Clear-Com®, a Vitec Group brand and global leader of trusted intercom systems, were chosen to provide a backbone communication system for the opening and closing ceremonies at the 15th Annual Asian Games staged in Doha, UAE in December 2006.
This event was the biggest multi-sport event to date outside the summer Olympic Games, and the largest sporting event ever held in the Middle East. More than 10,500 athletes from 45 nations competed at the Asian Games. Consequently, around 1,000 global event specialists from across the world worked with the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) from purpose-built facilities in Doha to complete the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies held at the magnificent Khalifa Stadium.
Communication amongst the hundreds of production teams involved in the ceremonies was a complex task that needed reliable, high quality interactions at all times. To achieve this, Australian communications specialists Mitech Design chose the Eclipse Matrix system from Clear-Com to provide a complete intercom solution. Clear-Com’s Eclipse Omega Matrix was the backbone communication system used during the ceremonies. This included 240 x Ports, 8 x Party Line interfaces, 40 x 4-wire interfaces and 88 x Clear-Com key panels.
All main operators for the show had key panels allowing them to be a part of a group or talk individually to different people. For example, 10 panels for lighting operators and systems staff, 14 for automation operators and 10 for audio. Additionally there were 22 panels in the main control space for producers, choreography, technical directors and show callers. Most departments had at least two radio channels - an engineering and a show operations channel. Automation had up to nine channels running at once due to the complexity and the amount of operators needed to run the flying system.
“Communications is the only technical department that actually has to deal with all areas of the show from what’s happening on the field to transport, operations and security,” explained Ian Anderson from Mitech Design, who managed the Clear-Com system frame throughout the Doha Games.
“Clear-Com has been behind us all the way showing support for the product and providing quality equipment that end users find easy to use and understand,” stated Ian. “The Clear-Com product is intuitive and user friendly. It doesn’t take long for an operator to become familiar with the product. “ He added.
Matt Danilowicz, Managing Director of Clear-Com said “We are delighted to have been part of such a successful event as the Doha Games. The versatility, reliability and ease of use of our intercom products really came into its own at this type of high profile, real-time OB event. Our products have been used at several major ceremonies around the world including the Sydney Olympics 2000, Rugby World Cup 2003, Athens 2004, Melbourne 2006 and now Doha 2006.“