Visitors to educational environments (museums and zoos) show patterns of movements that often preclude seeing some exhibits. The directions of movement by 102 individuals and 31 groups entering poster sessions at professional meetings, another type of educational environment, were observed. Gender differences, perhaps influenced by the way in which posters were ordered in the rooms, were evident. Patterns of movement were similar to those reported for museum gallery visitors in the session where posters were not arranged in a particular order. Implications of movement patterns for enhanced scientific communication in poster sessions are presented.
