Poster sessions and e-posters: running them so people show up

A large share of a congress’s accepted science ends up on posters — and too often in a quiet corner that attendees drift past. Poster sessions do not have to be an afterthought. With the right scheduling, presenter presence, and a digital layer, they become one of the more engaging parts of the program. Here is how.

Schedule them so people actually come

The most common reason poster sessions fall flat is scheduling. Fix that first:

• Give them their own slot — not opposite a keynote everyone wants to see.
• Pair them with a draw — coffee, lunch, or a networking break so foot traffic is already there.
• Require presenter attendance for a defined window, so visitors can actually discuss the work.

Add e-posters for reach and searchability

An e-poster is the digital version of the poster, shown on venue screens and in the attendee app. It solves the biggest limitation of a printed board — you have to be standing in front of it. With e-posters, attendees:

• search and filter posters by topic instead of wandering aisles;
• browse from their phone during and after the session;
• revisit work they want to follow up on;
• see richer content than paper allows.

E-posters also remove printing, shipping, and mounting — a real saving for presenters traveling internationally.

Posters come from your abstract pipeline

Poster presentations are simply one acceptance outcome from your call for abstracts. When you write the call, state clearly that accepted work may be assigned as an oral or a poster, and let your abstract management system carry accepted posters straight into the e-poster gallery — no re-entry, no separate upload chase.

Judging and awards drive engagement

A best-poster award gives presenters a reason to put in the effort and visitors a reason to look closely. Digital judging — reviewers scoring from the app against set criteria — makes it manageable even with hundreds of posters, and the winners make a nice closing-session moment.

Where poster sessions fit

Posters are one piece of the scientific program, which itself comes together from accepted abstracts. See how the whole program is assembled in building a scientific program, and the platform behind it in congress management software. For what one platform covers, the pricing page has the details.