A record-breaking 207 posters - representing the very best of every Division and Interest Group - were exhibited as part of the Sunday, 29 May Plenary Interactive Poster Session of the 2011 ICA Conference in Boston. This year's judges for the Top Poster Awards were ICA Past Presidents Barbie Zelizer (U of Pennsylvania) Patrice Buzzanell (Purdue U), and ICA President-Elect Cynthia Stohl (U of California - Santa Barbara).

Following is an explanation of the judges' ranking process:

First, they obtained the respective divisions' rankings of each paper to be exhibited in the interactive paper session. Zelizer, Buzzanell, Stohl then read the top-ranked papers in every division. They ranked each paper using three standard rating dimensions (on a 1-10 scale): significance (30%), concepts and theory (30%), and analysis (20%), and entered the values into a spreadsheet program. A fourth dimension, presentation and style (20%), was also entered, but left blank until the actual presentation during the plenary session.

When averaged, the judges' ratings on the first three dimensions, produced 10 top papers, to which "Top Poster" certificates were attached at the poster session held on Sunday, 25 June. It was at that time that Zelizer, Buzzanell, and Stohl filled in the "Presentation and Style" rating dimension for the top 10 papers, after visiting and closely viewing each of them. Once they had finished, the judges entered their ratings into the spreadsheet that contained the rankings of the posters and recalculated the overall scores.

ICA President Francois Cooren announced the winners near the end of the session:

1ST PLACE ($500):
Tuned to the Nation's Mood: Popular Music as a Mnemonic Cultural Object
Motti Neiger, Netanya Academic College, ISRAEL
Oren Meyers, U of Haifa, ISRAEL
Eyal Zandberg, Netanya Academic College, ISRAEL

2ND PLACE ($250):
Shifts in Political Parties' Issue Positions: Win-Stay-Lose-Shift, Satisficing, and Political Network Effects
Jan Kleinnijenhuis, Vrije U - Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Woute van Atteveldt, Vrije U - Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Janet Takens, Vrije U - Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Anita M.J. van Hoof, Vrije U - Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

3RD PLACE ($100):
Setting the Collective Memory: Empirical Analysis of Mainstream Media's Influence on Collective Memory in Israel
Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, U of Southern California, USA

In addition, the judges also gave an award for the Best Visual Display, designed to look at all of the posters in the Interactive Poster session with regard to aesthetic appeal and display of research. The criteria for this award included clarity, flow between sections, relationship of text to image, and visual appeal. The recipient of this award receives $100.

BEST VISUAL DISPLAY ($100):
The Opiate of the Oppressed: Social Comparison Theory and the Themes of Noncelebrity Gossip Websites
Matthew Telleen, U of South Carolina, USA

The International Communication Association congratulates all presenters at the poster session, as well as all of the award winners.