Virtual Posters at Entomology 2012

ESA is proud to offer an exciting opportunity for entomologists located outside of the U.S. to present their research at this year's Annual Meeting.

(Read about Virtual Posters in the following languages:
Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese)

Many entomologists located outside of the United States have wanted to present their work at the Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in the past, but have faced travel funding or visa issues, language barriers, or other concerns. ESA now offers an exciting technology enabling entomologists from around the world to present their work from home – ESA's Virtual Posters.

Introducing Virtual Posters

"Virtual Posters" involve the electronic submission of a presentation in a standard PDF format. Once the presentation is accepted, it is made available for viewing by all attendees during the next Annual Meeting, which is typically attended by 3,000 entomologists. Virtual poster authors have an allotted time to be virtually present, via live Internet video, and to discuss their research results with colleagues in the U.S. Although the official language of Entomology 2012 is English, online translation services can be made available if needed.

This opportunity is designed specifically to enable those students and entomologists located outside of the United States to present their work at the ESA meeting. As such, it is not available to those who reside in the United States, who are encouraged to attend the ESA meeting in person.

New this year is the Virtual Poster Student Competition for the President’s Prize. Now students who submit a virtual poster for Entomology 2012 will be able to compete for recognition the same way the in-person poster competition is judged. Students submitting virtual posters will also receive a reduced submission rate to encourage students from around the world to participate and compete. For more information about the judging of student poster competitions, please visit: www.entsoc.org/awards/student/competition_poster_info

Click here for a video demonstrating Virtual Posters.

Why You Should Present a Virtual Poster at this Important Meeting:

1. Your presentation will be listed in the formal printed program for the 2012 Annual Meeting of the ESA and will be a fully-qualified scientific presentation at that meeting, equal in every way to one given as if you had attended the meeting live. Your presentation will be citable as such.

2. Your work will gain international exposure not only to the U.S. entomologists, but also to all other virtual poster presenters. You will be able to see all other virtual posters, and all attendees will be able to see your work.

3. You will receive a certificate, suitable for framing, acknowledging and documenting your presentation at this meeting. You can incorporate that certificate into your professional documentation for as long as you wish.

4. Your work will be protected from unauthorized use. The display format will not be one that is easily edited by others, your submission will be retained as proof of your work, and you will have complete control over the continued availability of the work after the meeting. Protection of intellectual property rights has been an emphasis of the technology development from the beginning and many measures are in place to protect your work.

5. We have an “open format” which means that the format of the poster itself is entirely up to the presenter. Our only requirement is that it is a PDF file and that it be written in English. Other than that, it can be in any format that you choose, include figures, photos, video, sound, etc. You can use whatever format you feel best presents your work.

Cost

To help offset ESA expenses, there is a one-time fee of $150.00 USD per submission, payable upon submission. The fee for students participating in the virtual poster competition is $50 USD per submission.

Submission Deadlines

The following deadlines apply to the Virtual Poster Program for Entomology 2012:

• May 1, 2012 - Virtual Poster submission website opens. Please check back at that time to submit your research.

• July 16, 2012 - Deadline for submitting title, abstract, affiliation, and submission fee (USD $150)

• November 2, 2012 - Deadline for uploading final PDF

• November 11-14, 2012 - Entomology 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee U.S.A. All posters on display.

Other Submission Information

• Once your poster has been accepted, you will choose the days and hours that you will be available for live discussion of your poster with meeting attendees. These times can be any time between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Pacific U.S. time, November 11–14, 2012.

• At the same time that you upload your full poster, you will be required to upload a photo of yourself, and to provide your Skype username. If you have a high-speed Internet connection and a web cam, then during the Annual Meeting you will be able to participate in video chats with the attendees; otherwise you will be limited to text chat. When you are not available for live chat, attendees will also be allowed to submit comments and questions about your virtual poster. All of their comments and questions, and all of your text responses -- whether exchanged in real time or asynchronously -- will be posted online for all attendees to see.

• During the submission process, you will be asked to provide the following information:

- Poster title
- Your email address
- Species information
- Author(s) name, address, affiliation, and a photo of the presenter in .gif or .jpg format
- Abstract text, not to exceed 300 words
- Virtual poster registration fee (paid with Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal)

We recommend composing your text in a word processing program so you can check spelling and word count, and then copy/pasting it into the submission form.

For more information about the judging of student poster competitions, please visit: www.entsoc.org/awards/student/competition_poster_info

If you have problems or questions about an existing submission, please contact Rosina Romano at rromano@entsoc.org or +1 301-731-4535 ext. 3010.