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SIXTEEN OCTA-FABRIC POSTER DISPLAY BOARDS FOR THE HEALTHCARE INFECTION SOCIETY’S TWO-DAY SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS
EMS Events supplied a compact exhibition infrastructure for HISCON 2026, the Healthcare Infection Society’s Annual Conference held at the Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park on 23 and 24 June 2026, including sixteen octa-fabric display boards (2 metres by 1 metre each) installed freestanding across the Dorchester Library on the first floor of the venue, giving 32 square metres of poster display surface for delegates presenting their research across the two-day session.
Client
Healthcare Infection Society
Event
Two-day scientific conference poster session
Location
Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrew's Place, London NW1 4LE (Dorchester Library, 1st floor)
Scope
Poster display board hire, delivery, freestanding installation, dry-hire handover for the two-day conference, and same-day derig and collection. Sixteen octa-fabric display boards (2m x 1m) with 128 connecting poles, 32 base feet and 2 exhibition flightcases, delivered end-to-end by an EMS Events setup and breakdown team
THE EXHIBITION BRIEF FOR THE DORCHESTER LIBRARY
The Healthcare Infection Society held HISCON 2026, its Annual Conference and the UK’s leading professional conference for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections, at the Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park on 23 and 24 June 2026. The Dorchester Library on the first floor of the venue was used for the poster session across both days, one of the flagship features of the conference alongside the oral presentations and exhibitor stands.
The brief was compact and specific: supply, deliver, install and derig a set of professional octa-fabric display boards for the poster session, giving delegates presenting their research a consistent visual environment across the two days.
Sixteen octa-fabric display boards were required, each 2 metres wide by 1 metre high, for a total display surface of 32 square metres. The boards needed to be freestanding and stable, without any drilling or wall fixings that would risk the venue’s Grade I listed interior.
EMS Events handled the full logistics: van delivery on the morning of 23 June, installation before the 08:30 conference opening, and same-day derig and collection at the 16:15 close on 24 June.
ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE INFECTION SOCIETY AND THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS
The Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) is a UK-based learned society and registered charity focused on advancing the science and practice of infection prevention and control, with a membership drawn from clinicians, microbiologists, researchers, nurses and other professionals working across the field. The society publishes the Journal of Hospital Infection and Infection Prevention in Practice, funds original research, and runs an active calendar of conferences, symposiums and continuing professional development activity. HISCON, the HIS Annual Conference, is the society’s flagship event of the year.
The Royal College of Physicians is one of the oldest medical royal colleges in the United Kingdom, founded in 1518 by royal charter and headquartered since 1964 in a Grade I listed modernist building designed by Sir Denys Lasdun at St Andrew’s Place on the edge of Regent’s Park. The building operates a substantial dedicated events footprint used for medical conferences, scientific symposiums, learned society meetings, lectures and civic events.
The Dorchester Library, on the first floor of the venue, is one of its principal event spaces, used for receptions, poster sessions, breakout activity and dining alongside larger meetings and symposiums held in the venue’s main rooms.
Octa-fabric display boards (2m by 1m each)
Days of scientific conference use (23 to 24 June)
award categories recognised
THE EXHIBITION BRIEF: SIXTEEN FREESTANDING POSTER DISPLAY BOARDS INSTALLED IN A GRADE I LISTED LIBRARY SPACE
The production brief was different from an AV or lighting delivery. What the Healthcare Infection Society needed was a professional exhibition display infrastructure for a scientific poster session, installed and removed cleanly within the venue’s operational windows.
Sixteen octa-fabric display boards, each 2 metres wide by 1 metre high, needed to be freestanding and stable in the Dorchester Library on the first floor of the Royal College of Physicians. Because the venue is a Grade I listed modernist building, the boards had to sit on their own feet and connecting poles without any fixings to walls, floors or existing furnishings.
The logistical timing was tight at both ends. Installation had to be completed between the 07:00 delivery slot and the 08:30 conference opening on 23 June, and the derig had to be completed after the 16:15 close on 24 June, with same-day collection back to the EMS Events warehouse.
DELIVERING THE EXHIBITION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE POSTER SESSION
EMS Events treated the Healthcare Infection Society brief as a compact exhibition installation delivery. One plan covered the delivery van run to the Royal College of Physicians, the freestanding assembly of the sixteen octa-fabric boards in the Dorchester Library, the handover to the HIS team for the duration of the two-day conference, and the same-day derig and collection at the 16:15 close on 24 June.
SIXTEEN OCTA-FABRIC DISPLAY BOARDS FOR 32 SQUARE METRES OF POSTER SURFACE
The core delivery was sixteen octa-fabric display boards, each measuring 2 metres wide by 1 metre high, giving a total of 32 square metres of poster display surface across the Dorchester Library.
Octa-fabric display boards use a stretched fabric front panel over a lightweight frame, providing a clean, taut surface for mounting posters with Velcro or pins, without the dents or creases that older-style hardboard finishes can develop after multiple event cycles.
Each board was supplied with its own panel frame (2m by 1m), eight connecting poles (0.5m each), and two base feet. Assembly is toolless, using pin-and-lock connections between the panels, poles and feet, allowing the setup crew to build each freestanding board in position without requiring bench space or venue tools.
LED video walls and IMAG screens at the WICE Awards 2024 with category branding on stage.
FREESTANDING ASSEMBLY WITH PANELS, POLES, AND FEET, NO WALL FIXINGS
The full installation used sixteen panel frames, 128 connecting poles (0.5 metres each, eight per board), and 32 base feet (two per board), giving each board a stable, freestanding configuration for the duration of the two-day conference.
The freestanding design was important for the venue. The Royal College of Physicians is a Grade I listed modernist building, and the Dorchester Library on the first floor is a working ceremonial and reception space. Any fixings to walls, floors or existing furnishings would have been inappropriate.
With the octa-fabric boards on their own feet and poles, the setup could stand independently on the library’s floor, with spacing and orientation able to be adjusted on the day to suit the poster session flow, without touching the venue’s interior.
Intelligent stage lighting and warm LED backdrop during a performance set, with the WICE-branded podium in view.
VAN DELIVERY, INSTALLATION, AND HANDOVER BEFORE THE 08:30 CONFERENCE OPENING
The full installation was delivered by van from our warehouse in Southwark to the Royal College of Physicians on the morning of Tuesday 23 June, arriving in time for the 07:00 setup slot.
A dedicated team unpacked the sixteen octa-fabric boards from their two exhibition flight cases and built each freestanding board in place throughout the Dorchester Library, completing the full installation before the 08:30 conference opening.
Once built and positioned, the installation was handed over to the Healthcare Infection Society team for the duration of the two-day conference. Delegates presenting their research mounted their posters directly to the octa-fabric surfaces.
LED video walls and IMAG screens at the WICE Awards 2024 with category branding on stage.
SET-AND-LEAVE DRY HIRE WITH SAME-DAY DERIG AND COLLECTION AT THE 16:15 CLOSE
At 16:15, at the close of the conference on Wednesday 24 June, our breakdown team returned to the Royal College of Physicians for the derig and collection, working within the same day.
The sixteen octa-fabric boards, panels, poles and feet were disassembled from their standing positions in the Dorchester Library and returned to their two exhibition flight cases, ready for van collection back to our warehouse the same evening.
Because the delivery was structured as a dry hire without an on-site technician for the duration of the conference, the HIS team ran the poster session across the two days without needing to coordinate with an on-site EMS Events team, freeing them to focus on the delegates and the conference schedule.
Intelligent stage lighting and warm LED backdrop during a performance set, with the WICE-branded podium in view.
THE PRODUCTION DAYS, FROM 07:00 INSTALL ON 23 JUNE TO 16:15 COLLECTION ON 24 JUNE
The exhibition delivery was staged around the Healthcare Infection Society’s confirmed two-day conference schedule, with same-morning delivery and installation ahead of the opening, and same-day derig and collection at the close.
PRE-PRODUCTION
Planning covered the sixteen-board specification for the poster session, freestanding assembly configuration for the Grade I listed library space, flightcase packing, and van scheduling to the Royal College of Physicians for the 07:00 install slot.
DELIVERY AND INSTALL ON 23 JUNE
The van delivery to the Royal College of Physicians arrived for the 07:00 slot. The setup team unpacked the two exhibition flight cases and built the sixteen freestanding octa-fabric boards across the Dorchester Library before the 08:30 conference opening.
TWO-DAY CONFERENCE
The Healthcare Infection Society ran the poster session across both days with the display boards in set-and-leave mode. Delegates mounted their research posters directly onto the octa-fabric surfaces without any ongoing involvement from EMS Events.
DERIG AND COLLECTION 24 JUNE
At the 16:15 conference close, the breakdown team returned to derig the sixteen boards, repack them into the two exhibition flight cases, and collect the full delivery for return to the EMS Events warehouse in the same transit-insured van.
Client Feedback
Really pleased with how the poster session came together. The boards were up and ready in good time. Easy from start to finish. Already thinking about them for next year's conference.
HOW THE POSTER SESSION WAS SUPPORTED
The exhibition delivery supported the full two-day scientific poster session at the Royal College of Physicians, from initial delivery on the morning of 23 June through to derig and collection following the 16:15 close on 24 June.
Sixteen octa-fabric display boards, providing 32 square metres of total poster display surface, were installed freestanding throughout the Dorchester Library on the venue’s first floor. Each board sat on its own panel, poles and feet, without any fixings to the venue’s Grade I listed interior.
Across the two days, delegates presenting their research mounted their posters directly to the octa-fabric surfaces, with the boards remaining stable and the mounted posters staying in place without adjustment or intervention.
The dry-hire delivery model, with no on-site presence during the conference, meant the Healthcare Infection Society team ran the poster session directly with their delegates, focused on the conference schedule and the research content rather than on coordinating with a supplier.
By supplying a compact professional exhibition infrastructure with end-to-end logistics from delivery through to same-day collection, EMS Events gave the Healthcare Infection Society a self-contained poster session setup that fit the venue and the conference format cleanly.
The LED video wall gave the stage a strong visual focus and helped display branding, finalist content and winner reveals clearly. The lighting design added atmosphere while keeping the stage suitable for speeches, photographs and live moments. The PA system and microphones ensured the audience could hear hosts, presenters, award recipients and performers clearly throughout the night.
With EMS Events managing the production under one coordinated plan, the event avoided the complexity of working with separate suppliers for sound, lighting, screens and playback. This helped create a smoother delivery process and a more consistent experience for the client, guests and speakers.
NEED POSTER DISPLAY BOARDS OR EXHIBITION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A CONFERENCE, SYMPOSIUM OR SOCIETY MEETING IN LONDON?
EMS Events supplies exhibition and poster display infrastructure for scientific conferences, medical symposiums, learned society meetings, corporate exhibitions and cultural events at London venues. From compact freestanding octa-fabric board setups through to larger custom-built exhibition environments, and from dry-hire delivery and derig through to fully managed installations, EMS Events tailors delivery to the format and the venue.