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[neutralname]

I'm involved in organizing a Poster Session for a conference.  I've never done it before, and I've never made a poster myself, so my only relevant experience is in seeing poster sessions at other conferences. 

It's a small conference, and there won't be many posters.  The conference will be in a hotel.

My job is to work out what people can put their posters on -- poster boards, display boards, presentation boards, then notify those who will be doing posters what they need to bring.  We will probably buy poster boards, (or whatever we end up using).  We are hoping that the hotel will have easels or some thing equivalent to display put the poster boards on.  Sometimes people put posters on tables, but that would take up a lot of space, and we would probably be forced to rent the tables from the hotel.  Another option is to put the poster boards on chairs, but that does not seem satisfactory to me.  It would be too low down.

We don't have much money. Most presenters will be flying in, some from other countries.  So I don't think any of them could bring their own poster boards. 

Questions:

What size poster boards would be best?  I'm thinking 22"x28" is rather small.  But 36"x48" seems rather large. 30"x40" seems about right.  Is there a standard size for a conference poster? 
What about the material of the board?  Heavy card, corrugated card, or foam board? 
Would it be rude or inappropriate to insist that people doing the poster presentations buy from us the poster boards that we get?  It would probably be under $10 each, maybe less than $5. 

[larryc]

I'd do a Google search for poster session rules and steal some. I doubt the hotel will have easels but if they have those movable room divider panels you might use those. Or perhaps the art department where you are could loan you some easels?

I recently attended a poster session with a cash bar. It made a huge difference --people hung around more and had real conversations with the presenters.

[tenured_feminist]

Second what Larry said, but also lean on some kindly, thoughtful senior folk to serve as designated discussants for the posters. A lot of times these sessions end up with no one attending, and all it gives the presenters is the line on the CV. I set up a session once with multiple senior discussants, who talked individually with their poster people and then circulated, and it was really worthwhile for the poster presenters and the senior people. Also, if you bill it that way, you might get a few other people to come in.

If you use this design plus an open bar, it will be SRO!

[larryc]

A lot of times these sessions end up with no one attending

Very true. The one time I attended the AHA the poster session was for two hours one late afternoon in a basement space far from the rest of the conference. A few sad grad students stood by their posters desperately trying to make eye contact with the few people circulating. Don't do that.

[collegekidsmom]

Sometimes, the hotel has the easels. If the session is off the main area of the conference, we have also had to have an easel or two to put  big directional sign toward the posters. You often need a table set up for each poster if you are going to allow presenters a place to put handouts, business cards, and sign in sheets. You need some kind of big wall sign for the area of the session-so you need to bring that -and also something to put it up with. Often, when you get there you can't count on anyone having markers, doublestick squares and all that stuff.
 Now, many posters are the big printed 3X6 or 8 feet rolled up ones, and those people expect to have a wall and things to stick up the posters with. One conference I attend mandates what kind of posters people have to bring so they can set up the situation in a consistent manner. Otherwise, there are all kinds of sizes, etc.
 I got an organization once to "sponsor" the poster session, allowing some advertising, and in return they provided some nice small plates and drinks nearby. That definitely helped attendance. Another conference I attend awards a prize for "best poster" and that seems to be of interest. I just attended one where each poster presenter was given a few minutes to speak about the poster and introduce themselves to the audience standing around (this was a small session). It's best to have one of the organizers at the entrance area to answer questions from presenters and audience members. Also, advertising the posters in the conference materials and providing a convenient place and time really makes a big difference in attendance.

[johnr]

I recently attended a poster session with a cash bar. It made a huge difference --people hung around more and had real conversations with the presenters.

You mean to say that there are poster sessions WITHOUT cash (or free) bars?

[neutralname]

Thanks for the suggestions.  It's a small conference, in one room, so I'm not worried about people not seeing the posters.  The poster session has time devoted to it that would otherwise have been speakers.  People will also be able to look at the posters during the coffee and lunch breaks.

I suppose I could give the poster presenters the option of either bringing their own posterboard of whatever size they want or buying one off us. 

The topic is theoretical/interpretive rather than empirical, so people will not be presenting data they have gathered.  Let me put the question the other way around: from the point of view of someone looking at posters, and trying to work out what the presenter is saying, does it make any difference what size the poster is?  Are there paradigms of good and bad posters presenting conference level work?  The obvious bad approach is to just put the print-out of the paper on the poster. 

[johnr]

Thanks for the suggestions.  It's a small conference, in one room, so I'm not worried about people not seeing the posters.  The poster session has time devoted to it that would otherwise have been speakers.  People will also be able to look at the posters during the coffee and lunch breaks.

I suppose I could give the poster presenters the option of either bringing their own posterboard of whatever size they want or buying one off us. 

The topic is theoretical/interpretive rather than empirical, so people will not be presenting data they have gathered.  Let me put the question the other way around: from the point of view of someone looking at posters, and trying to work out what the presenter is saying, does it make any difference what size the poster is?  Are there paradigms of good and bad posters presenting conference level work?  The obvious bad approach is to just put the print-out of the paper on the poster. 

Your sentence regarding the purchase of posterboard is confusing me.  Typically, the conference organizer specifies the maximum size of the poster, and provides a place (i.e. a wall, or poster panels...most hotels that host conferences have access to these) for the presenters to hang the poster.  The presenter then prints out the poster on a large format printer at his or her home institution, and brings it to the conference rolled up and protected in a cardboard or plastic tube.  There is no actual "posterboard" like a fifth grader might buy and use to make a school presentation at a science fair.

See here: http://egmnblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/poster-session.jpg  for a picture of what I mean.

My advisor used to tell me to follow the 5-5-5 rule when making a poster.  Someone should be able to read your poster in 5 minutes, from 5 feet away, after drinking 5 beers.

[colin_purrington]

Sorry, didn't realize that links to blogs were frowned upon.  Below is a link-free version of the advice that I think might be useful for organizing a poster session:

1.  Provide guidance on poster aesthetics, audience, word count

Conferences are announced a year in advance on web pages, and those pages should give presenters more than just the desired dimensions of the posters and the due date.  If you say, “Try to keep your word count under 800, and design for scientists outside your field,” you might find that poster sessions are better attended and enjoyed.  And about that word count suggestion — just choose something, since “keep your word count low” means “under 5,000 words” to the average poster designer. If you can provide the above guidance, make sure it is added to a stable page on your society’s main web site, not just on the temporary page associated with the upcoming meeting.

2. Show examples of good posters

Scientists learn how to design posters from other scientists.  That’s really alarming.  So find a few good posters on the internet and link to them as examples. (Again, house this on a permanent page.)

3. Provide links to helpful poster advice

Find a web site or online PDF that pitches advice appropriate for the kind of conference you are organizing.  If you don’t provide a link, most attendees will just wing it, and that doesn’t really work out. (Again, house this on a permanent page.)

4. Don’t provide templates

It’s tempting to post a PowerPoint template online, but that encourages attendees to use PowerPoint, which was not designed for posters.  Another reason not to provide a template is that doing so would result in all the posters looking the same…and that would make for a mind-numbing session. Also keep in mind that if you post a template with lapses in aesthetics, color choice, font size … everyone at the meeting will adhere to those lapses.

5. Don’t require logos or banners

Branding attendees’ posters doesn’t really add to the quality of the poster session.  Mandating logos at the top of all the posters squishes titles to be smaller than they should be, and adds visual distractions that compete with good design. If you really want to brand things, give attendees free t-shirts and temporary tattoos.

6. Don’t require an abstract on posters

A poster is too short to need an abstract like a manuscript does. But it’s totally great to include a poster abstract in the conference booklet, to help people figure out which posters they’d like to visit.

7. Post judging criteria, evaluation form online prior to meeting

If posters will be judged for prizes and awards, tell attendees what criteria will be used. Something more specific than “for best poster.” Post the forms that the judges will be using. (On a permanent page.) And, please, don’t give top award to the poster with smallest font and most graphs: that just encourages people at future conferences to use even smaller fonts, and include even more graphs.

8. Provide 4 x 6” shrunken-poster stickers to presenters

If you can get all presenters to upload PDFs of their posters prior to the meeting, you can print them all onto small stickers that are given to the attendees when they arrive.  Then people can slap those on their shirts and advertise their posters prior to the poster sessions.  Doing this would energize the entire meeting, not just the poster session. E.g., people will proudly point to their mini-posters and explain their research.

9. Sponsor a fun “people’s choice” award

Even if you have official judging, set up a box near the poster session room for attendees to vote for “most enjoyable / creative / novel” poster.  There’s always one at a conference, and it would be fun to give them credit somehow, even if the judges didn’t give them any love.