Poster Session Guidelines

Please note: All Poster Session time slots are now 60 minutes long in response to request from presenters. This shortened time slot allows appropriate time to set up and dismantle posters.

ALL Poster Sessions will take place at the San Diego Convention Center.

A Poster session is a graphic presentation of authors' reports. The authors illustrate their findings by displaying graphs, photos, diagrams and a small amount of text on the poster boards. The authors will then hold discussions with the registrants who are circulating among the poster boards. Many authors find it helpful to present a brief introduction to answer the obvious questions and allow the remainder of the time for more in-depth discussions. The author must remain by his/her poster board for the duration of the one hour session. If handouts are distributed, bring approximately 50 copies. Highlight the authors names and address information in case the viewer is interested in contacting them for more information. No audiovisual equipment is permitted for poster presentations.

For those people interested in your data, you may consider distributing copies of your handouts or taking advantage of the ability to upload your handouts to the Online Program, so that they become a permanent part of your abstract (See Below).  The APHA DisAbility Forum for Accessiblity Committee has developed additional information to assist you in developing an Accessible Poster Presentation (PDF).

• The poster board will be 4 feet tall by 6 feet wide, mounted on stands.
• Thumbtacks will be available onsite for mounting the displays.
• A chair will be provided for each Poster Session presenter
• Poster sessions consist of 10 poster boards numbered 1 through 10 (session numbers will be indicated at the end of each row of boards) and will be held in the Public Health Expo at the San Diego Convention Center. There will be approximately 28 poster sessions scheduled concurrently, so be sure to identify the correct row of boards for your session as well as the appropriate board number as indicated in the program before arranging your poster.
• Posters may be set up ½ hour before the start of the session. To locate your assigned poster board, look for the 4-digit session number to which your abstract was assigned. Presentations should be taken down within 30 minutes after the session ends. Display materials not removed following the conclusion of the session will be discarded.
• Materials should include the title of the presentation and the list of authors. Letters in the title should be at least 1 inch high. Bring all illustrations needed -- figures, tables, color photographs, charts. It may be helpful to consult an artist about the display.
• The material should be well labeled and legible from a distance of 2 yards. Lettering should be bold. If you will be posting typed material, use a large font size (20 to 24 point font) on white, pale yellow or cream-colored non-glossy paper. Use 1-inch margins. Avoid use of fancy fonts. Use upper and lowercase letters. Simple serif fonts such as "Times New Roman" are easier to read than sans (without) serif fonts such as "Geneva".

Posters Printed, Laminated and Ready for Pick Up

There is no longer any need to struggle through airport security with bulky poster session presentation carrying cases or taking the chance that your hard work or research will be lost or misplaced during your travels.  

A new service allows you to have your poster session presentation printed, laminated and ready for pick-up on-site at the San Diego Convention Center!  GES, the APHA official Exhibit Service Contractor, offers this convenient service for less than it may cost you at FedExKinkos and without all of the additional headaches.  Pricing and details coming soon. Final deadline for ordering and uploading files is October 21st.