Conference poster session setup and handoff checklist

Download the poster-session assignment and handoff register

Download the poster-session assignment and onsite handoff register (Markdown, English)

The editable English worksheet has a capacity and format decision card, a row-per-poster assignment register, a presenter notice, a room-readiness walk, an exception log and a strike receipt. The worksheet is a coordination record, not approval of a venue's usable capacity or regulated routes. A poster's display ID should be stable across the register, notice, room label and public map.

Use this after the programme has accepted or assigned posters, but before presenters receive final display instructions. The speaker deck QA guide checks presentation files destined for room playback; this workflow checks poster displays and their physical or electronic assignments. The site-layout guide maps the whole event. Here, use its approved room boundaries as an input and concentrate on poster-specific locations, labels, setup and removal.

Put the right people and versions in charge

Name a poster chair or coordinator who owns the accepted set, a venue contact who confirms the room and its permitted setup, a board or screen supplier contact, and a floor lead who can act during the session. Wikimedia's organizer guidance connects the poster chair's work to the venue's capacity and the date by which the accepted set must be known. Set those milestones for this event with the people doing the work; no universal submission or hanging deadline can substitute for their actual lead times.[1]

Freeze an identifiable roster revision before assigning display positions. For each accepted item, keep a stable poster ID, short public title, presenter contact owner, topic, session, format requested and any unresolved question. Separate private contact fields from the public board map. If the programme chair changes an acceptance, withdraws an abstract or moves a session, record the new roster version and notify the assignment owner.

Agree what each owner can approve. The programme owner decides whether an item belongs in the session and what public title appears; the venue decides where boards, screens and people may be placed; the supplier confirms equipment and installation; the floor lead verifies what was delivered. A technical checker should not silently approve research content, publication rights or a venue constraint. Put unresolved questions in the register with a decision owner and time, rather than filling the board map with assumptions.

Reconcile the accepted set with the actual room and equipment

Count usable board sides or screen slots, not just frames on a supplier quote. A double-sided board may offer two positions only if both faces are intended and usable in the approved room layout. Confirm physical display dimensions and orientation with the actual board supplier, including whether the stated size is the board face or the maximum poster. AGU's own Chapman conference specifies a board side, a smaller maximum poster and supplied thumbtacks for that particular meeting; those numbers and materials are examples of event facts to verify, not specifications to copy.[3]

Bring the accepted count, session timetable, board inventory and current room plan together. The Association for Computational Linguistics' conference-admin account says space and time depend on the number of posters and attendees, and describes different layouts used at different meetings. Its example area-per-poster figures are not a universal clearance rule. Ask the venue to approve this event's usable area, aisles, entrances, existing furniture and changeover. If the accepted set exceeds what the room can support, change the schedule, allocation or offer before promising presenters a display.[2]

If e-posters are offered, define the actual device and rotation model. Does each presenter have a dedicated screen during the session, or do several files share a scheduled screen? Confirm orientation, accepted file type, media behavior, navigation, loading route, network dependence and the person who tests playback with AV. Record a static fallback only if the operator has agreed and tested it. A file upload, a purchase order for screens or a generic promise of 'digital posters' does not prove what visitors will see.

Assign every poster to a board side or screen slot

Assign one display position to each accepted poster for each session. Use a board ID plus side, or a screen ID plus display window; distinguish two posters by the same author. Keep the roster's poster ID separate from the physical position so a moved board does not change the identity of the accepted work. Check for simultaneous collisions, missing assignments and orphaned labels before publishing.

Group topics in a way visitors can follow, then test the grouping against the actual room. ACL's organizer account describes subject grouping as a way to help attendees find work and notes that narrow rows or nearby popular posters can impede circulation. That is a planning observation, not permission to choose a particular aisle width. Mark board faces on the venue-approved plan and review sightlines, access and shared use with the venue.[2]

Issue one assignment revision with the roster version, room-plan version and publication time. Compare it with the printed programme, online schedule, presenter notices and physical labels. Give the floor lead an offline copy or agreed access route so a network problem does not erase the assignment lookup. If the map changes, identify which surfaces need correction. Do not assume editing a spreadsheet updates paper labels or notices already sent to presenters.

Send presenter instructions that match the assignment

Send each presenter the facts needed to arrive and install the right item: poster ID and title, session time and time zone, room, board side or screen slot, approved dimensions or digital file specification, who prints, permitted fixing method, and where to get help. State the arrival, display and removal windows confirmed for this event. AGU's event-specific instructions show how a board number can appear in both a programme and presenter notice and how setup supplies and removal are made explicit; use that principle while obtaining your own facts from the venue and supplier.[3]

If a printer will produce some posters locally, identify which presenter orders, who pays, the approved file and proof route, collection point and delivery owner. Do not tell all presenters that on-site printing is available because one supplier quoted it. If a digital display is planned, give the upload route, actual format constraints, test appointment or confirmation method, and fallback contact. Check the wording with AV before sending. A presenter should not have to infer from 'e-poster' whether a PDF, still image or interactive file is expected.

Make the notice usable at a glance and keep its revision. Include where to ask a question about a wrong board, a changed title, a missing fixing or an unreadable file. If the event has decided photography or online-sharing preferences for research posters, communicate the actual event policy and how a preference is signaled onsite; do not invent permission to photograph or publish the work.

Walk the room before declaring it ready

Walk the actual room with the venue representative, floor lead and relevant supplier after the boards or screens are placed. Compare each ID and side to the issued map. Check that labels are legible from the approach, the face is usable, the agreed fixings are present, and the display can be reached through the venue-approved arrangement. Note lighting, furniture or catering that differs from the plan and ask the venue to decide changes. Do not turn this organizer walk into an accessibility or safety certification.

For electronic displays, open a sample and any nonstandard file on the intended equipment. Check orientation, crop, text readability at the viewing position, navigation and a complete return to the menu or next item. If media is part of the accepted format, test it with the AV owner; if the screen or network route is unavailable, mark the affected slot untested. A successful test on the coordinator's laptop is not proof that the show device can display the file.

Record the room version, check time, observed defect, location, decision owner and retest result. If a board is missing or a screen fails, mark only affected assignments as held and decide whether to move them, repair equipment, offer an approved alternative or update the programme. Tell the presenter and floor staff before guests arrive. Use a ready, ready-with-named-limitation or hold decision.

Control no-shows, swaps and late corrections

During setup, maintain a staffed way to reconcile the posted map with what actually appears. Log an absent presenter, wrong-sized poster, missing label, duplicate board number or failed e-poster against its poster ID and assignment revision. Keep observation separate from decision: a volunteer may report a mismatch but the poster chair or venue may need to authorize a move.

Do not silently reuse a vacant board number after a withdrawal. The programme, room label, presenter notice and attendee map may still lead people there. First check whether the board can be reassigned without a timetable or topic conflict and whether the venue accepts the revised placement. Then issue a new map revision, update labels and affected notices, and tell the staff member answering visitor questions. Keep a short record of who verified the final position.

Where a presenter arrives with a replacement poster or digital file, compare it with the agreed format and identify what changed. The poster chair handles identity, title and programme questions; the printer or AV operator handles a new proof or file test; the venue handles placement constraints. If there is no time to confirm the replacement, use the previously accepted display if still valid or hold the item under the event's decision process. A last-minute file cannot be called 'ready' merely because someone received it.

Close the display and record the handback

Before the session, tell presenters when to remove physical posters and where to report a problem. At the agreed close, the floor lead checks every numbered board or screen against the assignment register, records items still displayed, and routes unclaimed material according to the venue's agreed instruction. Do not invent a universal disposal rule. AGU's presenter page provides one meeting-specific example of same-day removal and supplied fasteners; your own removal and materials terms belong in the presenter notice and supplier handoff.[3]

For rented boards or screens, reconcile the supplier's inventory, fixings, labels, power or control accessories and agreed return point. Record defects and the person who accepted handback. For digital files, ask the AV or data owner to follow the event's approved storage and access process; the poster-session register should record completion, not become an uncontrolled archive of submitted research.

Consider a small example. The accepted roster lists 36 posters across two sessions. The supplier confirms 20 usable board sides after the venue places them; the chair assigns 18 posters per session, retains stable poster IDs and issues a map revision. Two topic clusters are swapped after a room walkthrough. The floor lead checks that the new board labels, online programme and presenter notices agree, rather than assuming the changed map reaches everyone automatically. The numbers describe this example only, not a capacity formula.

On the first session morning, one author is absent and another arrives with a poster too wide for the board face. Staff log both against their poster IDs. The chair keeps the absent author's number marked as unavailable, asks the venue and supplier about the oversized display, and sends only an approved reassignment to the floor lead. At close, the team records what was removed and what the supplier took back. The operational record connects the accepted set to the real room through every change; it does not claim the session was safe or accessible by virtue of a completed sheet.