Different ICASSP Committees have used a different mix of poster and lecture sessions to balance the program and the available facilities. As ICASSP submissions increased, the number of poster sessions increased, basically because poster sessions make more efficient use of space and of the audience's time. All surveys we have ever conducted have verified that lecture sessions are preferred by presenters and that poster presentations are preferred by the audience. ICASSP does not use poster sessions as dumping grounds for less desirable presentations. The Conference Board, Technical Committees and ICASSP Technical Program Committees work hard to make all the sessions effective. The ICASSP Presentation Guidelines were developed for both session types, and the review of visual materials by session chairpersons before ICASSP serves as a method to maintain high standards.
The Conference Board requires a minimum of 15 minutes per lecture (20 may be better) presentation, and a maximum of 12 (preferably 10 or 11) presentations per lecture session. Poster sessions can handle twice as many, with half the presenters (usually the odd ones) standing by their posters during the first half of the session, and the other presenters (the not-so-odd ones) presenting during the second half. All the posters should be up before the session begins and remain accessible to attendees until the end of the session. ICASSP-92 experimented with having each poster visible during only half the session by turning the inactive posters to face the walls. This led to even worse crowding at the active posters, and many authors and attendees crawled between the posters and the walls to see the inactive posters. The author instructions and Conference Guide should clearly state what the arrangements for the posters and presenters will be. ICASSP-93 initiated a brief introduction at the beginning of each poster session in which the session chairperson gave a brief three-minute overview of the session, then introduced each author who gave a one-minute summary of their talk. Authors were restricted to using only one viewgraph. The session chairpersons also took this opportunity to remind attendees which posters would be presented during the first and second halves of the session.