Retail's Big Show - NRF 2024 Asia Pacific
About the Event
Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific 2024 was held at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore, from the 11th to the 13th of June 2024. Organised by COMEXPOSIUM, in collaboration with the National Retail Federation (NRF), the event brought together over 800 attendees from more than 40 countries to explore the future of global retail.
With high-profile speakers from companies like Amazon, UNIQLO, Mastercard, and Coca-Cola, the event featured keynote speeches, panel discussions, innovation lab demonstrations, and exhibitor sessions. These served as a catalyst for innovation, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships, empowering retailers to thrive in the dynamic Asia Pacific market.
Our Client's Vision
The client’s vision was to expand Retail’s Big Show into the Asia Pacific region by creating a high-impact platform to showcase emerging technologies, address regional retail challenges and opportunities, and foster meaningful networking between global and regional industry leaders.
To bring this vision to life, the event required a seamless multilingual audio experience that could operate across a complex event layout. This included simultaneous interpretation in the main plenary, silent conference delivery for presentations within the open exhibition space, and portable audio systems for guided innovation lab tours. With a large international audience and multiple concurrent sessions, the solution needed to ensure clear communication, minimal disruption, and intuitive usability.
Our Work
Congress Rental provided comprehensive technical support across all areas of the event.
In the plenary, we installed seven ISO-compliant interpreter booths to facilitate simultaneous interpretation for seven languages. For the on-site audience we provided 600 Bosch receivers and headphones to ensure smooth and high-quality language access.
On the exhibition floor, we provided and configured silent conference systems for four concurrent presentation stages. This setup included 250 Bosch receivers and headphones, allowing delegates to tune in to specific sessions..
To facilitate the innovation demonstration and special program tours, we provided portable tour guide devices for four visiting groups, each with approximately 40 participants. These devices enabled groups to move freely through the space while staying connected to their presenter.
All equipment was integrated with the venue's PA systems for seamless communication. Our experienced technicians handled the full installation, setup, audience testing, live operation, technical monitoring, and dismantling.
Overcoming Technical Challenges
The Challenge
A combination of strong spotlights and bright, reflective walls presented one of the key challenges for the silent conference systems in the exhibition halls. Due to the nature of infrared signals, which behaves very similarly to light, our technicians encountered signal degradation from the overhead lighting system while testing the system during setup.
The Solution
To address this challenge and restore full functionality, existing radiators were repositioned ensuring they were pointed in more optimal directions to minimise the impact of reflective lighting, thus improving signal strength and coverage. Additionally, we increased the number of radiator units onsite, allowing us to expand the effective signal range.
The Outcome
Following technical adjustments, all systems operated flawlessly across the event. We received strong positive feedback from both interpreters and delegates. Interpreters praised the system’s audio clarity and reliability, noting how effectively it supported their work throughout the event. The client expressed high satisfaction with our responsiveness and technical execution and has voiced their intention to partner with Congress Rental again for NRF 2025.
