Poster sessions play an essential role in academic conferences. They offer the best dynamic alternative for traditional panel presentations. They are also the most considered platform for research scholars to interact, share ideas, and network in a relaxed environment. If you are someone who is interested in organizing a poster session, then you must thoroughly plan it across various aspects, which include space, timing, technology, and most importantly, participant engagement.
Though the poster sessions started as innovative, knowledge-sharing gatherings, over time, they have evolved immensely. They are now a common part of many academic conferences. Several attendees attend these sessions to obtain useful information of their interest as well as to interact with other researchers. Many budding researchers are poster presenters who are keen to promote their work and get feedback.
Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to organize an engaging poster session that captivates your audience and boosts scholarly collaboration.
Clear Your Goals and Targeted Audience
Begin by defining the purpose of your poster session. Do you want to showcase all your research elements or only stick to a few? Are you interested in discussing the latest discoveries or sharing and elaborating on the existing ones? Do you want to gain more networking opportunities or gather useful feedback through peer review? Identify your event goals and the kind of attendees you’re expecting: academics, industry professionals, or students. This will help you stay aware of how to schedule your presentations properly.
Space and Layout
Choose a spacious, adequately lit area with ample room for people to move comfortably between the displayed posters. A minimum of 3′ by 4′ of wall or desk space is highly recommended to display each poster. Providing some extra space (at least 6′) in front is good, so that speakers and spectators may engage without feeling overcrowded. Avoid tight corridors or small rooms that hinder free movement.
Think beyond straight rows and come up with creative layouts. Design small, amphitheater-like spaces for speakers and listeners by arranging posters into “islands” of three or four with their backs facing one another. This layout arrangement promotes conversations, minimizes the linear traffic bottlenecks, and offers easier interaction.
Provide them with a map where all the details are mentioned, like poster numbers and locations. Distribute a list with presenter names, titles, and affiliations, helping attendees identify areas of interest and navigate efficiently. Clear and good lighting ensures visibility and grabs the attention of your attendees.
Timing and Duration
Consider multiple poster sessions or “pop-up” themed groups at different times and locations in the whole event. Such techniques eliminate crowding, promote more visibility, and ensure fruitful discussions around specific themes or subjects. It is important to plan your poster sessions carefully within the specified conference schedule. A session with 40-50 posters may require an hour or more for better interactions. Smaller sessions may work well in just 30-45 minutes. Avoid scheduling high-profile sessions at the same time to reduce attendance conflicts.
Host a Virtual Poster Session
Many conference organizers are interested in conducting an event that’s both engaging and accessible, whether it can be fully online or of a hybrid format. A well-planned virtual poster session helps the attendees to connect well, share research, and collaborate—without any restrictions of travel and time, which is required for an in-person conference.
The virtual poster session can be easily conducted through various virtual platforms, such as Zoom. These robust platforms offer specialized features that are necessary for a first-rate poster session experience. They provide a host of interactive sessions, real-time chat, dedicated breakout rooms with integrated video conversations, easy playback of recorded presentations, poster presenter support, and space for digital posters.
Such platforms offer tailored solutions that present a seamless experience. If you want to organize virtual poster sessions, then choose a platform that has the potential to handle all your expected tasks, the number of posters, as well as attendees. Some of the advantages of virtual poster sessions include:
Accessibility and Usage
Ensuring global participation in the virtual poster sessions is easier. It eliminates the geographical barriers for the budding researchers and attendees. Anyone from any time zone can get connected without any problem; all they need is a good internet connection.
Affordability
These sessions reduce the need for traveling, venue rental, and printing costs that are required for physical posters. The attendees don’t need to be physically present at the event’s venue. They can save their expenses related to hotel fares, transportation fares, and food. These events are cost-effective for both organizers and participants.
Eco-friendly
Environmental sustainability can be easily achieved by conducting the poster sessions online. Since there’s no need for physical materials and travel, it directly reduces the overall carbon footprint of the event.
Flexibility
The attendees can access the digital posters whenever they want to. This is useful as it offers a more detailed exploration of the content and enhances their knowledge in their preferred subjects.
Data Analytics
The event organizers can simply track interactions with digital posters, offering important details related to attendees’ interests and engagement.
Scalability
Virtual poster sessions offer the freedom to host a large number of participants and posters without the limitations of physical space. In the absence of such limitations, organizers can display more diverse research without extra costs or logistical requirements.
Guidelines for Poster Submissions
Well-structured posters are key to a successful session. As an organizer, you must provide clear poster design instructions that cover layout, fonts, visual hierarchy, and appeal. Encourage the presenters to come up with interactive designs that will draw the attention of the attendees, which will be easy for them to follow, and make them actively involved.
Improve Engagement with Host-led Activities
Appoint session moderators to visit the presenters during the sessions, stimulating discussions, and ensuring that quieter presenters get audience attention. Give moderators simple rubrics or question prompts to guide meaningful conversations. Focus on conducting discussions or workshops immediately after poster sessions, which are mainly focused on interesting subjects. These add-ons will offer attendees a more in-depth understanding of emerging topics and expand the networking opportunities.
Add More Interactive Elements
If there are any interactive elements present in the events, then they turn a random poster session into a great learning experience. Adding hands-on activities will make the attendees enjoy the session to the fullest and be more involved. Some of the ideas related to interactive elements are:
-
- Scanning QR codes leading to surveys
- Short demo videos
- Screens with interactive visuals
- Physical models or prototypes
- Simple and fun games related to the topic
- Polls or question prompts
- Sticky note feedback walls
These interactive touches will make your poster sessions more involved. They encourage more useful conversations and increase the overall participation.
Offer Refreshments
Offering refreshments is always a kind gesture, no matter where it is given. They play a subtle but essential part in boosting the engagement rates. Attendees feel more relaxed and valued when they get some snacks or drinks. They begin conversations naturally and stay longer to interact. Refreshments always help create a welcoming atmosphere. They turn the poster sessions into a social hub rather than just a formal display event.
Tell Presenters to Include Visual Storytelling
The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” never gets old. Encourage your poster sessions presenters to use attractive and visually appealing images that draw the visitors’ attention. Many attendees connect with images more quickly than simple and plain text. In crowded and large academic spaces, emulating storytelling helps to convert complex research topics into understandable information.
A poster is more than just a collection of information and data. It should include all the important points, arranged in a way that tells a smooth and interesting story, guiding attendees to the main conclusion. It should also be clear and concise. It is a good practice to write a short narrative of the story that the presenter wants to tell before creating their poster. This also helps in encouraging more fruitful discussions and bringing posters to life.
Provide a few relevant specifications to the poster presenters related to storytelling, such as:
-
- Using diagrams
- Add infographics
- Highlight important points
- Present visual results
- Give icons
- Use different colors
- Avoid text-heavy blocks
Recognition and Awards
Adding incentives like a reward system based on votes or judges’ evaluations acts as a great motivator. Presenters feel encouraged if their efforts get recognized. This will also help them perform well and deliver high-quality work in the next sessions and polish their skills. Such reward systems also improve attendance and creates more excitement to attend the event and add a layer of friendly competition. Some of the award categories that can be included are:
-
- Best Poster
- Best Visual Design
- Best Innovation
- Most Interactive Poster
- People’s Choice Award
- Best Early-career Research Poster
Encourage Social Media Interaction
Complement the physical sessions with virtual components. Come up with a dedicated online poster gallery. This increases the reach and gives wider access. Use event-related hashtags to encourage live interactions, updates, or posting about posters that are interesting. Come up with interactive Q&A or live chat activities that are scheduled for poster presenters to reach remote participants. This ensures that their scholarly work has reached and extended beyond just the event’s venue.
Deploy Volunteers
Appoint volunteers who are knowledgeable and are quick to offer any kind of assistance. They can guide attendees to visit certain poster sessions, help them find sessions of interest. They should communicate openly related to the concerns faced by presenters and attendees.
Poster Presenters’ Traveling Needs
It can be difficult for the presenters to move their paper posters without damaging them or to carry a heavy poster board. As organizers, you must consider your presenters’ transportation and traveling challenges. It is a good idea to provide e-poster screens for them.
You can offer the researchers help and reduce their stress related to printing, and support them with logistics. They’ll appreciate it and focus more on engagement. Arranging a sponsorship deal with a nearby printing shop and allowing them to print posters for guests on-site or deliver them on the day, or offering any other discounts, is also a good idea.
Online Platform for Poster SubmissionsÂ
Apart from providing e-posters, you should consider the use of technology for handling and executing the poster sessions. Using an end-to-end event management platform like Dryfta helps in planning a big conference with thousands of applications for both posters and talks effectively. Poster entries can be gathered and reviewed using Dryfta’s robust system. Your organizing staff will have less work to do, and delegates submitting in different formats will have a more pleasant experience if you use this uniform system.
Keep Feedback Discussions Going
Conduct small but focused discussion groups or workshops after each poster session. Come up with a dedicated feedback system that helps the presenters grow. It also helps you to improve the future poster sessions. Collect feedback via surveys, commenting options, post-event emails, and many more. Gathering the feedback always makes the attendees feel that their opinions and experiences are valued. This also motivates them to attend your future organized events.
After Event Attendees Engagement
Engage with the attendees through social media and targeted emails. Upload recorded presentations and share photographs from the poster sessions. Highlight top contributors and achievers, and provide access to video files so anyone who missed the live portion can catch up easily.
Continue the discussions in a forum or online channel and social media groups. Tag the attendees, presenters, and volunteers in the social posts. This post-session environment can open doors for ongoing peer review and collaboration improvement.
The Takeaway
There should be a balance between innovation, interaction, and logistics when organizing a poster session. Organizers can increase attendee involvement by implementing innovative designs, utilizing technology such as e-posters, or conducting virtual poster sessions and creating a friendly atmosphere for useful conversations. While audience-driven awards increase participation rates, event management tools like Dryfta simplify procedures. If well-executed, your poster sessions can become a vibrant, memorable conference that highlights and promotes deep connections and information exchange.