#RSCPoster – one month to go
Drupad Trivedi, winner of the Analytical category in #RSCPoster 2019, speaks to us about his experiences in this unique conference, and explains why you should get involved.
Drupad has been participating in #RSCPoster for the past three years and last year he won his category with his poster on a smell-led approach to diagnosing Parkinson’s Disease. He said that taking part and winning both expanded his network and helped him in his career.
"I enjoyed the day so much that winning the prize was just the cherry on top. Not only did I network with a great number of people but we also had good scientific banter with the RSC.
"Afterwards I ended up collaborating with a couple of people, and we’re writing a grant proposal as we speak. I’m about to put in a grant proposal with someone I met on Twitter, just because of this conference."
Exciting way of presenting
He says that this type of conference is analogous to a typical conference, but comes with a range of advantages.
"It’s a really exciting way of presenting", he says. "As soon as you tweet your poster it's as if you've stuck the last pin in the poster board.
"In a 'normal' conference you might stand and admire your poster, but in this conference as soon as it’s up you are getting likes and retweets. The community is so active, so if you post early enough you’ll have lots of interactions with everyone.
"I keep my mobile notifications on all day so I get to interact with people live. The great thing about the online format is that you’re not stuck standing with your poster – you get to roam around and look at everyone else’s posters, and if someone wants to know more about yours you’ll get a notification. You also end up interacting with other disciplines, not just your own. And best of all you don’t pay a single penny!
"The Twitter statistics are also great. You can just click 'Insights' on your tweet and see how many people saw it, how many liked and retweeted, and how many zoomed in. It’s a great feedback mechanism that you wouldn’t get at a normal conference."
Do it!
Drupad has this advice for anyone thinking of submitting a poster this year: "Definitely don’t think – do it! But please don’t rush it because there is no point in a last minute poster.
"Try to limit the text – it's a poster, not a journal article. The best way to show your science is to make it as arty as possible – use more figures and lots of colours. Think of it like a movie poster – a movie poster tells you almost everything about the story but doesn't give away all of it, so people still have to go to the cinema and watch it. Make yours similar – catchy but not overloaded with text.
"It’s also a good idea to make a 'night mode' poster – basically a poster with a dark background. The idea has really caught on in recent years, and it's nice because most of the community interacts with the posters in the evenings."
Take part
The conference begins at 12:00 UTC on 3 March and runs for 24 hours. Register now, or visit our blog page to find out more about the different categories, what’s involved in presenting, and who this year’s subject chairs and committee are.
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