How long does it take to prepare an international summit like Paradigms 2024?

Paradigms 2024 in Rome took a full year of preparation for two days of event. Internationally, venue, travel and local supplier lead times set the pace.

What changes when you produce an event in another country?

Suppliers you do not know, contracts under another law, languages, team travel and less room to improvise. Lock in from home everything you can.

Which languages should registration for an international event use?

At least English, plus the host country's language if there is a local audience. Forms publishes in seven languages, Italian included.

Do Murphy OS contracts work for an event in Italy?

The templates adapt to Spain or Mexico and are also in English. For an Italian venue or supplier, use them as a base and have a local adviser review them.

An international two-day summit in Rome: the Paradigms 2024 case

Paradigms 2024 turned the Acquario Romano, a historic space in Rome, into the hub of an international branding and creativity summit for two days, with experts, creatives and industry leaders from around the world. Behind it was a full year of preparation. Producing abroad multiplies every normal conference problem: suppliers you do not know, another language, another legal system and a team working remotely until load-in. Here are the moving parts and how you would build it today with Murphy OS.

What the event called for

According to the public write-up, the goal was to position Paradigms 2024 as the reference summit for branding and creativity and strengthen Frontify’s global presence.

Element	What it had
Guests	Branding experts, creatives and industry leaders from around the world
Venue	Acquario Romano, Rome, a historic space
Length	Two days
Preparation	A year of planning
Experience	High-impact talks, performances, strategic networking, immersive experiences

The write-up calls it an emotional, physical and strategic marathon. From outside it looks smooth; inside, it is a year of chained decisions.

The production pieces behind an event like this

A year is short if it is not organised

Twelve months is a lot of time, and a lot of time to lose the thread. Budget versions change as venue, travel and suppliers close. Without a single home for the numbers, every change spawns a new spreadsheet.

Local suppliers

AV, catering, hosts, transport: almost everything is hired at destination. You find, compare and contract remotely, under another law and often in another language.

A global audience

When guests fly in from several countries, registration has to speak their language and capture arrivals and needs, and check-in cannot be a queue.

A historic venue

Historic spaces come with house rules, load-in windows and technical limits. Setup is planned to the minute.

Performances and staging

Talks, performances and networking moments chained together need a run of show that the whole team, local and travelling, sees the same way.

How you would run it today with Murphy OS

This is what we would do with a similar brief. Examples are illustrative.

1. Planner: a year of versions without losing the thread

In Planner you split the budget into income, per-guest costs, global costs, staff and extras. Each time something big changes (another hotel, more speakers) you duplicate the version first: for example, initial, venue confirmed, final. Compare them and go back to the one that worked. Pick your currency in Settings; the client PDF leaves your margins out and carries your brand. Use Share to invite production with View, Comment or Edit.

2. Freelance Board: a local crew

On the Freelance Board you can filter by country, languages and level, role and availability. Need English-speaking hosts or technicians at destination? Filter, open the profile with their largest event and liability insurance, download the CV and message them from the app.

3. Contracts: a solid base, a local review

In Contracts you start from the venue hire, supplier, speaker and, if relevant, co-production templates, with cancellation, force majeure, tech rider and image rights clauses. Templates adapt to Spain or Mexico and are available in English: for an Italian venue or supplier, use them as a base and have a local adviser review them. Signature by code, annexes (quote, plan, rider) in the same link and a final PDF with certificate.

4. Forms: registration in several languages

With the conference template in Forms you publish the landing page in English and Italian (Forms publishes in seven languages and the AI translates missing text for you to review). Useful questions:

Details, company and role.
Country of origin, arrival and departure dates.
Capped sessions or experiences.
Dietary needs and allergies.
Privacy and image consent, with the data processing agreement your client signs.

Speakers carry the star, renamed «Speaker», which shows at the door and on their badge. QR check-in from several phones.

5. Run of show (Escaleta): one programme for local and travelling teams

In the run of show you set load-in, day 1, day 2 and load-out as tabs, importing the Planner agenda. Colour-coded teams: local AV, catering, stage management, hosts. Everyone opens the crew link on their phone, no account, and ticks cues with their name. The client follows live, without internal notes.

Lessons worth keeping

A year of preparation needs versions, not loose files.
Local suppliers get a solid base and a local review. Never the other way round.
International registration captures arrivals, not just names.
A historic venue is set up to the minute, with house rules attached to the contract.
Local and travelling teams, one run of show. Two run of shows means two events.

What I would check tomorrow with this brief

Do I have budget versions for each venue scenario?
Do I know which suppliers are local and who reviews their contracts?
Is the landing page in my audience’s languages?
Am I capturing arrival and departure dates?
Are the venue’s house rules in the setup plan?