This is a resource for session chairs, presenters, and monitors of SMT poster sessions.

easel

For information on how to create and submit your conference materials, visit the Conference Presenter Guidelines.

View the archived virtual training webinar recording

Poster sessions begin as Zoom webinars, but after introductory remarks from the Chair and lightning talks from the Presenters, each poster presentation will have their own individual Zoom meeting room where they can interact with attendees.

Before the session

  • Each session will be assigned a Monitor. Both Chairs and Monitors will have “host/co-host” privileges. 
  • Presenters, Chairs, and Monitors should join the webinar 10 minutes before the session begins by following the link on the session page. You may be asked to enter your name and email address. Shortly after joining the webinar, a volunteer will arrive and turn over host duties to the Chair(s) and Monitor.
  • During this 10 minute period, each webinar will have “practice mode” enabled. In "practice mode," only Presenters, Chairs, and Monitors can join. During this time:
    • Monitors: instruct Chairs and Presenters to open the “participants", “chat”, and "Q&A" windows. This will allow them to see who is in the session, what's being posted in the chat, and what questions are being asked.
    • Monitors: make sure that Presenters know how to share their screen, if they’d like to do that. 
    • Chairs: remind Presenters of the progression of the session, including presentation order and the procedure by which each poster will be sent to an individual meeting room. 
    • In the case of a multi-authored poster, the Monitor should confirm which of the Presenters will be giving the summary so they know which person(s) to unmute for that presentation summary.
    • Chairs/Monitors: if one of your Presenters does not arrive, please contact smt@societymusictheory.org
    • Chairs/Monitors: About one minute before the start time, click the "Start Webinar" button. 

Session Intro

  • Chair: Begin the session with a brief intro (see a sample script) that includes the session’s title, order of presentations, and an explanation of the function of the Chat. (Note that there will not be time for presenters to answer questions during the webinar portion of the session, so attendees should not use the webinar Chat for questions, but that statements of encouragement or other feedback are welcome, and will be archived for the presenters.) 
  • Chair: Read the brief statement (below) about appropriate language and behavior.
    • "SMT wishes to create a meeting in which all participants feel safe, welcomed and included. This should be a space of respectful and constructive discourse. To facilitate such an environment, we ask that all attendees refer to and abide by our guidelines on respectful interactions and policies on ethics and harassment."

  • Monitor: as the Chair reads the statement, post a link to our guidelines on respectful interactions and policies on ethics, and harassment in the Chat.  
  • Chair: communicate to attendees the poster session procedure: after short presentations by the Presenters (no more than three-minute summaries), each poster Presenter will have their own individual Zoom meeting room where they will be able to interact with attendees. Those Zoom meeting rooms are found on the session page next to each authors's name and in the Chat.
  • Monitor: Post links to each of the poster session Zoom rooms in the webinar Chat.

Presentation Summaries

  • Chair: After the session intro, introduce each presentation in turn, giving presentation title and Presenter(s) name(s) and affiliation(s) only. (Presenter biographies will not be read, but can be found on the session page.)
  • Each presentation will have a maximum of 3 minutes for presentation summary. These comments should be prepared ahead of time to ensure appropriate length. The 3-minute limit will be enforced by the Chair.
  • Presenters are expected to listen to all of the summaries before heading into their individual Zoom rooms (see Q&A, below).

Q&A

  • Following the summaries of all presentations, each of the Poster Presenters will move to an individual Zoom room where they can interact with attendees. 
  • In each of these Zoom meeting rooms, the Presenter(s) and Attendees will be able to see each other and interact face-to-face. Presenters may also answer questions that are posted in the Chat.
  • The Chair and Monitor are expected to move around from room to room and interact with Presenters.

Session Ending

  • The Q&A session is expected to last until 45 minutes after the hour.
  • Presenter(s) are responsible for ending the session no later than 10 minutes before the top of the hour. 
  • If this responsibility is not carried out by the Presenter(s), an administrator may end the session so that the next meeting may begin on time.

Other Session Monitor Responsibilities

If You Need Help During the Session