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1 October 2007
Leading meetings and events management company Tour Hosts will introduce its ePoster technology to the Australian conference industry at a major scientific meeting in Melbourne next month.
The new technology, to be launched at The Australia and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) 58th Annual Scientific Meeting, enables scientific research that was previously reproduced on paper posters to be presented in electronic format.
As ePosters, the presentations enjoy greater longevity and can be more easily shared between delegates. Benefits of the technology include:
- ALLOWING poster authors to upload their presentation ahead of the event;
- ENABLING authors to edit posters via a dedicated web based portal;
- EASE of poster review for scientific program committee approval process;
- ABILITY for other delegates to request a copy of the poster
- SPONSORSHIP opportunities for related business sectors.
Posters have been an integral part of many scientific and medical conferences as a way of illustrating key concepts and to ensure that quality abstracts are included in the program when the oral slots are full.
Managing Director Roslyn McLeod said the beauty of the ePoster technology was that it made posters more accessible – even after the event was over.
“Hard copy posters demand a lot more time in their presentation format and authors who forget to collect them have sometimes lost their valuable research,” Roslyn McLeod said.
“In addition to the ability for delegates to request copies of specific presentations, RANZCR will now make some of these ePosters available through its own educational portal after the scientific meeting is finished.”
RANZCR CEO Don Swinbourne said the ePoster was an exciting initiative for the College.
“It makes presentation of research findings easier for authors and more accessible for delegates and College members. We believe it will be taken up with great enthusiasm,” Don Swinbourne said.
How ePosters work
Authors register via a web based portal. Registration allows access to a “dashboard” through which authors can modify their information and upload their poster in PowerPoint. They can return and log in at any time and re-upload their poster as well as communicating with the conference committee and viewing the approval status of their poster.
Delegates can view posters from any ePoster computer provided at a conference. They can browse or search to find desired posters by author, topic or poster name. Once found, delegates can view the poster in a PowerPoint style slide show and communicate with the author to request a copy or simply ask a question. If required, delegates can also print the posters, although ePoster technology aims to remove the need for printing.
Development
ePoster technology evolved overseas in response to demand for an efficient way for conference delegates to communicate with authors and to enable posters to be viewed long after the event is over.
Tour Hosts researched electronic posters extensively, visiting existing systems in Japan and throughout Europe and meeting with clients in a range of industries.
Following this research period Tour Hosts spent nine months developing the first release of the ePoster system for the Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists 2008 scientific meeting.
Future advances
Tour Hosts will continue to develop and evolve the technology in line with client feedback and demand. Developments in the pipeline include:
- ONLINE ePoster creation
- WIRELESS access to ePosters at a conference whilst protecting poster security
- PRESENTATION of ePosters by authors in a booth structure
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