Dear CEC05 Poster Presenters,
As CEC2005 Poster Session Chair, I look forward to viewing your posters at this years poster sessions. In fact the CEC2005 program will feature five poster sessions with each organized into topic areas. I hope you'll join me in making this year's poster sessions a lively and enjoyable part of CEC2005.
The poster displays will support up to a 3ft wide by 4ft tall poster (US size). This is of course just slightly larger than A0 paper. So if you plan your presentation for A0 paper it will surely fit within the limits. As noted above, the poster sessions will be organized into topic areas and so it will be very important that you mount your poster on the proper poster display during your scheduled session. To facilitate this process each poster display will have a label indicating the paper that should be posted on that display.
Posters are a nearly ideal method for communicating scientific and technical ideas. Posters promote personal contact and individual exchange of ideas. Such individual contact is not so easy during an oral presentation, but it comes naturally in a good poster session.
Although many of this years presenters are already experts at the "art" of producing a great poster there are undoubtedly some new presenters as well. With this in mind I have collected and summarized some guidelines and tips (see below) for creating and presenting a great poster. Please let me know if you have additional comments, questions, or additions. I look forward to meeting each of you in Edinburgh next month.
Best Regards,
Dr. Gwenn Volkert
CEC2005 Poster Chair
email:volkert@cs.kent.edu
*******************************************************************************
Take advantage of the session -- A poster is a great way to get feedback from other conference participants, especially those most interested in your work. Design your poster to take advantage of the interactivity and discussion that is typical of poster sessions.
The most successful posters:
Each poster will be assigned a poster presentation number that will be printed in the conference program along with the title. The assigned numbers correspond to the poster board you are to use for displaying your poster.
The board on which you will mount your poster has dimensions of 3' across x 4' in height, or slightly larger than A0 paper. This size of posterboard will easily accommodate a poster composed of up to 15 pieces of US letter size or A4 paper. Of course you may wish to prepare a poster that can be printed on a large format printer. Either way posters can be attached to the posterboards with push pins. The push pins will be provided.
The rest of this guide is divided into two sections, the DO section and the DO NOT section . If you still have any questions after reviewing each section, please contact me directly by email at volkert@cs.kent.edu.
DO CONSIDER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS FOR PREPARING YOUR POSTER
The title of your paper and the author names should be printed in large characters at the top of the poster presentation. The remaining text in the poster presentation should be easily visible from a distance of about one meter.
Avoid putting too much material and text on the poster.
Make the organization obvious -- If you want viewers to follow a particular order when looking at your poster, consider using numbers or arrows to lead the viewer through your poster.
Use graphs, charts and/or tables (color if possible) to show results. Graphics help make your poster interesting.
Be simple and concise with your written material. Cover the key points of your work and save elaborate points for discussion/interaction with viewers.
For your conclusions, focus on a central finding that lends itself to informal discussion.
Consider using variety of formats -- A poster can be formed from several separate sheets of paper, but that paper can be in a variety of formats. Sheets of different sized paper can be posted individually or joined together into separate sections.
Tell a good research story --
You could for example divide your poster into sections such as: Introduction, Objectives, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions.
In other words make your poster as self-explanatory as possible. You might consider organizing your poster around the following questions
Make your poster visible and easy to read by ensuring that the text and graphics on your poster are readable from a distance. Some conference participants may be browsing titles from across the room and larger groups of viewers will often congregate around a popular poster.
List the title and authors prominently -- Give the title of your poster in large letters (1" high or 72 point). Below the title, list the authors' names and affiliations in slightly smaller letters.
Use small text sparingly -- State the main conclusions of your work in six lines or less, in letters about 5/8" high (48 point). The smallest text on your poster should still be large, around 3/8" high (24 point). It is not necessary to write in complete sentences; sentence fragments may be easier to comprehend. Bulleted lists are often effective.
Use graphics and color -- Use graphics and color for highlighting and explanation. Use graphs, diagrams, and cartoons wherever possible. A brief textual description of the implications of a graphic, placed just above or below it, is often helpful.
Be crEAtive!!
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER DOING THE FOLLOWING:
- DO NOT mount the text of your paper as the poster!!! It has been suggested at recent conference organization meetings that posters that consist of tacked up papers should be removed from the poster viewing area.
- DO NOT use less than a 16pt font for any text you mount. Most viewers will be at least a couple of feet away from your poster and will not be able to read print in a smaller font.
- DO NOT be absent from your scheduled poster time! The whole idea of a poster session is to allow for focused interaction with other researchers interested in your work.