2025 EWB-USA West Coast Regional Conference
Poster Competition
Sunday October 26th, 2025 | 7:30-8:15 AM PST
California Polytechnic State University | San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
Cal Poly Recreation Center | Multi Activity Center
West Coast Regional Conference Poster Fair
The West Coast Regional Conference Poster Fair is an opportunity for EWB-USA chapters to share their experiences, lessons learned, and innovative approaches with other chapters from across the region. Through creative, informative posters, chapters can showcase the strategies, challenges, and successes that define their project. Whether it’s selecting a project, building community partnerships, designing infrastructure, evaluating impact, or sharing unique insights outside traditional categories, teams not only highlight their work but also contribute to a collaborative exchange of ideas that strengthens our ability to create sustainable, community-driven solutions.
Timeline and Deadlines
August 25th: Poster Fair Information and Rules Released
September 26th: Poster Abstracts Due
October 1st: Poster Abstracts Approvals Sent Out
October 26th: Poster Fair
Categories and Examples
Listed below are five categories from which to choose. Examples are included; however, these are not to limit your ideas, but to give suggestions. Please feel free to use your creativity.
Category 1: Best Practices and Strategies for Choosing a Project
Example: Chapter presents how their team splits this process into steps and divides work among members. How is the project decided on?
Category 2: Building, Growing, and Sustaining Community Relationships and Partnerships
Example: Chapter presents how their team navigated their relationship with the community by prioritizing a community-first approach.
Category 3: Designing the Infrastructure
Example: Chapter showcases how they selected materials and designs in collaboration with the community. Considerations include local availability, maintenance capacity, and cultural relevance.
Category 4: Monitoring and Evaluation
Example: Chapter details what their team’s monitoring and evaluation phase looked like: how they handled it, what tools they used, and what they learned from it to shape future projects.
Category 5: ETC
This open category allows for posters that don't fit neatly into the other categories but offer valuable insight into chapter experiences, such as lessons learned, failures and pivots, and any other takeaways that could help other chapters.
Example: Chapter explores how they navigated a major project redesign due to unforeseen environmental challenges and the collaborative problem-solving process that followed.
Poster Development and Guidelines
Chapters participating in the poster fair may select from the five categories to guide their poster design. Each chapter may not have more than three people presenting at a time, although more than this can contribute to creating the poster.
The team must submit a 150 to 300-word abstract outlining their intended poster idea. This abstract will then undergo a review and approval process. The abstract should provide a summary of the project and outline the main ideas of the poster. Reading this section should give the viewers an understanding of the key components and takeaways of the poster.
Please submit abstracts to the following link: Poster Conference Registration
An approval email will be sent to the team leader (indicated in the linked Google Form) on October 1st. After receiving approval for your proposal, your team can start working on the poster.
Format Guidelines:
Posters should follow EWB-USA branding guidelines. You may find some resources for branding here: https://logos.ewb-usa.org/
There is no official poster template
Example layouts will be provided, but you’re encouraged to use your creativity
The poster board display space is 4 ft tall x 8 ft wide.
You do NOT need to use all of this space unless you want to; posters may be printed smaller
Posters should be made of foam board or a similar rigid backing so that they can be displayed on a stand
If this presents any difficulty, please reach out to azunig15@calpoly.edu
or aerichey@calpoly.edu and we can discuss alternate arrangements
TIP: Photos are encouraged, but try to balance photos and writing. Don’t cram too much in one area - white space helps attract the audience’s attention!
Content Guidelines:
Poster is informative and relates to one of the five categories noted above
If the content is project-related, the project must be directly related to EWB-USA
Adherence to EWB-USA policies and procedures
The following is an official EWB-USA example poster that you may reference for help:
Example Poster for EWB-USA Poster Contest
The following are past poster fair entries that you may reference for help:
EWB Winter Conference Poster .pptx
Printing Your Poster:
Participants are responsible for bringing their printed posters to the conference. EWB Cal Poly SLO will not be able to print posters during the event.
If you are a student, please check with your university if they offer printing services, as they usually provide an economical option.
If participants would like to print their posters in San Luis Obispo, CA, there is a UPS in the area that provides these services. Reach out to them at least three days in advance for them to be able to accommodate your request (as of 08/21/2024 - note these are quotes we received and are not guaranteed):
Poster size: 3 ft x 4 ft – $111
Address: 3870 Broad St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93400, United States
Please feel free to explore other options that are available in the area.
Poster Setup at the Conference
Each team presenting a poster will be assigned a spot. On the day of the competition, find your designated setup spot indicated by the name of the team lead.
Participants should have at least one member stand by their poster during the competition to present their work and answer questions for judges and other interested conference attendees.
Please prepare a short oral presentation for judges and be prepared to answer questions.
More details on poster setup time will be provided later.
Contest Criteria and Awards
All posters will be judged with the same criteria, regardless of the poster category.
There will be a panel of multiple judges. The panel of judges will evaluate all of the posters based on certain criteria.
Judges will use the following rubric to evaluate posters:
Poster
Judges will evaluate the overall design and quality of the poster, including:
Layout, organization, and visual appeal
How effectively the poster communicates key information at a glance
The balance between written content and visuals
Graphics and colors
2. Content:
Judges will evaluate the content and relevance of the information presented, including:
How well it provides learning opportunities for other teams
Creativity or unique perspectives on problems or topics
Key insights such as lessons learned, challenges faced, and strategies for overcoming obstacles
Content that is informative, reflective, and useful for future projects
3. Presentation:
Contestants will be judged on how effectively they communicate their project, including:
Clear, well-organized, and well-prepared delivery
Thoughtful and confident responses to questions
Genuine passion and enthusiasm for the project and its impact
Active engagement with the audience and judges
Professionalism balanced with an approachable, engaging delivery
There will be a first and second place.
The first-place winners will be awarded two entries to the EWB-USA 2026 National Conference for their chapter
The second place winners will be awarded one entry to the EWB-USA 206 National Conference for their chapter.
The winners will be announced at a later time during the conference.
For any more questions, concerns, or clarifications, please contact our event planners for the poster fair - Alejandra Zuñiga: azunig15@calpoly.edu and Ava Richey: aerichey@calpoly.edu