Electronic poster presentations in BAPEN—a controlled evaluation

Introduction: We sought to compare the quality of e-poster and traditional poster communications. Methods: At the 2001 BAPEN congress, ten presenters were invited to supplement their poster by submitting its title and contents electronically. On projection, the submissions appeared as a poster. During chaired rounds, presenters ‘talked to’ the projection as if it were a traditional poster. They ‘clicked’ onto individual tables or figures to enlarge to full screen. A further ‘click’ returned the screen to poster format. Delegates attending two e-poster sessions, and a control group attending two simultaneous traditional poster rounds, responded to a questionnaire, on a scale 0–4, to statements which related: to the ability to (1) hear and (2) see well, (3) the postersʹ clarity and attractiveness, (4) whether the format of the session captured their interest and (5) encouraged discussion. Delegates also responded on how e-posters should be used in future meetings. Comparison was made using χ2 for trend. Results: Questionnaires were returned from attendees at e-poster (27) and traditional (25) poster rounds. For all questions, the trend was in favour of e-posters with significant differences seen for ‘seeing’ (P=0.009), ‘interest capture’ (P<0.007) and ‘encouragement of discussion’ (P<0.05). Thirty-two vs one delegates thought that e-posters should be used in future, 28 vs 4 delegates thought that e-posters and traditional posters should be used together, but most (23 vs 8) thought that traditional posters should not be completely replaced. Conclusions: E-posters enable detailed search of a computer-based database of presentations, and viewing of the full content of all posters. Post-conference collaboration is enhanced by facilitating e-mail contact. E-posters should be used in tandem with traditional posters to improve the delivery of original communications.