SPNHC-TDWG 2024 Instructions for Virtual Posters and Poster Presenters

Overview

Be creative

Presenters are encouraged to reimagine what their virtual posters could be while still keeping with the spirit of an entity that is self-contained and self-explanatory, emphasizing fewer words and more graphical flow of ideas. We encourage you to think beyond the “scientific paper as a poster” mode to combine science, art, and storytelling (e.g., https://theoatmeal.com/comics/wombats).

Poster Viewing

Posters for SPNHC-TDWG 2024 will be virtual; i.e., submitted and viewed as PDFs. All posters will be available in the Oxford Abstracts Poster Gallery for online viewing by registered participants (both in-person and virtual). We are renting four large flat screen monitors (TVs) for displaying posters on site from Tuesday through Thursday. (More about on-site display below.) If you chose to contribute an extended abstract to Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, your poster will be uploaded to your published abstract in BISS (i.e., https://biss.pensoft.net/collection/438/), and your abstract will have a link to your video, if you submit one.

NOTE: There is no space to display physical posters at the venue. Do not bring a physical poster.

Uploading content

You will receive a link via separate email for uploading your poster as a PDF, and optionally an accompanying video (MP4), to the conference Google Drive.
Please sign in to Google before clicking the link to upload your poster or video. Your Google account can use any email (gmail not necessary). If you missed this email, please request the link from okinawa2024@spnhc.org.
- Verify your settings (under the gear icon->General->Uploads) and make sure that “Convert uploads to Google Docs editor format” is unchecked.
Deadline to upload revisions to the conference server is midnight JST 30 August
See also How to update your file without changing the URL or file name

Do not include content that you do not have permission to share publicly. By uploading your poster and/or video to the conference platform or folders, you are agreeing to allow SPNHC and TDWG to post it in locations where it can be viewed at first by registered participants, but within a few months by the public at large, without restriction. Again, if you chose to submit an extended abstract to Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, your poster will be attached to your abstract, and if you submit a video, it will be published on the SPNHC and/or TDWG YouTube channel.

Preparing your virtual poster:

Size (dimensions): there are no physical dimensions for a virtual poster, but it must fit on a single “page.” We recommend using a PowerPoint slide with the slide size set to “wide screen”(i.e., HD, W x H = 16:9, )
Orientation: use landscape orientation. Landscape fits more effectively when projected on a screen or viewed on a monitor without pan and zoom controls. (See last section, Poster viewing at SPNHC-TDWG 2024).
A conference-themed template using the recommended widescreen format in landscape orientation is available to download. The layout can be changed; it gives reminders about content and demonstrates how different font sizes will appear.
Metadata to include in your poster:
- Title
- Authors: everyone listed in your abstract; affiliations too, if you like.
- Optionally, provide contact information e.g., ORCID ID, email, and social media handle(s).
- License: we recommend choosing a Creative Commons license for your poster and explicitly state the license on your poster. (Your abstract already has either a CC0 or CC-BY 4.0 license.)
Your poster should be self-explanatory and should tell a story visually; remember this accompanies and enhances your abstract but you should not simply copy your abstract onto your poster.
- Provide high contrast between text and background.
- Text should be no smaller than 8 pt for the “finest print”, and no smaller than 12 pt for main text.
- Avoid color blindness traps (see simulator).
The language of all posters is English.
Do not include material (including images) protected by copyright or a license if it is not yours and you do not have specific permission to share it. Do not assume that images found on the web are free to reuse on the web, even for this non-commercial & academic purpose. If an open license is not specifically applied to an image you use, you must obtain an explicit license from the rights holder. Provide attribution for all images and content not belonging to you or your co-authors. See TDWG’s Terms of Use.
File format: save the final version of your poster as a PDF and upload to the conference Google Drive. (See detailed export/upload instructions below.)
Deadline for uploading a solid draft: 19 August 2024.
You may upload revisions to your poster to the conference Google Drive server no later than midnight JST 30 August (see tip for doing this)
Please use this naming convention for the PDF of your poster:
POSTER_OAsubmission#_YourFamilyName.pdf (You can find your OA# here.)
Remember your poster will be viewed by a diverse international audience, who may not be familiar with customs, acronyms, and jargon used in your speciality. Spell out all acronyms at first use and explain or avoid jargon.

Preparing an Optional video

We recommend that virtual participants prepare and submit a short video to accompany your poster and provide context and explanation.
Your video should be 5 minutes or less in duration and uploaded as an mp4 file.
Here’s a tutorial on using PowerPoint to make a video of your presentation (poster): https://youtu.be/hisnhKK94nI?si=KS0IixBLclBLhbku
Your video will be shared on either the SPNHC or TDWG YouTube channel. During the conference only registered participants will get the links to your video, but after the conference videos will become public. Do not upload a video if you are unwilling to share it publicly. (BISS abstracts will also have links to related videos.)
Videos may be in a language other than English, if English subtitles are provided.
Use the filename convention: POSTER_OAsubmission#_YourFamilyName.pdf Find your OA submission number here.
Deadline for uploading (a solid version of) your video is 19 August
Deadline to upload revisions to the conference server (on Google Drive) is midnight JST 30 August

Uploading posters & videos

Please sign in to Google before clicking the link to upload your poster or video. Your Google account can use any email (gmail not necessary).
- Verify your settings (under the gear icon->General->Uploads) and make sure that “Convert uploads to Google Docs editor format” is unchecked.
Save & Upload (at least a solid version of) your poster to TDWG’s Google Drive no later than 19 August (link sent by separate email from Oxford Abstracts)
Deadline to upload revisions to the conference (Google Drive) server is midnight JST 30 August. See also How to update your file without changing the URL or file name
Save your poster as a PDF so that it is not more than 10 MB in size. Optimize your export for on-screen viewing, not printing. Graphic objects should not be saved at higher resolution than they will be displayed. (PowerPoint hint: use “File / Compress pictures” before exporting to PDF.)
If you are on a Mac, we recommend that you export using the option for “Best electronic distribution” because it will preserve your links as functional URLs.
If you wish to share your poster in more than one file format (for example, in the original editable file type, which will be easier for others to reuse), please let us know, so we can try to accommodate you.
Name your PDF using the file-naming convention above.
The link to upload your poster to Google Drive is provided in a separate email.
- Upload your poster (and optionally a video) to Google Drive. Note that you must sign in first.
- If this is a problem please email your poster to editor@tdwg.org. Make sure you get an email acknowledging receipt. If you do not receive this within 12 h of sending your email, contact editor@tdwg.org without appending the file.

How to update your file without changing the URL or file name

If you decide to update your presentation file (.pdf, .mp4) after the initial upload, the easiest way to do this without destroying the link to the file or the file name is to replace the file in the following manner:

Sign in to your Google account first (gives you write access to the upload site)
- Verify your settings (under the gear icon->General->Uploads) and make sure that “Convert uploads to Google Docs editor format” is unchecked.
Find your original file (file name may have been changed slightly by the conference organizers; do not change it)
Right click on the file name and from the pop-up menu, choose “File information”
You should then choose the option to “Manage versions”
Click Upload new version and do so
You can delete older versions after uploading your current version.

Poster viewing at SPNHC-TDWG 2024

Although posters will be viewable online throughout the conference (and beyond), we are renting large screen monitors (TVs) that will be placed in the break space corridor. Our plan is to use four TVs to display posters on site, and to assign each poster to display on a TV for a morning, afternoon, or lunch break. Poster presenters will be assigned a station and time-slot when they should stand by their poster to engage with other participants during a coffee break or the later part of a lunch break. If you are a virtual participant and you submitted a video, we will set your video to play on loop during your scheduled time-slot. Without a video, we’ll just display your PDF during your time-slot.

Additional tips

To create a poster or infographic, see:

How to create a research poster https://guides.nyu.edu/posters
Designing conference posters https://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design/
How to design an infographic https://www.canva.com/create/infographics/
https://piktochart.com/blog/how-to-make-an-infographic/

Poster instructions

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