POSTER GUIDELINES

Overview: Posters are a visual presentation of a researcher's findings or details of an implemented program or innovative solution. Poster sessions provide an opportunity for informal discussion between the presenter and the conference attendees in a one-on-one or small group format. Poster presenters illustrate their findings by displaying text, graphs/charts, photographs, graphics, and/or diagrams on poster boards. The poster boards measure 40" by 60", oriented landscape (wider rather than taller). The session lasts about 2.5 hours on Thursday, May 10, 2012. This is an integral part of the Health Literacy Conference. Presenters are expected to remain by their board for the duration of the session. Click here for a printer-friendly page of these guidelines.

Designing Your Poster

Size of Board

The poster board will be 40" by 60", mounted on easels. We will provide the board, which is made of foam core material, and the easels. Most presenters orient their presentation in landscape format (60" wide x 40" tall). We suggest that your display be printed on paper or lightweight poster board that can be easily attached to the poster board.  You can use push pins to secure your poster, but we strongly recommend the use of Velcro.  Velcro allows for easy set-up and removal.  Although we will have some Velcro tape and push pins available, we strongly suggest you bring your own Velcro or pins to facilitate the mounting process. 

Organization

Design your poster to highlight the major points of your topic and stimulate feedback.  Present enough information  but avoid overcrowding. Remember, you will be explaining the findings, so provide enough information to allow visitors to get a grasp of your research or program, but not so much that viewers cannot quickly scan your poster and get the general idea of your presentation.

Materials should include the title of the presentation and the list of researchers or others involved in the program.  Letters in the title should be at least 1 inch high.  Include all illustrations needed - figures, tables, color photographs, charts.  It may be helpful to consult an artist about the display. Be colorful and creative!

Graphics

Consider various options for presenting the important points of your research:

Ø       Use graphs to clarify and emphasize the key relationships between figures.  Be sure graphs are precise, clearly labeled, and placed near the companion text.

Ø       Select the type of chart that best illustrates your point.  For example, pie charts compare relative parts that make up a whole, and line charts are better for depicting trends over time.

Ø       If using tables, make sure columns are not too narrow, too numerous, or too long. Use tables only when simpler visuals like graphs or charts won't suffice.

Arrangement

Design the flow of information in several columns, which are read from top to bottom and from left to right.  Use lines, frames, contrasting colors, or arrows to call attention to important points.

Lettering

Select a clean and simple font and use it consistently throughout the poster.  Use both upper and lower case letters, especially in the body of your presentation.  Make lettering large enough to read from at least three feet (20 to 24 point type size).

Color

Use color to attract interest and to dramatize similarities and differences.  Emphasis may be lost if more than four colors are used.  The background color of the poster boards is white.

Transporting Your Poster

You may wish to construct your poster in small panels so it will be easy to carry.  Portfolio cases are available from art supply stores.  Alternatively, if you design your poster as one large sheet to cover the poster board, you can roll your poster and carry it in a protective tube.

Presenting Your Poster

Participants must mount their display Thursday afternoon, between 4:30 and 5:30 pm, which is the afternoon break before the Reception/Poster presentations. Posters must be up and presenters ready for the opening of the Poster Session/Reception. Space permitting, posters will remain up for display on Friday in the plenary session hall. Display materials are available for retrieval at the close of the conference. Materials that are not retrieved will be discarded.

Rehearse your presentation and memorize points you want to emphasize during the poster session. Keep your basic presentation short (1-2 minutes), and allow for questions. Know where various points of emphasis are located on your poster so you can refer to them as you talk with viewers without turning your back or blocking their view. This is an informal session as part of the Opening Night Reception. Generally, you will have small clusters of up to 4 or 5 people at a time, who are circulating from poster to poster.

To enable conference participants to contact you, we suggest you bring your business cards or write a telephone number where you can be reached during the meeting.

If you are bringing handouts, assume that there will be between 150-200 people at the reception, and that probably half or fewer than that will request a handout. There will be a few scattered tables in the area of the posters, but we cannot provide a separate table for each presenter.

We also strongly suggest you get plenty of rest on Wednesday night. Thursday is the first day of the conference, and it will be a long day, especially for poster presenters.

If you have any questions prior to the conference, contact Michael Villaire at IHA, mvillaire@iha4health.org or by phone at (562) 690-4001, ext. 202. He will also be at the conference to answer any questions.