Virtual meetings are rapidly gaining popularity, due largely to the necessity of continuing knowledge exchange during the social isolation brought on by the Corona pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even before the pandemic, EMBL\u00b4s Course and Conference Office was already exploring options to improve our services and the event experience on-site, including the option of digital poster presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our software provider iPosterSessions<\/a> comes with easy to use WYSIWYG templates. Users can display high-resolution images, videos & animations, and the content can be updated at any time right throughout the conference \u2013 allowing poster presenters to present their research digitally and dynamically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are presenting a digital poster at an upcoming (virtual!) meeting, here are eight tips to help you on your way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most digital software providers have an official template that you can download \u2013 use it! This will reduce the risk of glitches, resolution problems and sizing issues in the final product, and you know from the outset what you have to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No two digital poster tools are the same, so take the time to browse through the online tips and tutorials to make sure you are comfortable with the software before starting. It will save you a lot of frustration in the long run!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the same principle as creating a printed scientific poster \u2013 there are so many of them, so make sure yours stands out! It should be eye-catching and visually appealing. Include clear data representations, and make sure the text is to the point. It should grab attention but not explain every little thing about your results \u2013 that\u2019s your job during the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graphics and media can express details more quickly and memorably than paragraphs of text, so have a think about how you can present your work in this way and put some time into it. Be sure to check that the media files work with the software, and test every file to make sure they display or play properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Digital posters differ from printed posters in that you can generally link to other pages online \u2013 so if there is a great external paper or online source you want to link to in order to explain your point in more detail, do it! Your audience will be grateful to have further reading handed to them on a plate if they want to find out more after the poster session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This should really be a no-brainer. Check your work is complete, correct and final before publishing your poster! Silly mistakes only show that you haven\u2019t put as much time and effort into the work as you probably should have, so get someone else to go over your poster before you release it to the conference community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, it\u2019s a digital poster presentation, and no, you won\u2019t be talking face-to-face with your audience as you normally would, but you still need to practice your presentation beforehand and know exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. It may feel strange online, so try presenting the poster online with a colleague or your boss (e.g. with Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts) and get them to give you feedback and pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are deadlines for a reason, so please stick to them! You don\u2019t want to risk your poster being excluded from the poster presentation because of tardiness. Give yourself plenty of time in case of any issues that may arise with uploading or compatibility (this shouldn\u2019t be an issue if you followed the template and guidelines, but sometimes computers have a mind of their own!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why not check out our list of upcoming virtual events<\/a> to see where you can try out your digital poster presentation skills!<\/p>\n\n\n\n