Please find details to help you best plan and prepare for your event at the conference. Click on a link below to jump to the presentation type relevant to you.

• Symposium Organizers

• Individual Talks

• Poster Presenters

• Lightning Talks

• Project Slam

• Citizen Science Night

 
 

Symposium Organizers

 
SESSION GUIDELINES:
Each symposium will be one hour long. As the Symposium Organizer you can utilize this hour in many different ways and you are responsible for coordinating the timing and content of all speakers. Symposium organizers should act as leadership for the session, guiding speakers in developing their talks, coordinating PowerPoints, speaker seating, and timing, and facilitating the kind of audience involvement you would like.
AV EQUIPMENT:
Each meeting room will have a podium & microphone, data projector, screen, and laptop. Microsoft Office 2013 will be present, which will provide backward compatibility for earlier versions of MS Office (2010, 2007,2003 and 2002 {XP}). Laptops will also have a PDF reader and at least one Web Browser, but may not have direct Internet access.

Presenters are instructed to bring their presentation to the conference on: flash drive/data stick, DVD, CD-Rom (clearly labeled with presenter name, track name, presentation date and time). Personal laptops will not be accepted. Note: The conference will not support “Mac” computers or software; but, you can still prepare your presentation on a Mac, just make sure you are using systems fonts like “arial.” (Other guidelines for preparing airtight cross-OS pptx files). If you have questions about presentation compatibility and other media, please email us.
Feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about making the most of your presentation.
 
 

Individual Talks

 
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES:
Each session will be one hour long. Oral presentation speakers will be allowed 15 minutes total–this includes time for Q & A. Typically 10 minutes for presentations will allow time for questions and the transition between speakers. As a rule of thumb, if you are using PowerPoint this probably means you should aim for no more than 8 TOTAL slides, with a minimum of 30 pt font (some people even elect to skip explanatory text all together on slides. Instead using them to share graphics and images that support their narrative. We are highly supportive of this approach). Each session will be assigned a volunteer moderator to assist with speaker transitions and to keep the sessions on schedule.
Note: At the previous conference, audience members often commented that too much of a speaker’s time was spent explaining the details of a citizen science project, leaving not enough time for that speaker to cover topics of interest to the audience. One way to escape the trap of feeling like you need to give all the details about the project you are affiliated with is to use a simple disclaimer like, “My name is Telia Smith, I work with the National Groundhog Microbe Association and Project Hole Swab*. You can learn about the details of our project at www.holeswab.org . Today I want to talk with you about how we changed our social media strategy and doubled participation.”
Many times, rather than transition to the sentence in bold which gets to the interesting details of the presentation, the speaker’s next sentence would instead be something like, “In Project Hole Swab we work with people in the Northeast to find ground hog holes and take a dirt sample. Here is a map showing all the locations where samples have been taken. Our protocol….etc” With only 10-12 minutes to speak, it is important give yourself permission to skip describing the context of your project and move on to what you’ve learned and want to share or think about with other conference attendees.
AV EQUIPMENT:
Each meeting room will have a podium & microphone, data projector, screen, and laptop. Microsoft Office 2013 will be present, which will provide backward compatibility for earlier versions of MS Office (2010, 2007,2003 and 2002 {XP}). Laptops will also have a PDF reader and at least one Web Browser, but may not have direct Internet access.

Presenters are instructed to bring their presentation to the conference on: flash drive/data stick, DVD, CD-Rom (clearly labeled with presenter name, track name, presentation date and time). Personal laptops will not be accepted. Note: The conference will not support “Mac” computers or software; but, you can still prepare your presentation on a Mac, just make sure you are using systems fonts like “arial.” (Other guidelines for preparing airtight cross-OS pptx files). If you have questions about presentation compatibility and other media, please email.
Feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about making the most of your presentation.

*All project details have been completely fabricated. Our apologies to any Telia Smiths out there in the wide world.

 
 

Poster Presenters

 
EQUIPMENT/POSTER SPECIFICATIONS:
Each poster presenter will be provided with a surface on which to mount their poster. The poster “walls” are 4 feet high by 8 feet wide and one board must be shared by 2 posters. In order to accommodate two posters on each side of the board, each poster is limited to 48” by 48”. PLEASE NOTE: Your poster cannot exceed 4 feet wide. Supplies to hang posters will be available to you onsite (for example, push pins, binder clips).
TIMING:
Posters can be set up starting on Wednesday May 17th and remain in place through Friday, May 19th. There will be two Poster Sessions during the main conference: Poster Session 1will be on Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.; and Poster Session 2 on Friday, May 19, 2017 from 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. You will be asked to “present” during only one of those sessions.
The poster sessions will be held at the St. Paul RiverCenter in the Grand Ballroom and this will be dedicated time for all attendees to visit with poster authors and will NOT compete against other Sessions. Please take note of which Poster Session you’ve been assigned and plan to staff your poster during that time. Each poster has been assigned a # and will be grouped with other posters within a similar theme. You will be asked to set up your poster on the board as indicated by this assignment. This will assist attendees in finding a particular poster. A list will be published in the final program book and distributed onsite.

TIPS:
Posters offer a chance for real engagement with your audience (a few people at a time). You can get criticism and suggestions, build relationships, even spark future collaborations.
Making a poster readable requires extensive attention to layout, formatting, style, graphic quality, and flow. The best posters do not necessarily tell a narrative story with text, or try to mimic a paper format with literature review, methods, discussion, or conclusions. Instead, they imagine what kinds of conversations you want to have with visitors and use the poster as a space to hold graphics, images and key ideas that will aid in those conversations. See this example for inspiration and ideas about how to make your contribution exciting and attractive.
Some Poster “Dos” to Consider:
Do: Make a pocket to hold copies of a paper you would like to share with others.
Do: Pin business cards or brochures to their poster for people to take away.
Do: Consider putting a picture of yourself on the poster so people can identify you at the conference.
Do: Bribe your audience with a plastic cup filled with candy/ pencils/ whatever attached to your posterboard.
Do: Wear a themed T-shirt promoting your project/ matching your poster.
Do: Actively invite people to visit your poster during the conference, use it as a meeting point (memorize that poster number when you find it out), or take a picture and promote it on Twitter with the conference hashtag.
Do: Get creative. Bring an ipad preloaded with relevant pictures and velcro it to your poster to show off more than what a poster alone can hold.
Do: Think 3D. 3D glasses, 3D objects mounted in your space (magnets can come in handy for this). Transparencies layered over key areas of your poster to make “lift-away” annotations, or spaces for doodling (just add Dry-Erase markers), or “hidden panels”.
Do: Upload your poster to our system to share it with others not in attendance at the conference or with people who want to find it afterwards.
Do: Bring sticky notes and a writing utensil so people can leave you comments/ contact info. Fake a couple to get them started.
Do: Encourage selfies with your poster.
Feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about your Poster.
 
 

Lightning Talks

 
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES:
You will have a full 8-ft diameter round table devoted to you. Ahead of the conference we will work with you to prepare a small standard page-sized card to display on your round table. You should also prepare no more than TWO PowerPoint slides to convey your topic/ title/ project to provide context for your two-minute speech. These speeches should act as teasers to invite people to your table during the round-table period of this session. Each slide will be projected while you speak. Please email these slides to Rhiannon Crain (wren.crain@gmail.com) no later than May 10th, 2017. These slides will be preloaded onto a shared PC computer ahead of this event (if you work on a Mac, this resource has good suggestions for ensuring your pptx looks good on a PC–you can also email a pdf of the slide if you prefer).

At your table expect conversations with delegates from the conference, and an opportunity to show-off any online tools relevant to your topic. There will not be space to hang things at your table. You can bring laptops (you’ll probably want to bring your own power supply as we can’t guarantee one), hand outs, business cards, demos, activities, candy, paper and markers for jotting down conversational ideas, etc.
Feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about making the most of this session.
 
 

Project Slam

 
The Project Slam Session will be held on Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the St. Paul River Centre. These presentations will take place during the evening in a fun, jovial, celebratory atmosphere. There will also be a “People’s Choice Award” for best presentation.
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES:
The Project Slam event will last 1.5 hours and each speaker will get a maximum of 5 minutes for their presentation. There will not be time for questions between each project so please stay for the entire event so audience members can meet you after for questions. You will be allowed to set up a table with handouts and other items about your project. There will be a timekeeper and staff for the event to troubleshoot A/V.
A maximum of 2 TOTAL slides should be used in support of your talk with a minimum of 30 pt font (some people even elect to skip explanatory text all together on slides. Instead using them to share graphics and images that support their narrative). Presenters are instructed to submit PowerPoint slides PRIOR to the conference, by May 1st. In a follow up email, we will provide you with a suggested template for the first slide to help create continuity in the program.
AV EQUIPMENT:
Each meeting room will have a podium & microphone, data projector, screen, and laptop. Microsoft Office 2013 will be present, which will provide backward compatibility for earlier versions of MS Office (2010, 2007,2003 and 2002 {XP}). Laptops will also have a PDF reader and at least one Web Browser, but may not have direct Internet access.
We’ll be scheduling a review meeting at the conference prior to the Slam with all presenters to discuss format and strategy for the session. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about making the most of your presentation.
 
 

Citizen Science Night

 
The “Night in the Cloud” Citizen Science Night will be held on Friday, May 19, 2017 from 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the St. Paul RiverCentre. The event will be open to the public and will feature interactive table displays, a screening of “Crowd and the Cloud” and much more!
EVENT FORMAT:
You will have a 6ft table devoted to your display. Expect conversations with delegates from the conference, and members of the Twin Cities public. This will be a great time to recruit new participants. There will be light hors d’oeuvres and drinks available. The first part of the evening will be devoted to people “meeting” citizen science projects (that’s you), while the second part will be a screening of Crowd and the Cloud.
There will not be space to hang things at your table (unless they are hanging from the table itself). You can bring laptops (you’ll probably want to bring your own power supply as we can’t guarantee one), handouts, costumes, demos, activities, candy, branded tablecloths, pop-up banners, etc.
In March we will start promotion of this event to the public. We will share our promotional flier and encourage you to consider inviting local participants in your project, or related projects to the event. Meeting the scientists and educators running a project can be a big draw for participants, and is a valuable opportunity for you to meet and get some feedback from participants. You may even wish to create an event on Facebook and invite locals, perhaps even extending it to “Dinner with the Project Team” afterwards.
Feel free to contact us to discuss programmatic questions or ideas about making the most of this event.