{"id":69204,"date":"2014-04-22T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=69204"},"modified":"2014-04-21T19:47:52","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T00:47:52","slug":"so-you-want-to-do-a-poster-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=69204","title":{"rendered":"So You Want to Do A Poster Session?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Arkansas<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

So You Want to Do A Poster Session?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"fallon.bleich\"<\/a>Going to conferences is probably one of the most fun things that I get to do as an information\u00a0professional. At no other time do I get to be in a room\/city with thousands of people who are just\u00a0like me! However, the problem with conferences is that they can be costly and you may not have a\u00a0justification to go. This is why poster sessions are so fantastic; they give you a great reason to go to a\u00a0conference, they can sometimes cover some costs (really depends on the conference), and they\u2019re a\u00a0great way to network with other library professionals. Plus, they look fantastic on your resume and you\u00a0can use them to go to smaller conferences you may not have thought about before.<\/p>\n

So, what goes on during a poster session? Typically, it\u2019s like the science fairs from when we were kids.\u00a0Usually you do some sort of examination on a topic, such as library technology use, and present your\u00a0findings in poster format. You stand with your poster and answer any questions people might have on\u00a0your project. Sometimes, you have the option of also giving a presentation alongside your poster.<\/p>\n

Doing a poster session can be intimidating. Where do you even begin? How much work goes into them?\u00a0What the heck are they even supposed to look like? As someone who is now an old pro at these things\u2014seriously, I\u2019ve got six under my belt, including one prize winner\u2014I am here to help you! The following\u00a0list is a how-to guide on having a successful poster session:<\/p>\n

1.) Have an awesome concept.<\/strong> No, really, be interested in what you\u2019re presenting on in your\u00a0poster. If you\u2019re not interested in your concept, why would anyone else be? I\u2019ve used\u00a0poster sessions as an excuse to further examine the habits of distance learning LIS students,\u00a0the benefits and use of crowdsourcing in libraries and other nonprofits, and to get a full\u00a0understanding of my library\u2019s technology lending program. Having a concept that you\u2019re\u00a0interested in is key to having a successful poster session. It also helps if it\u2019s something that other\u00a0people are interested in; almost all poster sessions will have some sort of theme, i.e. technology\u00a0use in libraries, for you to craft your poster around. (This is also a great way to meet like minded\u00a0people in the field that you\u2019re interested in)<\/p>\n

2.) K.I.S.S. is not just something you do with your significant other.<\/strong> It\u2019s an old acronym, Keep It\u00a0Simple Stupid, but it definitely applies here. You are presenting all of your information in one\u00a0poster, and because it can\u2019t be the length of the room, you need to keep your poster as eye\u00a0catching as possible. Don\u2019t go crazy and put a thesis worth of information on your poster. They\u00a0can be wordy, but they also need to make a point. Also, colors are important; whatever you do,\u00a0keep your color scheme as basic as possible. You want your poster to attract people not detract\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

3.) Buddy up.<\/strong> This is the perfect opportunity to partner up with another person or with a whole\u00a0group of people! If this is your first poster, sometimes it can be less intimidating to do it as a\u00a0group project versus attempting a solo poster. I\u2019ve done both, and they both have pros and\u00a0cons. Group posters can be fun, and it can help you attempt a bigger project because there\u00a0are more people to shoulder the work load. If you want to survey a bunch of people, having\u00a0more than one person can mean access to many more potential survey takers, as well as more\u00a0data for you to present on your poster. Group posters also means that you can partner up\u00a0with someone who has done one before and use their expertise and guidance to help you\u00a0succeed at your first poster session. Buddy work also allows for you to work on a poster but not\u00a0necessarily present it at the conference. If you\u2019re like me and not super rich, you can\u2019t go to\u00a0every conference, but sometimes you can partner up with someone who can and help out on\u00a0the poster. It allows you to add it to your resume and the person going to the conference gets\u00a0help. I do recommend that you try to go if you can though, because conferences are fun!<\/p>\n

4.) Don\u2019t come empty handed.<\/strong> Poster sessions are the best time to network. If you\u2019re at a\u00a0conference, you should have business cards with you, but bring a few extras for the poster\u00a0session alone. You may not need them, but you don\u2019t want to be without them. Networking at\u00a0poster sessions has led to a lot of great conversations on my part and helped me become more\u00a0comfortable with networking in general. Also, if you go the extra mile and make a webpage to\u00a0accompany your poster, some easy business cards with QR codes look impressive to anyone\u00a0who swings by your poster.\"BPL<\/p>\n

5.) Check out the other posters.<\/strong> Not only is this common courtesy, but it also lets you see what\u00a0others\u00a0in your line of work are doing. It can be super cool, as well, to find out new information\u00a0that can help you in your office or can inspire you to take up a new project in your library. I\u2019ve\u00a0seen some awesome work done for poster sessions; they typically rev me up to go back home\u00a0and start working on a new project.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve included an example of one of my posters<\/a>\u00a0(done with fellow INALJ Head Editor, Mary Michelle\u00a0Moore) and a picture of another poster I\u2019ve done at work, to give you an idea of what a library\u00a0conference poster can look like. Both of these have been used at conferences and both led to some\u00a0great conversations! Poster sessions are fun and once you get a few under your belt, you\u2019ll be surprised\u00a0at how easy they can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Arkansas So You Want to Do A Poster Session? Going to conferences is probably one of the most fun things that I get to do as an information\u00a0professional. At no other time do I get to be in a room\/city with thousands of people who are just\u00a0like me! However, the…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":59613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,4238,3835,4377,4512,6140,6141],"class_list":["post-69204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-conferences","tag-fallon-bleich","tag-inalj-arkansas","tag-library-conferences","tag-poster-session","tag-posters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/fallon.bleich.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-i0c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/59613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}