Presenter & Session Chair Guidelines

• Authors must be prepared before presenting to allow fast and easy transition from one talk to another to avoid unnecessary delays between presentations. All talks are limited to the amount of time listed in the program, which includes setup time to connect laptops or flash drives.
  
  
• Oral Presentations: Contributed presentations are 15 minutes and invited speaker presentations are 30 minutes (set up and Q&A are included within this time frame). A presentation must not start late or extend past the scheduled end time. PowerPoint screen size is 16:9.
  
  
• Laptops: Authors must bring their own laptops, any power cords and any proprietary cords (adaptors). MRS does not supply laptops, laser pointers or slide advancers. If you want to use a laser pointer or slide advancer, be sure to bring your own as MRS does not provide laser pointers. Also, your presentation should be backed up on a USB flash drive in case of unforeseen compatibility issues.
  
  Connectors: An HDMI connection (recommended) and a VGA secondary connection cable from the computer to the LCD projector will be provided in each room, including the Speaker Ready Room.
  
  Adaptors: A selection of HDMI adaptors for the following connections will be available in each room, including the Speaker Ready Room. These adaptors allow for connection of a standard HDMI cable from the projector into these types of computer ports:
  
  • 8” Micro‐HDMI D (M) to HDMI (F)
  • 8” Mini‐HDMI C (M) to HDMI (F)
  • 8” Mini‐DisplayPort (M) to HDMI (F)
  • 8” DisplayPort (M) to HDMI (F)
  • 9” USB C (M) to HDMI (F)
  • DVI (M) to HDMI (F)
• Speaker Ready Room: In order to be prepared for your presentation, a Speaker Ready Room is provided at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Level 3, Room 308B, and Hilton, Mid-Pacific Conference Center, 6th Floor, MPCC 1 Office, to help presenting authors give a smooth and trouble-free presentation. Testing your presentation in the Speaker Ready Room will minimize potential equipment compatibility issues.
  
  If you do not use the Speaker Ready room in advance, please test your presentation no later than the break immediately preceding your scheduled presentation. The break is defined as the time before the first morning talk, during the 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm lunch break or during the afternoon break. Note: Only one presenter at a time will be connected to the LCD projector.
  
  
• Standard Audiovisual Package: LCD projector, screen and wireless lapel microphone. ONLY meeting rooms with seating capacity over 150 attendees will have wireless microphones for Q&A.
  
  
• Non-Standard Audiovisual Package: Requests for additional audiovisual equipment not included in the standard package must be submitted to your symposium organizer, who will present the request to the MRS Accounting Manager.
  
  
• Audiovisual Assistance: Only minimal audiovisual assistance can be expected from your session chair or the symposium assistant. If a problem arises, please relay the issue to the symposium assistant, who will contact the appropriate personnel.
  
  
• Security: MRS is not responsible for the security of any personal equipment.
   
  

• MRS strongly encourages all presenters, both onsite and virtual, to record and upload a pre-recorded audio over PowerPoint version of their presentation, which should be saved in either an .MP4 or .MOV format.  This will provide a wider audience for your talk and provide all registered attendees, both onsite and virtual, the opportunity to view all 2022 MRS Spring Meeting presentations on their own schedules.  Registered attendees will have access to the virtual meeting and will be able to view on-demand content until June 30, 2022. Instructions for creating and uploading an on-demand presentation are posted below. We recommend that you upload your recorded presentation by May 4, 2022.

• Please pick up your meeting badge at MRS Registration, Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Level 1, Main Lobby. An MRS meeting badge is required for poster check-in.
• Check-in at the poster desk on the day of your presentation. The presenter must be an author of the poster and a registered attendee. Any posters not verified at check-in prior to posting will be removed from the session.  
• Each presentation will be assigned a board and will be labeled with the number of the paper (e.g. GI01.01.18) and the presenting author’s name.
  MRS recommends the poster size to be as follows:
  
  • U.S. Format—46 inches (width) x 46 inches (height)  
  • European Format—118 cm (width) x 118 cm (height)
• The poster boards will accept pushpins which will be available in the poster hall. Please return the pins at the end of your poster session.
• Display your material in large print so it may be read from a distance. Print TITLE and AUTHORS in extra-large print across the top of your display.

• Only the presenter will be able to enter the Poster Hall when posting


Poster Session Schedule

• Monday
  10:00 am – 2:00 pm—Check-In/Post (Poster Presenters)
  2:00 pm – 3:00 pm—Symposium Organizer Judging
  3:00 pm – 4:00 pm—Meeting Chairs Judging
  5:00 pm – 7:30 pm—Poster Session – Author Presentations (All Registered Attendees)
  5:30 pm —Best Poster Award Winners Announcement (All Registered Attendees) 
• Tuesday and Wednesday
  7:30 am – 12:00 pm—Check-In/Post (Poster Presenters)
  12:00 pm – 1:00 pm—Symposium Organizer Judging
  1:00 pm – 2:00 pm—Meeting Chairs Judging
  5:00 pm – 7:00 pm —Poster Session – Author Presentations (All Registered Attendees)
  5:30 pm—Best Poster Award Winners Announcement (All Registered Attendees)


Note: Presenting authors are responsible for removing their posters at the end of the poster session. If you do not take your poster with you at the end of your poster session, we will discard it.



Best Poster Awards
Poster sessions are an important and integral part of MRS meetings, allowing many more authors the opportunity to share their research and ideas with others. The quality of the poster sessions is a major priority of the Society. The Meeting Chairs will recognize the best presentations from each day of the poster sessions. Both onsite and virtual poster winners will be announced during the onsite Poster Sessions (Monday – Wednesday).  One or more awards of up to $500 will be presented by the Meeting Chairs.

The Meeting Chairs will select the winners on the basis of the poster’s content, appearance, graphic excellence and presentation quality (not necessarily equally weighted). The Best Posters will remain on display in a central location for the remainder of the meeting.

• MRS strongly encourages all presenters, both onsite and virtual, to record and upload a pre-recorded audio over PowerPoint version of their presentation, which should be saved in either an .MP4 or .MOV format.  This will provide a wider audience for your talk and provide all registered attendees, both onsite and virtual, the opportunity to view all 2022 MRS Spring Meeting presentations on their own schedules.  Registered attendees will have access to the virtual meeting and will be able to view on-demand content until June 30, 2022. Instructions for creating and uploading an on-demand presentation are posted below. We recommend you upload your recorded presentation by May 4, 2022.

• Click here for more on printing a poster at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center (PDF)

Virtual Sessions are in a Zoom format. The links are embedded in the virtual platform and you will enter sessions through the platform. We will host two speaker training sessions on the virtual platform on April 27, 2022, 11:00 am EDT, and May 3, 2022, 7:00 pm EDT. You will receive an email invitation approximately one week prior to the training session. A recording of the session is available.

You MUST be registered for the virtual meeting by May 16, 2022, in order to present.

Registered presenters will receive a platform access code on April 25. Additional instructions for accessing the platform will be included at that time.

All virtual sessions are ‘live’ online. You are expected to be present and speak live during your session.  Therefore, you need to make sure that you have noted on your schedule the session time as well as your presentation time.  This includes poster presenters.  Virtual posters have been sessioned in an oral session.

• Session Time and Presentation Time
  Please see your email for both your Session Time and Presentation Time. All times are listed in our communications to you are in Eastern Time. However, it is important to note that when you are on the virtual platform, the time displayed is what your computer is set to display. 
  
  Presentations must not start late or extend past the scheduled end time. Your Presentation Time includes time for Q&A. Sessions automatically close 10 minutes after the last scheduled presentation time. Please be courteous to all of the presenters by staying within your presentation time limit so that everyone is given the opportunity to present their research.
  
  
• Speaker Practice & Technical Check Room (OPTIONAL)
  In order to prepare for your presentation, MRS is providing a Virtual Speaker Practice & Technical Check Room on the virtual platform. The room allows presenting authors to familiarize themselves with the functionality of giving a virtual presentation. You should test your microphone, video camera, and sharing your screen in order to give a smooth and trouble-free presentation. The Speaker Practice & Technical Check Room will be open each day between 7:00 am – 11:00 am and 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET.
  
  
• Join Session (Mandatory)
  Presenters must join their session 20 minutes prior to the start of their live session. Example: if your session starts at 8:00 am, you will need to join your session between 7:40 am – 8:00 am, even if you are presenting at 9:15 am.
  
  Enter the session by clicking the Join Session link on the platform. During the 20 minutes prior to the session starting, all presenters and Session Chairs will receive instructions for the flow of the session and will ensure all equipment is set up and ready to go when the session goes live.
  
  
• Record and Upload Presentation
  MRS strongly encourages all presenters, both onsite and virtual, to record and upload a pre-recorded audio over PowerPoint version of their presentation, which should be saved in either an .MP4 or .MOV format.  This will provide a wider audience for your talk and provide all registered attendees, both onsite and virtual, the opportunity to view all 2022 MRS Spring Meeting presentations on their own schedules.  Registered attendees will have access to the virtual meeting and will be able to view on-demand content until June 30, 2022. Instructions for creating and uploading an on-demand presentation are posted below. We recommend that you upload your recorded presentation by May 4, 2022.
  
  
• Virtual Posters
  Virtual Poster presentations are included in either a mixed oral session or an all poster oral session. You will summarize your work while sharing your screen and answer questions from the audience. There is no set format or template for posters, but we recommend placing your information onto three or four slides rather than placing your whole poster onto a single slide (the print gets to be too small for attendees to easily view).
  
  Best Poster Awards—Virtual poster presenters must upload an on-demand recording by May 4, 2022, to be considered for a Best Poster Award. The on-demand recordings will be reviewed by the judges for award consideration. All Best Poster Awards will be announced onsite in Honolulu on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 pm HST.

A recording of the session is available here.

Your recorded presentation is in addition to your live presentation (regardless of whether it is onsite or virtual). These recordings will allow a wider audience to view your work. You will be provided with instructions on how to upload your recording to the virtual meeting platform when you receive your virtual meeting access code. We recommend that you upload your recording before May 4, 2022. Registered presenters will receive their virtual meeting access code on April 25. Additional instructions for accessing the platform will be included at that time.

• Presenters will create and upload a PowerPoint + Audio presentation that is saved as an .MP4 or .MOV. It is important that you save your file in one of these formats to prevent downloading from the site.
    
• A tutorial on adding audio to a PowerPoint can be found here: How to Add Voice Over on PowerPoint Slides. There is no MRS template that you have to follow.
   
• Instructions on how to save your PowerPoint file to an .MP4 or .MOV can be found here: Save a presentation as a movie file or MP4.
  
  
• Maximum file size is 10GB.
  
  
• Slide One should contain the abstract title, symposium, the presenter’s name, organization and email address.
  
  
• Poster presenters should break up their poster into three or four slides for ease of viewing.
  
  
• Virtual poster presenters must upload their recording by May 4, 2022 to be considered for a Best Poster Award. All Best Poster awards, including poster presentations given during the virtual meeting, will be announced onsite in Hawai’i on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 5:30 pm Hawai’i-Aleutian Standard time.
    

• The length of your recording should be as follows; it is OK to be over or under these times by a few minutes:
  • Invited – 30 minutes
  • Oral – 15 minutes
  • Poster – 5 minutes
      
• Registered attendees will have access to the virtual meeting and will be able to view content until June 30, 2022.
  
  
• Again, this is not a substitute for your live presentation.
  You are still expected to participate in person during your sessioned meeting time (either onsite in Honolulu or virtually, whichever you have been assigned). MRS will not be live streaming presentations into or out of the in-person meetings.

A session chair's responsibility is to:

• Assist with the smooth flow of the session
• Ensure the session environment is distraction free
• Ensure the equipment for the presenter (audio-visual equipment, microphones and lighting) is satisfactory
• Ensure the presentations follow the scheduled program
  

A symposium assistant will be assigned to assist you in carrying out these important responsibilities.

Plan to be in the meeting room 30 minutes before your session to assist the presenting authors in setting up their personal equipment. Please ensure the projector and microphone are in the room. Lights in the meeting room have been preset at a level of brightness which will enable attendees to take notes. If there are any audio-visual or temperature problems, ask your symposium assistant to seek help.

Introduce yourself to your symposium assistant who will be assisting you in the meeting room. The symposium assistant is responsible for:

• Posting the session sheet on sign outside of meeting room
• Providing a session sheet to you that lists the latest program information
  NOTE: Oral presentations are 15 minutes. Invited speaker presentations are 30 minutes (indicated on the session sheets by an asterisk before the abstract number, e.g. *NM07.03.01).
• Recording attendance numbers
• Notifying MRS staff of any audio visual problems as well as any special symposium needs
• Recording no shows and substitute presenter information
• Recording attendance numbers for each presentation on the Presenter Sign In/Attendance form

*If the Symposium Assistant does not show, an MRS staff person will place your session sheet on the sign outside of the room and will provide you with your blue Presenter Sign In/Attendance form. Please record your attendance numbers and return forms to the Symposium Assistant Desk, Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Level 3, Center Concourse or Hilton Hawaiian Village, Mid-Pacific Conference Center, Coral Lounge.

Before the Session

• Make any general announcements including any program changes
• Wipe the microphone with a sanitizing wipe (available in the room) between speakers
• Remind attendees that video and photos are not permitted (refer to the Recording Policy at the bottom of this page)
  
• Remind attendees to silence phones

During the Session

• Refer to the Session Sheet for speaker names and affiliations
• As a courtesy to attendees and other presenters, interrupt the presenter if he/she is not finished at the end of their presentation time. It is important to maintain published program times in order to facilitate attendee scheduling.
• If a presenter does not show, do not rearrange the schedule of presentations. Use the open time slot for discussion or review. It is important to maintain published program times in order to facilitate attendee scheduling. Also, staying on time insures the availability of meeting rooms for important noontime and evening functions.
• MRS needs to know if someone other than the presenting author delivers a talk. The symposium assistant has been asked to make note of all such changes. Please help your assistant by clearly identifying all authors who are substituting for the presenter noted on the session sheet.
• If the meeting room is consistently overcrowded, please ask the symposium assistant to report this to the Symposium Assistant Check-In Desk. It is normal for all symposia to experience standing-room crowds at times; MRS will intervene if such overcrowding persists throughout the day.

After the Session

• Please initial the symposium assistant’s timesheet.

Thank you for volunteering!

The session chair’s responsibilities are to:

• Assist with the smooth flow of the session
• Ensure the session environment is distraction free
• Ensure that the presenters are prepared to speak at their designated time
• Monitor Q&A

There will be a training session for session chairs on the virtual platform on April 27, 2022, at 11:00 am EST, and May 3, 2022, at 7:00 pm EDT. You will receive an email invitation to the training approximately one week prior to the training. Recordings of these trainings will be posted on the website as well.

Join Session (Mandatory)

You will need to join the session twenty minutes prior to the start of the live session. Example: if your session starts at 8:00 am, you will need to join your session at 7:40 am. You will enter the session by clicking Join Session on the platform. During the 20 minutes prior to the session starting, session chairs will give presenters instructions for the flow of the session and ensure that their equipment is set up and is ready to go when the session goes live.

Once you are in the session, you will:

• Change your Zoom name to your own name with Chair at the end (i.e.: Jane Doe, Chair)
  
• As speakers enter the session, they will be listed as “Host 500.” Ask them to change their name (or you can do it for them)
• Have each speaker share their presentations and check their microphones
  
• Remind everyone to click the Optimize for Video option on Zoom
• Discuss with the speakers how you will inform them of time
• One minute before the session starts, attendees will automatically begin entering the session (attendees will come in with their correct names). In the Zoom participant’s window, choose the option to mute everyone on entry
• When you start the session, introduce the topic, and then click Record in the Zoom interface and choose “Record to Cloud”
• Note that sessions automatically close 10 minutes following the last scheduled presentation time

Please refer to the Recording Policy below.