Conference and Seminar is two different terms for a large gathering of people. Both Conference and Seminar are held for the convenience of sharing a mutual interest among the partakers.
Conference vs Seminar
The main difference between a Conference and Seminar is that a conference is a consultative forum, people gather to discuss issues of mutual interest and try to find a solution to those issues and a seminar is an academic forum that helps the students in gaining knowledge and guiding them in their subject matters.
A Conference is a formal congregation where people talk about specific topics. In a conference, people exchange visionary ideas and modern information.
A Seminar is an academic congregation, where attendees are bestowed with knowledge, guidance or training with respect to the specific subject matter. There could be several goals or just one behind a seminar.
Comparison Table Between Conference and Seminar (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | Conference | Seminar |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | A huge formal congregation or consultative meeting. | An institutional event or academic meeting. |
| Session | It is consultative. | It is interactive. |
| Objective | To obtain opinion or conclusion for an issue. | To educate the participants, to communicate and mentor. |
| Time | Several days | Few hours |
| Audience | Exclusive participants | Active participants |
| Type of work | Demonstration and exchange perspectives. | Demonstration of subject matter and conversation takes place. |
What is Conference?
The conference can be defined as a huge congregation or formal meeting of people at a specific place and communicate on a particular topic of mutual interest. New productive ideas and information are communicated among the experts in a conference.
In most conference, one or additional eminent speakers provide some keynote speech. These are very familiar with the academic and business conference. The speaker is a distinguished personality whose existence in the conference captivates more participants.
The conference is organized meeting held for consultative and exchange of information, which has a specific agenda to administer. The conference draws those people together who share a mutual interest in the topic which is going to be discussed.
It is a form of the participatory congregation, organized to discuss a matter, find out evidence or figure out a problem in hand. The conference usually prolongs for a few days.
Purpose of the conference:
- An academic conference is a congregation of students and academicians who demonstrate their subject matter and impart knowledge, skills and discuss on the subject.
- A business conference is held when a company or industry holds a congregation for the people working in the company to discuss new ideas.
- A trade conference is carried out on a larger scale. Besides businessmen, the public who come to the system of vendor and made new connections also takes part in this kind of conference.
- An unconference varies from the formal conference. In this conference participants gather and decides the agenda, time and venues. They chose the topic of their own interest.
Various types of conferences are:
- Symposium: It is a congregation organized for the purpose of presenting papers, discussing issues on a certain course of action by some experts.
- Seminar: A specific topic or subject matter is discussed. It is an academic meeting and its purpose is to give modern skills and knowledge at the end.
- Workshop: It is a small gathering of people where theoretical discussion and practical works or demonstration takes place.
What is Seminar?
The seminar is an academic forum held either at an academic institution or proposed by a commercial or skilled organization. It basically has the purpose of generating a small group of gathering on recurring discussions, pointing each time on some specific contents, in which everyone present is asked to participate, involve in conversations about the related matter.
The sessions in a seminar usually preside by one or additional presenters who assist to navigate the discussion along with the desired direction.
A seminar may be for the motive of instruction, such as speech, where the participants committed in the discussion of academic topics for the goal of attaining a better understanding of the topic. The academic seminar might be held to impart some mastery and conception to the participants.
Purpose of the seminar:
- A seminar is held to motivate people, in which the aim is usually to encourage the participants to become a better individual or to work towards carrying out the talents they might have acquired from the seminar. Seminar occurrences are usually more educational and mostly geared towards academic issues featuring one or additional professionals on the subject matter.
- Seminar encourages participants to take an active role in the discussion, ask questions and express their opinions.
- Seminar delivers the platform to share, explore ideas and give confidence to the participants.
Types of the seminar:
- Mini seminar: Its content and scope are minor and reasonable. An elegant amount of participants takes part in the seminar. Mini seminar motivates the students on questioning technique, organizing the information and demonstration skills of seminars.
- Major seminar: The seminar executed at an institutional level for a specific subject is known as a major seminar.
- National seminar: An organization of any kind, especially with an academic interest or an institution, conducts the seminar at the National level is called National seminar.
- International seminar: Seminar performed by an international institution or medium is known as an International seminar.
A book can have many categories under it, and they range from textbooks to fiction and nonfiction, and even instruction manuals and guidebooks.
Conclusion
Both the conference and seminar holds a group of people who meet at a specific place and discuss their works and exchange information. Both, the conference and seminar is a platform where an expert delivers a speech to help the attendees to gain extra knowledge and widen their knowledge on the subject matter. Demonstration of work and discussion is the major function in the seminar.
The demonstration, exchange of ideas and solving a question is the major function in the conference.
References
- https://evenues.com/event-planning-guide/what-is-a-seminar
- https://evenues.com/event-planning-guide/what-is-a-conference