Cast under the soft morning light of an empty hall, Poster Session 2 "Markets" began in a far more intimate fashion than the session held in the space yesterday afternoon. Perhaps the combination of a smaller audience, a quieter surrounding hall (and copious coffee personally) worked together to generate conditions for a far more interactive discussion of forward-looking market-centric research.

As a self-identifying young researcher (one of the dominant themes of yesterday's Welcome Address), I am currently deeply engaged with preparations for my first poster presentation at an upcoming conference later this autumn. The opportunity to follow multiple poster sessions this week has of course reiterated the necessity of certain characteristics in delivering an effective poster presentation, but perhaps more significantly, it has unveiled a dimension of "Well, this is out of my hands..." that seems inherent to this particular form of scientific communication. I am specially referring to the presentation time and poster location. Does the random selection of your presentation hall, or whether your talk precedes or follows a coffee break, significantly impact the effectiveness of your poster presentation? With no control over these factors, I would like to ask senior researchers for advice moving forward: What strategies have you cultivated to navigate some of these challenges? How can young researchers improve for future international conference environments?

As the session continued, the morning light which initially illuminated the hall dimmed and the audience grew in number. As did the conditions, so shifted the hall's volume and audibility of presentations. Given the distance travelled and barriers overcome by many researchers in order to present their work in this setting, possibilities for improvement at future Tropentags should be explored.