arrives 2 to 3 hours early for setup and testing. The sequence is the same in every room: installation of the booth and transmitter, integration test with the venue's sound system, sound check with the interpreters and a complete audio test 30 minutes before opening. If a problem appears in this phase, there is time to solve it.
During the event, a backup technician remains on site from start to finish. Their role is to act before the audience notices any problem: swap a receiver, adjust a channel, restart a transmitter. The organizer should assign a production contact per room, so that operational questions are solved without interrupting the program.
At the close of each session, receivers are collected, checked and prepared for the next session. At multi-day congresses, the process repeats daily, with checks of batteries and channels before each opening. To reduce risks, the organization can anticipate the participants' most common question: how to turn on the receiver and how to choose the channel for their language.
The most frequent mistakes at any event are gathered in common mistakes in simultaneous interpretation, and good preparation practices are in how to prepare your event.
At congresses of more than one day, each additional day beyond the first follows the corresponding band, and for congresses of 3 or more days there are special conditions. The quote is automatic: the organizer provides languages, duration and number of participants, and the PDF arrives by email and WhatsApp in 60 seconds. The quote amount is the final amount on the invoice.
To understand the price factors, see how much simultaneous interpretation costs in SP. For the format-specific view, see simultaneous interpretation for congresses, and for events that combine in-person and remote audiences, simultaneous interpretation at hybrid events. Alex Barros, founder of lingo, is a simultaneous interpreter with 21 years of experience and follows congresses from planning onward.
Congresses and trade shows use the same technology, but have different dynamics. At a congress, the audience usually stays in the room during the session, and interpretation follows a fixed program with speakers, panels and questions. At a trade show, the audience moves between booths, lecture rooms and business areas, and interpretation appears at specific moments: stage talks, business rounds and meetings between exhibitors and foreign buyers.
For this reason, the trade show checklist gives more weight to the floor plan and the setup window, and the congress checklist gives more weight to the program and speaker material. In both cases the initial question is the same: at which moments does the audience need to hear another language? The answer defines how many booths and how many pairs are needed, and avoids paying for interpretation at times with no demand.
Event venues in São Paulo have their own access rules, setup hours and electrical infrastructure. For trade shows and congresses at the main convention centers, see the pages on simultaneous translation at Transamerica Expo Center and simultaneous translation at Expo Center Norte.
For each additional day beyond the first, we apply the corresponding band. For congresses of 3+ days, we have special conditions — consult our team.
Yes. For large congresses, we provide a support team for distribution and collection of receivers at the entrances and exits of each session.
lingo manages all the interpretation logistics — you take care of the content.
Automatic quote in 60 seconds. PDF by email and WhatsApp.