A stand where everyone who walks up is understood
A demo, a talk on the stand's small stage, a conversation with a visitor who does not share your language. All live, with no separate kit.
At an international trade show the time you get with each visitor is minutes, and half of it goes on working out whether you understand each other. What is lost there is not a translation: it is the whole conversation.
Where the audio comes from
From a handheld or lapel microphone plugged into the box. On a stand with a stage and a PA, from that desk; for a counter conversation, from a small microphone on it.
How it is set up
- 1
A microphone goes where the talking happens: the counter or the stage.
- 2
The languages of the markets that come to that show are left open.
- 3
The visitor scans the stand's code and picks theirs.
- 4
After the show, the transcript says what was asked, and in which languages.
Why it fits a trade show
Set up and taken down in a day
No building work, no new cabling, no booking staff months ahead.
Only on the show days
Switched on Monday and off Thursday. No monthly fee running for the rest of the year.
Languages chosen per show
The ones for a show in Munich are not the ones for a show in Shanghai. That is a change in the panel, not a different contract.
A record of what was said
What was asked, in which languages, and how much. For deciding which show to come back to, that is worth more than the number of cards collected.
When this is not for you
A trade show is one of the noisiest places there is, and there the microphone decides everything. With an ambient microphone in an aisle full of music and people, this will not work; with a lapel or handheld mic close to whoever is talking, it will. If you cannot control the microphone, do not count on it.
Questions people ask
- What if the stand is very noisy?
- A microphone close to the mouth solves nearly all of it. What does not work is a distant microphone picking up the whole hall — a person could not follow that either.
- Do I need my own wifi?
- You need a stable connection. Show wifi tends to fall over at peak hours; your own data card is cheaper than losing the demo.
- Does it work for a two-person conversation rather than a talk?
- Yes. With a small microphone on the counter, a conversation is translated exactly like a presentation.
- Can I hire it for three days only?
- Yes. You buy credit in minutes and spend it when you use it; there is no subscription and no minimum term.