American Historical Association

Poster Session General Information

This year the poster session will be broken up into two parts, both taking place on Saturday, January 5, 2013 in the New Orleans Marriott, La Galerie 3. Part 1 (AHA Session #193) will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Part 2 (AHA Session # 221) will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Each part will have about 15 presenters whose posters and topics have been selected by the AHA Program Committee. You can begin to set up in the room half an hour before the start time of each poster session. Presenters are expected to remain with their posters to engage in discussion with the audience until the end of the session.  At that time you can take down your poster.

The AHA will provide a draped 2’ x 6’ table, chair, and 4’ x 8’ landscape-format bulletin board. Access to an electrical outlet is available on request; please let us know by Monday, December 3, if you need it.

Tables and bulletin boards will be identified by numbers corresponding to the program listing (e.g. 193-1, 193-2, or 221-1, 221-2 ) and organized sequentially to help audience members find the posters that interest them.

We are sometimes asked for more specific details on the actual form and arrangement of the posters. The AHA has no set guidelines on poster presentations, so that is almost entirely up to you.  Material can be mounted on tables using a tri-fold poster board available at almost any store where school or office supplies are sold. You may affix your information to the board using tacks, tape, or any other method. You can use the rest of the table top for copies of a short précis of your research, business cards, and even your own laptop computer if you would like to have a short PowerPoint presentation running on it. Those who also plan to post material on the bulletin boards should bring a supply of tacks to affix their posters to the board.

Please note that presenters are responsible for transporting their posters to the meeting site. Posters must be removed from the room after the session.

As a general suggestion, we encourage you to think of an appealing display for your research that will raise attendees' curiosity, and encourage them to ask more about your work. As a rule, use only one style, one conventional font (such as Times New Roman), and a clear background, (preferably white). We recommend your display materials to be readable at a distance of 5 to 10 feet. We also urge you to use at least 48 point font for titles and 36 point for body text and tables. Many web sites give practical advice on how to set up an exhibit/poster. We think you will find these sites particularly useful:

--Colorado State University: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/speaking/poster
--American Anthropological Association (AAA): http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/upload/How-to-Create-Anthropology-Posters.pdf  “How to Poster”—although AAA-specific, there are some very good general suggestions as well. You may need to use Internet Explorer to open this link.
--American Association for the Advancement of Science poster design suggestions:  http://www.aaas.org/meetings/Annual_Meeting/2008_boston/program/posters/#design_suggestions.

Ultimately, the form of your poster will depend on the information you want to convey and your goals in presenting the information, but your display should always have two fundamental characteristics: clarity of display and clarity of argument.

Do not forget to carry business cards and a stack of handouts (50 is generally recommended) that summarize your presentation. You might want to collect contact information so you can mail or e-mail the full paper (or the outline) to those interested, so think about having an information sheet on hand for that purpose. Also, bring any other equipment you may need, including tacks, tape, and other essentials. Please note that the AHA cannot provide these nor can it provide an Internet connection, computer, monitor, or projector.