Posters should be A0 size (841mm x 1189mm) and in portrait orientation; pdf is the preferred format with a resolution of 200-300 dpi. We have arranged special rates with a local printer in Tarifa for those who submit their posters by 23:59 CET 12 February. The normal rates are around for €28 ordinary paper up to €60 for canvas or photo paper – the discount will depend on the number of presenters submitting their posters by February 12. We will take care of collecting and hanging these posters at the venue for you. To have your poster printed in Tarifa, you must contact the printer directly via email at digital@fotorojas.com and mention that your poster is for the International Orca Symposium.
Posters submitted after 12 February will be subject to regular rates, and participants will need to manage the collection and hanging themselves. Additionally, please email your poster file to (orcasymposium@circe.info) as a backup.
Although the posters will be left up throughout the symposium, there are three scheduled times for dedicated poster sessions:
17 and 18 February from 19:00 – 21:00 and 19 February from 14:00 – 16:00.
Whilst we don’t necessarily expect you to stand by your poster throughout each session, being available as much as possible is a good way to obtain the best feedback and also to meet people and exchange ideas. To facilitate this we suggest that you leave a ‘post-it’ note by your poster saying when you expect to be there.
Do not be overly ambitious. In the space available you need to give a short background to the context of your work but do not dwell on this too much. The focus should be on the method (for recognised practical and statistical techniques there is no need to explain methods in detail, for newer techniques there will be a need for more detail), the main results and especially the conclusions. Remember that you are not salesperson – it is good science to talk about any uncertainties (which are usually inevitable).
Some obvious general guidelines apply that you probably already know but are provided for completeness:
(a) The poster should not be overcluttered and should be able to be read from a distance of about 1.5m. We would suggest that around about 1000 words of content should be sufficient. The objective is that people can read it in about 5 minutes. As a very approximate guide aim for perhaps 20% text, 50% figures/tables and 30% space).
(b) Given (a), we would suggest font sizes of around 70pt for the Title, 48pt for the author names, 24pt for affiliations, and no less than 24pt for the body of the text (using caps, bold and italics for different heading levels. References and Acknowledgement if included can be smaller (e.g. 18pt).
(c) Restrict the number of font types to 1 or at most 2; ‘sans serif’ fonts are the most legible (e.g. Arial, Calibri, Helvetica or the like).
(d) Artistry is good but not a substitute for legibility! Be careful with overly involved backgrounds (often a plain colour or gradient is best) and ensure that there is good contrast between the text and the background.
(e) Arrange the sections following a logical flow for the reader. For example, starting in the upper left and working down in each column from left to right (assuming that you have more than one column.
(f) Avoid using too complex tables or graphs and too many of them – make sure that they clearly illustrate the point that you are trying to make.
As the symposium will have an online component, we intend to broadcast the Plenary sessions live to online registered persons. Similarly, we would like to make posters available to registered online participants for at least a few days. Each poster presenter will receive a form asking for their permission to make their posters available to registered participant
