When you plan designs and construction techniques for productions, don’t forget about this opportunity to share innovations with peers. New solutions to old problems, a new problem and its solution, a classroom or management technique, the results of research, or other ideas, discoveries, or developments in your field are all welcome areas of creative research.

Topics for 2026 Poster Sessions: 

• Building Basics (rethinking core concepts or practices) 
• Material Movement (looking at materials and mediums in a unique or novel way)
• Processed Processes (new or improved processes or protocols)

Poster presentations are widely accepted as meeting the requirements for scholarly publication. Those who work for an educational institution may be able to receive full or partial funding to attend the conference. To maintain the scholarly rigor, the acceptance rate for posters is 20% or less - this has meant 15 abstracts (5 for each topic) have been selected for presentation at each conference. An additional 4-5 abstracts have been selected as “view only.”

All submissions will be blind juried by your peers in the poster review process. In this process, each submission is adjudicated according to a rubric by at least 2 peers, at least one of whom will be from the discipline under which the abstract has been submitted.

Posters may be selected for presentation at the conference or for viewing online only. Ideas need to be presented in the form of an abstract. When submitting an idea, be aware that your research must be complete before you submit your first draft of your poster. 

Abstracts may be submitted from all USITT commissions:

• Architecture
• Costume Design & Technology
• Digital Media
• Education
• Engineering
• Lighting Design & Technology
• Management
• Safety & Health
• Scene Design & Technology
• Sound Design & Technology
• Technical Production

In your abstract, please include:

• Title of your poster
  • In 250 words or less, address the following questions:
    • How is this topic relevant to your specific area?
    • What do you imagine the content of the poster to be?
    • How does your poster advance the professional discussion of this topic?
    • How is your work an innovative solution to the identified problem, or how does it address a new problem?

Do not include your name or any personal identification on your abstract. This includes the file name for your abstract.  This is a blind jury selection. You will be identifiable to poster administrators through the website submission process.

Only submit your abstract idea one time. Please do not submit the same abstract under multiple topics/categories. You may submit more than one abstract idea.

The timeline is as follows:

• Wednesday, June 18th         Submission portal is open. 
• Friday, September 26th           Submission portal is closed.
• October 3 - 29th           Abstracts are under peer review for selection.
• Friday, November 7th         Applicants notified of acceptance or non-acceptance.
• Friday, December 12th          First draft of poster due for editing process. 
• Friday, January 16th          Edits and comments due back to presenters. 
• Wednesday, February 18th         Final poster due to the national office.
• March 18-21, 2026               USITT’s Annual Conference and Stage Expo in Long Beach.

We look forward to seeing your abstract in the coming year. If you are looking for inspiration for abstract ideas, take a look at the poster archive of accepted posters from 2022-2025. https://www.usitt.org/poster-sessions