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Winning the Race calls for posters

Delta State University’s award-winning race relations conference, Winning the Race, is seeking submissions for poster designs for the 2015 conference held March 30-31.

The official title of this year’s conference is “Winning the Race: Through Hearts & Minds. A Conversation on Building Connected Communities.”

The goal of this unique event is to promote dialogue on race relations by building conversations that will bring together diverse communities in the Delta. The conference is designed to highlight conversations along the following topics or “tracks:”

Tracks:
 Social Justice, Civil Rights & Law
Example topics: race and the criminal justice system, mass incarceration, healthcare and racial disparities

 Economic Opportunities
Example topics: creative economy, asset building, social entrepreneurism

 Education & Community
Example topics: diversity and student leadership, diversity and the college curriculum, race and race relations discourse in the classroom

 Culture & Community
Example topics: faith, music, sports, arts

Submission Guidelines:

Submit a brief abstract for a poster presentation to Dr. Temika Simmons at tsimmons@deltastate.edu no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 6. In the email correspondence, be sure to include the name(s) of all presenters and the topic or “track” to which your project most closely aligns (see tracks listed above). Collaborative work between Delta State University faculty and students is strongly encouraged and preferred. Collaborative work across institutions is also encouraged; however, all lead authors/presenters must be affiliated with DeltaStateUniversity. At least one author/presenter must be a student at DeltaState. Confirmation of receipt of abstract will be emailed to all lead authors/presenters by Feb.13. Letters of acceptance will be emailed no later than Feb. 20. Accepted presenters must register for the conference to participate in the poster competition.

Poster Preparation Instructions:

 General Considerations:
The display should include a statement of the problem, objectives of the project or research, the methodology used to solve the problem or implement the program, the major findings or outcomes and their significance and conclusions. There should be logical research sequence: i.e., introduction (research questions/hypotheses), development (data collection/analysis) and conclusion. The conclusion(s), perhaps the most important part of the research, should be related to the project findings. Layout of the elements from top-left to bottom-right and/or sequential labeling will greatly aid the visitor.

Posters will be displayed throughout the day on March 30-31. Judging, however, will take place from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. on March 30. Display mounting must be completed no later than one hour prior to judging(10 a.m.) on March 30. All presenters must be present during the judging session to present and summarize their posters to the judges. After judging, posters will be displayed throughout the remainder of the conference and should be removed no later than 30 minutes following the close of the awards luncheon on March 31 (i.e., 2 p.m.). After 2 p.m., remaining posters will be discarded.

Arrangement of Materials:
Presentation may be presented on a tri-fold posterboard. All poster materials must fit on the board. Tables will be provided. Authors presenting a laminated research posterboard must supply their own easel for presentation. Velcro strips, thumbtacks or other adhesive material will not be available for poster mountings.

Presenters may place the following materials on a large posterboard: photographs, diagrams, charts, data and narrative text. The title heading should be at least 1-½”high. It should include the title of the poster session and all authors’ names and institutional affiliations. Visual elements are encouraged. Remember to keep it simple. Present only enough information to support your conclusions. The amount of information presented on the poster should be concise and well organized. Posters that appear crowded with too much data should be avoided. To minimize crowding, consider giving interested individuals a copy of the research project abstract.

Helpful Suggestions:

 Text forms: use short expanses of text mixed with data in tables, graphs, lists or illustrations. Reader should be able to focus on the main points immediately.

 Type: large, dark, block style. Don’t use all capital letters; it is much harder to read. Lettering should be simple, bold and easily legible from a distance of three feet. Directional arrows can help the viewer in following the sequence.

 Color: black or dark on white or light paper. Color combinations should be carefully considered for readability.

 Matting: attractive but subdued enough not to call attention away from text. Limit number of colors used. Use color with a purpose (to bring out a point or to code one portion of the text as distinct from another).

 Overall Design: an effective display, aside from content, are those that are attractive, well organized and largely self-explanatory.

Presentation Guidelines:

1. The presenter should prepare an outline or abstract of the major points of the poster.
2. The poster should not be read verbatim from the text. Not only are such presentations usually dull, but because of time constraints the author maybe cut off by the session chair before reaching the most significant aspects of the presentation.
3. Oral presentations should represent, on average, a five-10 minute summary of the poster. Highlights may be given regarding the purpose of the study, description of the sample, methodology, problems, and major findings, conclusions or recommendations. The amount of time devoted to each highlight will vary according to the author’s evaluation of the importance of each area to the paper.
4. During the judging session, all presenters must be available at the display to provide a formal, oral presentation (see item 3)of the project to the judges and to answer questions and discuss the contents.
5. Presenters are advised to prepare a single handout (25 copies recommended) summarizing the major components of the project. Presenters may wish to have a sign-up sheet to record names and addresses of attendees who would like further information, additional copies, etc.

For additional information on Winning the Race, follow all updates at https://www.deltastate.edu/president/winning-the-race.