Instructions for Presenters - 2024 AAAR Annual Conference

The size of a poster CANNOT exceed 44" wide by 45" tall. There are three Poster Sessions during which authors will present their posters according to the scheduled sessions and will be available for discussions. Posters are available for viewing throughout the Conference until Thursday at 3:00pm.

Session 2: Tuesday 1pm - 3pm
Session 4 (Meet the Job Seekers): Tuesday 6pm - 8pm
Session 9: Thursday 1pm – 3pm

Posters can start to be set-up on their assigned display boards on Monday from 2pm - 5pm in Exhibit Hall 3.

Each oral platform presentation is limited to 15 minutes, including time for questions and discussion. LCD projectors with Windows-compatible laptop computers will be provided and will display either PowerPoint or PDF files. No other visual equipment will be provided. The projectors will be using widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios. You must use the computer provided for your presentation. All speakers delivering oral platform presentations must check in at the Speaker Ready Room (Tewa) with their presentation.

All presentations must be labeled in the following format: Session Code.Presentation Number_Presenter's Last Name (ex: 1AC.1_Smith
Presenters must know their assigned room and time of their session in order to correctly save their presentation in the correct order. All presentations will be stored in the following format: Day/Room/Time/Presentation.
Bring two copies of your presentation and provide your presentation on a USB Thumb Drive. Please carry it with you at all times in case of storage or media failure.

A technician from our audio/visual company, Source1AV, will be available in the Speaker Ready Room to assist you with placing your presentation on the laptop computer. Your presentation will then be available in your session room in time for the start of your session.

Arrive at least 15-20 minutes before your session (not your presentation time) to familiarize yourself with the meeting room. There will be technicians from Source1AV floating the session rooms and able to assist you if necessary.

Check in with the session chair so that she/he knows you are present.

The following audio/visual equipment will be available in your meeting room:

LCD projector
Laptop computer (PC)
Screen sized to the meeting room (16:9 format)
Laser pointer/Wireless advancer
Podium microphone
Aisle microphone (for questions)
PC audio adapter (for use with presentations containing audio)

*There is no hard-wired internet connection in the meeting room. There is a wireless connection, but the bandwidth may not be strong. Do not count on being able to access the internet as a part of your presentation.

Please review the following guidelines for preparing your presentation.

Presentation Best Practices

Please remember that all presentations must be labeled in the following format: Session Code.Presentation Number_Presenter's Last Name (ex: 1AC.1_Smith)
Carry your presentation on a USB Thumb Drive with you at all times.

Design Tips:

Make sure that you can read your slides from at least ten feet from your computer screen. If you can't read it from there, people in the back of the room won't be able to read it either. A constant complaint from attendees is too much information on a slide.
Use contrasting colors for the text and the background so the text will be easy to read. Dark backgrounds and white text works best when projected.
Use font size large enough to be seen from the back of the room where the presentation will be held. A font size of 24-point or larger is recommended.
Avoid using non-standard fonts. Standard fonts include Geneva, Times New Roman, Helvetica.
Use short phrases and sentences to convey your message.
Use simple or no slide transitions. Too many different transitions will distract your audience from the subject of the presentation.
Avoid cluttering the slides with too much text or graphics. Your audience should hear what you have to say and not be distracted by a busy screen.
Keep text simple and easy to read by not using many different text effects such as bold, italics, underlining, larger font size for emphasis within a sentence, or a different font all on the same slide.
If there is a video attached to your presentation, make sure that it is embedded in PowerPoint and not on your desktop. You should also arrive at your session room well in advance to confirm your video is playing properly.

Macintosh Tips:
If you are preparing your presentation on a Macintosh computer please take care to ensure the following:

Export as Powerpoint
Preview the file in the speaker ready room to ensure that the conversion from Mac to PC did not cause any formatting issues.

Available Software:
The following software will be available on all presentation computers:

Operating System: Windows 10 or 11
Microsoft Software Installed:
- Microsoft - Office Professional Plus 2016* (or greater)
- Microsoft Word 2016
- Microsoft Excel 2016
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2016
Additional Software Installed:
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- VLC Media Player
- Google Chrome

Social media offers the opportunity for Attendees of the AAAR Conference to engage and communicate with the broader Scientific Community, as well as the General Public, about exciting research presented in the Meeting (Plenary Lectures, Platform Presentations, and Poster Presentations). At the same time, some Presenters may prefer that their research — which may be preliminary, in progress, or under review — not be disseminated beyond the Conference. This was the rational for AAAR's previous "no photography" policy, and remains an important consideration with sharing others' results. However, in many cases Presenters may be happy to have their Presentations photographed and/or shared on Social Media. In order to balance these various considerations, the AAAR policy on social media posting and photography is as follows:

Attendees may photograph and post content from others' presentations only when they have explicit permission by the Presenter to do so. This permission will be given by an "ok to photograph/post" icon (shown above) on the Presenter's slides or Poster. Video/audio recording (as well as live-streaming, etc.) is expressly prohibited.

It is assumed that the primary platform for such Social Media posts will be AAAR's LinkedIn. Inappropriate content — e.g., material that may be viewed as libelous, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or abusive — is prohibited.