QR Code on Conference Posters

I found a really nice tip on Postersession.com's blog about putting QR codes in your research posters (via @gw_dailyscan). QR codes, short for quick response, is a two-dimensional bar code that can be read by most smartphones with a camera. The idea is that you can generate a QR code that links to a PDF of the poster, or to your own personal website or bio, eliminating the need for handouts or business cards, and put this in a prominent spot in your poster:

Generating a QR code is easy using Google's URL shortener and a simple URL hack.

1. First, copy the URL of the website you'd like to generate a QR code for. Head over to goo.gl, and paste in the URL. 
2. You'll get a shortened URL that will redirect to the URL that you pasted, something that looks like this: http://goo.gl/4Yvle. 
3. Now, copy that short URL, and add ".qr" to the end, and enter that in your address bar: http://goo.gl/4Yvle.qr. That will give you an image that you can copy and paste into your poster. 

You can also get statistics on how many people have scanned that QR code and visited your site by adding a "+" to the end of the shortened URL:  http://goo.gl/4Yvle+.