Who and what: Hello fellow BPS2023 attendant! My name is Fiona! I am a postdoctoral scholar and computational chemist/biochemist jointly advised by Rommie E. Amaro and J. Andrew McCammon at the University of California, San Diego. This year, I will be presenting a poster at BPS2023 describing my recent work investigating interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the glycocalyx, particularly heparan sulfate proteoglycans. But as an official BPS2023 blogger, I want to describe how my poster may look -- and sound -- a bit different than the rest!
In addition to creating my traditional visual poster, and in addition to standing at my poster during my session to describe my work, I have also written and produced a short podcast describing the images and results provided on my poster! It's a podcast about my poster! A PosterCast!!
In my capacity as a BPS2023 blogger, I hope to document my experimental foray into this new media!
When and Where? My poster, and its corresponding PosterCast, will be on display at the San Diego Convention Center Exhibit Hall BC, poster #LB8, on Tuesday February 21, 2023 from 1:45-3:45 pm PST! After the poster session, on this blog, I will also provide a link to my PosterCast for anyone who couldn't make it to see my poster, and PosterCast! Any and all feedback would be greatly advised from all who have a chance!
Why? This is perhaps the most important question in regards to the PosterCast: why? If the poster is a visual element, and if the poster session provides an audio element as I will, ostensibly, be standing by my poster presenting my results, then why do we need a "podcast" that also describes the poster?! The answer is twofold: accessibility and convenience.
1. Accessibilty: There are many folks for whom conference poster session can be moderately to intractably inaccessible. For example, folks with sight disabilities, auditory/visual stimulation and processing difficulties and disorders, and/or anxiety difficulties, particularly social anxieties. Also, in the ongoing age of COVID-19 (yes... its still ongoing), where we know the importance of (1) staying home when you're sick and (2) validating and supporting the needs of our colleagues with immunological concerns, we know that folks may have to skip out on the poster for health concerns. I feel strongly that we should try to do all we can to increase the accessiblity of these poster sessions. Adding a "podcast" version of each poster, or an online presentation component of each poster, may help this cause. With this poster presentation, I hope to experiment with the idea of adding PosterCasts to my posters, and gauge the feasibility in PosterCast production as well as determine whether they could serve as at least partial solutions to some of these accessibility concerns.
- 2. Convenience for the Presenter: Have you ever been at your poster but desperately wanted to quickly step away to ask a question of another presenter with an interesting poster, but you both have the same assigned presentation slot? Or, similarly, have you ever been at your poster and an interesting podium talk is happening at the exact same time of your assigned presentation slot? Or have you simply ever had to step away from your poster for any other reason? For me personally, I am always very lucky to have many interested attendees at my poster enthusiastically asking wonderful questions but I, for whatever reason, have to step away for at least 10 minutes (most often, for a bathroom break). Providing an attached audio/podcast to your poster would allow you to step away guilt free during your presentation time slot while still being sure that your poster attendants are receiving the stimulating presentation they so desire and deserve!
How? Convinced yet that PosterCasts are (potentially) the way of the future?! Well, if you're at least intrigued, here's a quick summary of how I created my PosterCast, and maybe you can try it out for yourself! First, I built my poster with Keynote (dont @ me!). I then "presented" my poster to myself while using the "dictate" function in Microsoft Word to "catch" my words on paper and create an initial script for the poster. While dictating, I made sure to describe both the images and the results as well as read all captions. I then edited this script for easy re-reading. This script came in handy later! I then used Anchor.fm to record myself reading my script, creating my first ever podcast!! I am sure there are plenty of other podcasting tools outside of Anchor, but I am a novice in this realm and Anchor allows users to record and upload audio directly into their web browser and this ease of use was ideal for me. Once finished recording, I then used QR-code-generator to create a QR code which links to my PosterCast! I pasted the PosterCast’s QR code onto my poster as well as printed a separate larger, i.e. easier to see, copy of the QR code which I will post next to my poster during my session. I have also created a separate QR code linking to a transcript document of my PosterCast (the script from earlier!) in the event reading is more accessible to some folks than audio.
So if you're curious about my science, my poster, and/or my PosterCast, come see me at #BPS2023 on Tuesday at poster #LB8!! I hope to see and hear you there!