Change of view on conference posters 

I have had experiences on both Finnish and international conferences and in both, not so good experience on the poster part. Posters have been presented on lunch breaks and it has not been coordinated when the presenters are expected to be there. That’s why I have been left with a separated poster hall with only few presenters present while other conference guests are preparing for the next oral session or already with a sparkly on their hand in the evening session. 

So that’s why I was rather concerned and sceptical when I received a letter from The International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) – conference committee that although I had applied to an oral session, I got accepted to the poster presentation part. With an encouragement from many colleagues, I still got myself to prepare a poster about my article “Learning to become a tutor: experiences of adults with intellectual disabilities in peer tutoring for digital skills”. Especially after I heard my colleague Satu Piispa-Hakala and collegues had been awarded with their, quite simple poster, I got the confidence that somebody is actually reading the posters.  

As the conference was approaching at the end of July, I got a very surprising email from the poster-committee in IASSIDD. My poster had been shortlisted in the category “Impact on the field” from all the posters accepted (over 50 per day). This really got my spirits back up and my supervisors Kaisa Pihlainen and Eija Kärnä really supported me to take everything out of this experience and nomination. 

The conference days in Munich were super nice and IASSIDD European congress was organized really well. The oral sessions were interesting and I trusted on my strategy “Better 1-2 good contacts that you will actually send an e-mail to than 50 you will never contact again”.  

On the organizational part of the poster sessions, IASSIDD did really well. The posters were printed and hung on site by the coordinator at the right time for each. Every day different posters were presented, the time slots were in the middle of the day, and there was no other program going on at the same time. Although it was very hot, the posters were presented outside, luckily on the shade, so it was a super nice hour to spend in the midst of a conference day spent mostly sitting inside. My poster was presented on the first day which was at least for me super good, I wasn’t exhausted yet 😀 And I have to mention one particular researcher who had spotted me from the shortlist and found my poster. I was busy talking to someone else at the time and this (quite namely) researcher found me afterwards in the conference. We found many matching points in our interests, and he inspired me to continue the track I have chosen and welcomed me for a visit when the time (and funding) is right. After this conversation, I was honestly quite over the moon since I have been referencing this reseracher’s and their groups work since my master’s thesis. I think many of you can relate to this feeling of getting acknowledgement from your references 😀  

After this, I got into few very good conversations also and got to know many new faces, even from Finland I hadn’t met before. And actually, already met with these people again in Helsinki and I’m looking forward to continuing conversations with you all.  

So, all in all, I’m very glad I went on with my poster. Of course, the shortlist was a big plus but even without that, the poster presentation would have been a positive, well-organized experience that sparked many good conversations. So, if you are now organizing a poster part for your conference, I really recommend these few organisational points I mentioned above.  

And if you are now preparing for your first poster, keep it short, clear and in a very picturable format. I saw many people snapping a quick photo of my poster, and I did that myself for others. it is therefore essential to have your contact information very clearly in there once someone starts to go through their photos from a conference (A big task as we all know). 

So thank you everyone who helped me when preparing my poster and whoever recommended IASSIDD for me! Maybe see you next year at the World congress in Dublin? 

Here’s a photo of me presenting my poster at IASSIDD European Congress 2026 in Munich, July 2026. Hey and and  everyone got their posters to take home and you can now see it on our Futura campus in Joensuu, on the 3rd floor corridor 😉 

Article: Artikkeli: Aavikko, L., Pihlainen, K., & Kärnä, E. (2026). Learning to become a tutor: Experiences of adults with intellectual disabilities in peer tutoring for digital skills (accepted manuscript), Journal of Intellectual Disabilities.