Conference operators: the flow must go on

Emmanuelle Gantet, ONUG/UNOG

Behind the scenes at conferences, sitting in booths at consoles with voice-intensity monitors and as many switches as there are microphones for the speakers and interpreters, you will find our conference operators. Their job is to assist the chairperson by switching on the microphone to enable a new speaker to take the floor. They check the sound quality of the amplified voices, not only as they come through the headsets but also in the recordings – which after all provide irrefutable proof of what was said. Recordings may be made at the request of meeting secretariats or delegations, but are also provided for staff who prepare written records of meetings. In the 1970s, the first recordings were made on vinyl discs, which were soon replaced by magnetic tape or cassettes, and these will in turn probably give way to the latest generations of digital media, the advantages of which include high-quality sound and an ever- increasing memory capacity.

Discretion, good reflexes and intellectual and linguistic alertness are vital qualities for conference operators. Discretion, because they have a privileged view of the meeting; good reflexes, to contact the relevant technician whenever any problem arises, not just with the sound, the microphones or the headsets but also with the ventilation or the lighting; alertness, to make sure that the right speaker is technically able to take the floor, and to make the switch at precisely the right moment – a particularly delicate manoeuvre during plenary meetings at the end of a session, when each country is trying to get its position heard; and linguistic alertness, to record the meeting in original version, as well as in English or French, again switching tracks at just the right moment.

In order to cover the 26 conference rooms equipped with recording or interpretation systems, the team of eight Palais conference operators – who are all of different nationalities – is augmented when necessary by temporary operators. Our conference operators, alone in their booths, are constantly learning as they listen to statements that in many cases have a direct connection with world events but have not yet been filtered by the media. It is a privilege to be able to watch such events “live” and rub shoulders with delegates and interpreters after the meetings, a privilege that inspires our operators and can only enhance the quality of their work.

English version is produced for the BES News by the English Translation Section.