A poster session is a presentation format with the following characteristics:
- A small, relatively restricted topic or theme that can be introduced and explained in a short time
- A poster (about 24" x 36") sitting on an easel that presents the most important points of the topic
- A knowledgeable person who provides a short overview of the topic and answers questions
- A handout that participants can pick up that contains additional references, links and information
A poster session emphasizes conversation among small groups of people. It tries to strike a balance between talking and listening. Some people may just wander by and read the poster or pick up the handout. Others may "eavesdrop" on a group. Some people may contribute their own experiences. It is a fluid format that is becoming increasingly popular at many professional conferences because it blurs the line between the expert and the novice. Poster sessions are frequently the first presentation opportunities for students.
Posters are usually created in Power Point (see the attachments linked at the top of this page; you can print a draft of the poster on letter or legal paper to see what it looks like). Create the slides first; use your own PowerPoint presentation template or the FCC PowerPoint presentation attached above. The template includes the FCC logo. Then you can copy selected slides to the clipboard and then resize and arrange several of them in the poster template. [Note: you have to copy and paste them to the Clipboard and then copy and paste them onto the poster. I don't know why!] I added word documents and sections of web pages to mine, as well as arrows and text boxes using the Draw toolbar. Or you can skip creating PowerPoint slides altogether and just use the template, adding information using the textbox and arrow tools in the Draw toolbar. [You can also create a poster in MS Publisher.] The full-size posters are in the FCC so people can see what they look like. The LMC
will print the posters and laminate them. They do a beautiful job!
Warning: Make sure you keep the 2x3 ratio in the document you create. Then if Scott needs to enlarge it to approximately 20" x 30", it will keep its original proportions. I have attached my poster for "The Wiki Thing" so you can see what a completed one can look like. But they don't all have to look the same! Experiment!
Send your completed poster as an email attachment to Scott Kozak
no later than August 9th. MEMO has a 5MB limit on attachments, so check your file size before sending. (I put my poster in a folder on Glory | Shared | Public | Transfer, and Scott was able to pick it up from there.)
You can create handouts in several ways. Print the slides (several to a page) using the handouts option in PowerPoint, export the presentation to Word and add headers, footers or other materials, or create a handout using [the template] provided for FCC presentations. If your handouts are MS Office documents, you can send them to the Copy Center as an email attachment. (Note that MEMO won't allow attachments over 5MB, so if your files are large, you have to walk them over the old-fashioned way.) Request 150 copies; specify the administrative copy account and the FCC activity. Don't forget to request that the copies be three-hole punched! I've just worked out what may be an easier way to get the handouts printed! Either send an electronic copy or deliver a hardcopy of your handout to Martha Gail Richmond (mg.richmond@gcmail.maricopa.edu) and she will handle getting the copies made for you. Just make sure Martha Gail knows that this is for the poster session. This will eliminate a possible problem of confusion at the copy center and allow Martha Gail to better track the expenses we are incurring to the admin copy account.
Note! I found SnagIt to be absolutely the most wonderful program for putting together various elements for the poster. It is an inexpensive ($39.95) screen capture program, and while I expect someone with better Word and Windows skills than I have would be able to do all of this without it, it is easy to learn and use. There is a free trial which you can download. I have a GCC-licensed copy which can be installed both at home and at school for a single user. I also have a personal copy of Camtasia (made by the same company). It is more expensive, but there are savings if you purchase the two bundled together. (I used Camtasia to produce two audio shorts, one on Boning a Chicken and the other on Using Statistical Abstracts.) Certainly a copy of [SnagIt] would be useful in the FCC. It's Windows-only, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is an equivalent program for the MAC or if these features are built into the more powerful MAC presentation software.
Here is some additional information about Poster Sessions:
or you can do a Google search for poster session templates
I am finding a number of websites devoted to presentation advice for poster sessions. These don't just address the poster design; some address the kinds of talk that goes on to support these sessions. I found them interesting and helpful, both for me and, if I were to use posters in a course, for students.
If you have other suggestions or strategies, add them here! If anything isn't clear, say so! If you want help, ask!
The guidelines, samples, and links you have provided will be extremely helpful. Thank you!! Susan High, 7/13/06