Interpersonal Media (Winter 2020)/Poster sessions

On March 9th and 11th we will be hosting two virtual "poster" sessions. Please read the information below carefully.

General Information

A number of things are unchanged:

First, our expectations are the same as they were on the first day of the quarter in terms of poster/presentation content. We're expecting that the posters will be presentation of of your final project for the class. Details about the expectations for final projects are on the relevant section of the syllabus.

Second, presentation assignment days are unchanged from what we announced previously and posted onto Canvas. Folks who were presenting on Monday are still on Monday. Folks on Wednesday are still on Wednesday. Folks are still expected to participate and attend if they are not presenting

Some things are different. Most importantly, the sessions will be held entirely online in Canvas. We will be holding these asynchronously in a Canvas group discussion forum we have created for the purpose. As a result of the asynchronous nature we've extended the period of time that folks can participation in the sessions from the sessions to 4:30-11:59pm but we do expect everybody to spend about 90 minutes participating on they day are not presenting.

Structure

The basic structure is going to be as follows:

• Everybody in the class has been sorted into a Canvas group discussion into one of 9 groups with 9 of your classmates. Each group contains a random selection of 5 people presenting on Monday and 5 people presenting on Wednesday.
• Presenters will all upload videos on or before 4:30pm on they day they are presenting.
• At some point after 4:30pm on the day they not presenting all non-presenters will watch the 5 videos uploaded by their groupmates who are assigned to present that day and will give them each feedback that aims to help them revise their work for their final projects.
• Salt and I will also watch all the videos and look over the uploaded PDF or image material and give presenters detailed detailed feedback.

Plan: Presenters

All students must do two things do two things before 4:30pm on the day they are presenting. You are welcome to do these at any point in advance:

1. They must upload their "poster" material in PDF, PNG, or JPG to "Poster Presentation" dropbox in Canvas. We expect most people will be just be uploaded and exported slide deck from PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc.
2. They must upload their video of their 2-3 minute long "pitch" in a message in the Final Presentation Peer Feedback group discussion group on Canvas within their assigned group. You all can do this by posting a new message and clicking the "Record/Upload Media" button above the text box and then clicking the "Upload Media" post on the follow-up tab.

Because there are there two different groups presenting, there is no listed due date on the Canvas assignment. Your due date is 4:30pm on the day you are assigned to present. We cannot give any credit for late assignments.

Plan: Non-Presenters

All students must do the following thing on the day they are not presenting:

1. At some point after 4:30pm. watch each short video pitch for the 5 people in the your assigned group that are presenting that day.
2. After watching each the video, spend a minimum of 5 minutes writing a reply to each of the day's presenters' messages in Canvas giving them feedback on their poster and pitch. Saying you liked the pitch is fine but focus on giving substantive, critical feedback that will help each person make concrete changes and improvements to the work in the presentation to produce a better final project. Feel free to ask questions about things you were unclear about. Feel free to give concrete suggestions for course material that might be useful or connections that might be helpful. We expect everybody to spend between 5 and 10 minutes given feedback to each of the day's five presenters in their group.

Each person will give feedback to 5 others. We expect that this assignment will take a maximum of 75 minutes (<5m to watch each videos; <10m for each piece of feedback). This is less that period of time you would all spend in class.

All feedback is due 11:59pm on the day you are not presenting. Feedback will be graded as part of participation and we've weighted it so that it's equivalent to preparation for two case sessions. We cannot give any credit for late assignments.

Video Pitches

We are asking you all to prepare and share video version of your "pitches" (i.e., the short overview of your poster you were planning to give to Salt, myself, and your classmates when they came by your poster).

In terms of the video: we are not expecting anything fancy. We understand that you all have between 3 and 5 days to plan and produce this and we are going to assess you entirely on the content of your poster and pitch which is what you have already been preparing. We will not assess you on the production quality of your video. The pitches should be 2-3 minutes long and not more than 4 minutes in length.

We're quite open into the nature of the video but here are some ideas:

• If you have been building your poster pages in PowerPoint, Keynote, or similar, the easiest thing is probably just to create a "screencast" that records audio of yourself talking while recording video of whatever is on your screen. There are a bunch of tools to do this:
  • Here's information on how to use a built-in screen recorder in Windows 10
  • Here's information on how to do screen recording on Mac OSX
  • Here's a video about how to record yourself using Microsoft PowerPoint on Windows
  • Some people like the following software: Camtasia (proprietary but has a free trial); CamStudio (free/open source software but harder to use). I haven't used either.
• If it's easier, feel free to just use a cellphone or webcam video. For example, have a friend record you as you talk through your actual poster laid out on a table.
• If you run into trouble, please use the general discussion section thread in Canvas to ask for help. If you've got experience doing, please help your classmates. Salt and I will do what we can to help but we both use Linux and are unlikely to be able to do much to trouble shoot.

Old/Outdated Poster Instructions

On March 9th and 11th we will be hosting a poster session instead of class. The session will be held in Mary Gates Hall Commons which is the large open room on the ground floor of Mary Gates Hall. The poster session will be from 4:30-5:45pm. We only have the space until 6pm so we must be out before then.

In terms of content, we're expecting that the posters will be presentation of of your final project for the class. Details about the content are on the relevant section of the syllabus.

Plan: Non-presenters

• Arrive no later than 4:30pm. If you arrive early, you should help presenters set up!
• During the session, find a poster that you have not seen yet—ideally one that nobody else is looking at yet. Try to spend 3-5 five minutes hearing from the presenter about their project and giving them feedback.
• At 5:45pm, help presenters break down their posters and return their Tri-Folds.

Plan: Presenters

• If all possible, please arrive early. We will be there with boards and tape at 4pm. In any case, please do not arrive later than 4:30.
• When you arrive, grab a cardboard Tri-Fold and tape.
• Find space on one of the tables in the middle of Mary Gates Commons
• Attach your pictures, text, and other content to the display.
• Answer any questions and take notes on feedback that your peers provide.
• Begin clearing up at 5:45pm. Remove any tape and material. Return your Tri-Fold to Salt and Mako by 6pm. We need to be out of the space by 6pm.

Posters

Example drawing of the poster boards.

We will be presenting on Tri-Fold Display Boards that look like this one on the OfficeDepot website. Each display board is 48" inches (4 feet) wide and 36 inches (3 feet) tall. The background is white.

We will be reusing these boards so please do not draw or mark-up the boards. We are asking you to print out material and be ready to attach it with tape at the very beginning of class.

Layout

We are expecting that the large majority of you will create slides in Google Slides, Keynote, or Microsoft PowerPoint and print those out on normal US letter (8.5"x11") paper. Either black and white or color is fine. Your priority should be the content.

You can choose to lay things out on your board any way you like but keep in mind that you're responsible for making things fit. Also keep in mind that there are vertical "folds" on the board are at 12 inches (1 feet) and at 36 inches (3 feet). We've provided two examples of possible layouts here on this page where the red boxes reflect the size of 8.5"x11" US letter sheets of paper and the dashed lines reflect the poster board folds.

If you want to print a single poster sheet with a poster printing service, you are welcome to do this.

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Frequently Asks Questions

Can I bring family and friends?

Yes! They would be welcome! Feel free to invite anybody you like. Keep in mind that Mary Gates Commons is a public space so others may be walking through.

How else should I prepare?

It's probably a good idea to practice a 2-3 minute "summary" pitch which you can you use to introduce people to your project and to give them a quick overview.

How will I get feedback?

Either Salt and I will be each be visiting every station to hear your "pitch" and to look at your poster. We will give most of our feedback to you in writing the next day.

The session appears to end at 6pm. Isn't class until 620pm?

Yes. Class will be ending early.

What should go on my poster?

Details are on the on the relevant section of the syllabus.

There are two days. Which day will I present?

We're currently collecting information about availability and will announce the line-up for the two days on Tuesday March 3rd. Check the announcements in Canvas on how to make your preferences known to us.