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MLA '10: Lightning Poster Session Instructions

To top of page Summary

Each presenter will have five minutes inclusive of setup and transition. The objective of a lightning poster presentation is to make a point and explain it as quickly as possible. There will be a 5-minute introduction, twelve 5-minute presentations, and a 25-minute question-and-answer session, for a total of 90 minutes. You will be firmly cut off at 5 minutes.

To top of page Slide Preparation for Presentation at MLA '10

  • You must submit your slides to PosterTrap (see below) by Monday, April 26, 2010. This is a strict deadline.
  • You will be allowed a maximum of three slides, including title, if any.
  • If you choose not to provide slides, the facilitator will provide a title slide.
  • Submit your slides in PowerPoint-compatible format. Test your slides on a computer running Windows XP with PowerPoint 2007, QuickTime 7, and Adobe Reader 9. An Internet connection will not be available.
  • All slides will be combined into a single presentation on the provided computer.
  • Do not prepare a traditional print or electronic poster.
  • Attendees will be encouraged to visit the online conference community for access to your poster slides and video. Attendees will have the ability to contact you via the Poster Wall located on www.mlanet.org (PosterTrap). You will get an email when an attendee posts a question or comment for you on the Poster Wall.

To top of page Tips for Presenters

  • Make your point as early in the talk as possible. Spend no more than a minute explaining the background before you make your first point. Your first point may be the background to the problem. Generalize your problem into the larger problem that everyone will understand and care about.
  • Provide a short summary of the details. The details are important to make your point. You will have time during the Q&A and other networking events to elaborate.
  • The only way to make sure your talk will fit within 5 minutes is to practice. Read it aloud several times. This will give you the most accurate understanding of how long it will take to say everything and also help you know what bits can be cut and replaced.

To top of page Video Recording of Lightning Poster Presentations

  • MLA will be video recording all lightning round presentations. These will be posted to the online conference community’s Poster Wall in addition to the materials you upload to PosterTrap (see below for instructions).
  • All presenting authors will be required to sign a video recording release prior to presenting the poster.

To top of page Submitting to MLA's Poster Wall—Due April 26, 2010

MLA is excited to enhance your lightning poster presentation with interactive kiosks that will display your presentation electronically, in addition to the version used in the lightning poster session. These kiosks will allow attendees to find and view your presentation throughout the conference, and they also provide a forum for feedback and questions. Your presentation will also be available on MLANET.

This service offers more interactivity than printed posters as you have the opportunity to include additional elements in your online presentation. If you choose to take advantage of these expanded options, please keep in mind the following as you design your slides:

  • Video, audio, links, and animations can be attached to specific parts of your PowerPoint presentation. Everything you would like to say or show attendees during your presentation can be included in the electronic version. This, in essence, allows your poster to present itself!
  • Data sets can be attached to graphs or charts on your slides. Describing your method and making your data set available enables other researchers to validate your results using your method or theirs with the data. This can spark collaboration and further development. Before making any data set available, ensure that it is HIPAA-compliant and allowed by your institution and IRB.
  • Additional documents can be attached to specific parts of your presentation. In the past, it has been a challenge to include adequate information for attendees to understand your project while limiting the details so they can quickly view the concepts. Now you can have the best of both worlds. Attendees can quickly understand concepts and then access your supplemental information for more in-depth examination of your research.

When your PowerPoint presentation is completed, you can upload it any time before April 26, 2010, through the website:

http://postertrap.com/mla/submit.php

Remember, you can upload the same file that you will bring onsite to the presentation (as a PDF or PowerPoint file). You can also upload any additional media that you would like attached to your poster. Acceptable formats include: Flash Video (FLV or SWF), other digital video formats (MOV, MP4, MPG, WMV), digital audio files (MP3 or M4P), Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX), digital images (JPEG, GIF, PNG), data sets in Microsoft Excel (XLS or XLSX) or XML, and links to websites (URLs). Note that some of these formats may not be appropriate for the actual lightning poster presentation—see above for specifications for the computer available in the presentation room.

The conversion of your poster, abstract, and media into this display format will be done automatically. Email and chat help are available on the Postertrap site to answer any questions.

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