How to Guide: Presenting a Professional Poster at the Society of American Archivists Conference
By Elizabeth Alleva
This past August I attended the Society of American Archivists Conference in Washington, DC. I had an amazing experience at my first ever professional conference. It was great to be among so many archivists and to have the opportunity to hear about their experiences in the field. As an archivist in training, the SAA conference was a great way to get my foot in the door! I also had the privilege of being a graduate student poster presenter! I therefore decided to put together a little how to guide describing both the preparation and the actual presentation.
Step 1: Select a topic
SAA sends out the call for posters at the start of the new year. All that is required is a tentative title and a 250 word description of your project. The best poster topic is one on a project that you have spent countless hours working on. The poster gives you an opportunity to report your findings to a wider audience. I selected a digitization project that I had been working on at the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs. The title of my poster became Providing Access to Non-Traditional Users: The Digitization of the World War I Photo Collection at the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.
Step 2: Determine the most important aspects of the project
It is highly unlikely that a person at the exhibit hall will read every single word on your poster. Therefore it is important to create your poster in a way that is comprehensive and easy to read. I decided to divide my poster into four sections: information on the collection, information on the organization, the digitization process, and how access was provided. I also decided to try and include as many photographs as possible, since my project was about digitizing photographs. I wanted to make sure that viewers of the poster understood the project as well as have the ability to see the materials I worked with.
Step 3: Designing and printing the poster
As I mentioned earlier, the goal for designing a poster is to create something that is attractive and can provide as much information as needed to understand your project. You want to draw the conferences participants in with your poster so you can engage them in conversation. I decided to place my four sections into boxes. I used concise language and bullet points making it easier for the viewer to read. I used colors that were bold, but easy to look at. I created my poster in Photoshop which I was able to use through NYU. The best part about photoshop is that you can size your work to the exact scale you want to print it. Printing the poster is an easy step in the process. FedEx Kinko’s prints posters for one set price. I ended up printing my poster in a size that was much larger than the others (oops), so I would recommend a size smaller than 36” x 48”.
Step 4: Presenting the poster
The final step in the process is the actual presentation. SAA designates two days for the exhibition hall in which poster presenters stand with their posters. I created a small pamphlet that provided additional information on my project, as well as my contact information for anyone who had further questions. As I had predicted, the photographs on my poster attracted many attendees attention! I had prepared ahead of time a quick elevator pitch about my project and the institution that I worked for. It is hard to prepare for every possible question, however you are the expert on this project and therefore should be able to answer most of the questions that are asked!
Presenting at this year’s SAA conference was a fantastic experience! It truly allowed me to converse with my colleagues while sharing all of my hard work! I look forward to future conferences and to hopefully presenting again.
Me with my poster
Close up of my poster