Virtual Conferences

The final category, and one that is increasing in attractiveness to business as travel expenses increase, is the virtual conference. The ubiquity of the Internet and particularly broadband, with its cheap fast connections, has allowed Internet conferences to be arranged with people all over the world. Audio conferences are easier and cheaper as the bandwidth requirements are lower than video.

There are also drop-in video-conferencing suites in most major towns and cities of the world where there will be equipment more suited to sharing diagrams and whiteboards (electronically) than sitting at a desk at work with a web cam.

Web Conferences Meetings, presentations and collaborations are all different types of web conferences in popular use today. Web conferences are flexible and answer different needs within the business and other communities. The power of a communication tool lies in the ability of it to partner, disseminate and share information.

Meetimg The first, a meeting, is most closely associated with web conferences. The meeting format allows information to flow back and forth. Presenters are able to deliver their information and the recipients respond or ask questions. The web meeting in this case allows for interactive possibilities depending upon what has been preset. These possibilities include but are not limited to document sharing, real audio, whiteboards and much more.

There is another type of meeting that uses only the presenter side of the equation without the Q and A or response. This type of presentation is much like a video viewed on a television, the audience is there to read the presenters information and there is no opportunity for reciprocal communication.

Presentation

Another popular form of web conference is the presentation. This is the format most often used when celebrities, instructors or others 'visit' with their audience. The communication is controlled because content can be presented via slide shows, chat, streaming audio or video. The audience is usually logged in, assigned a 'row' or a 'channel' - the equivalent of assigned seating in a theater - and must communicate with a moderator to ask any questions of the presenter. This format is popular because there can be interaction without degenerating into chaos. The moderator's job is to do exactly that - moderate the information linking the audience to the presenter. The presenter can choose to answer some questions and in most cases will directly address the user who asked the question though all present will be able to read it. It's also worth mentioning that in these types of conferences, the audience can usually only communicate with the moderator and others in their 'row.' Because conferences of this type can have ten thousand people potentially, there is no violent scrolling of hundreds of conversations, but rather a 'murmur' of the people assigned closest to you.

Collaboration Collaboration is a format that offers real-time viewing and modification of shared documents and files through the Internet. No special software is required for any number of users to view a shared document. Collaboration answers the need for teams in different locations to be able to work together simultaneously on a shared document. Other practical applications include training, teaching and researching. This format may be used in conjunction with conferences, but less likely to be used in the presentation unless it was a class on how to write a business letter, for example. In that case, a presenter could discuss things in the conference while showing the actual 'work' on the shared document.

Types of conferences

Academic conference

Academic conference, in science and academia, a formal event where researchers present results, workshops, and other activities.

Business conference

Business conference, organized to discuss business-related matters best effected there.

News conference

News conference, an announcement to the press (print, radio, television) with the expectation of questions, about the announced matter, following.

Settlement conference

Settlement conference, a meeting between the plaintiff and the respondent in lawsuit, wherein they try to settle their dispute without proceeding to trial

Conference call

Conference call, in telecommunications, a "multi-party call"

Parent-teacher conference

Parent-teacher conference, a meeting with a child's teacher to discuss grades and school performance.

Conference classification

Colloquium

Congress

Convention (meeting)

Seminar

Symposium

Poster session

Plenary session

Professional conference

Abstract management

Conference equipment

lectern - a sloping table used for holding a book, or lecture notes, when speaking to an audience or reading aloud;

photocopier - a machine which makes photographic copies of any drawn or printed page;

tape recorder - a machine which records sounds, speech or music, and allows these sounds to be played back to a listener;

word processor - a machine like a typewriter which lets you see what you write on a kind of TV screen;

slide projector - a machine for passing light through a piece of film in order to show a still (unmoving) picture on a screen;

film projector - a machine for passing light through moving film in order to show moving pictures on a screen;

video recorder – an electronic device which records moving scenes or pictures and allows them to be played back on a TV screen;

closed circuit TV - a television system which sends pictures by wire to a particular audience in a particular place;

projection screen - a piece of white cloth, plastic, etc. on which pictures can be shown;

overhead projector - a machine which shows on a screen words or diagrams written on a piece of clear film;

flip-chart - a kind of book with large pages (suitable for drawing diagrams), which can be turned over when a new, blank page is required;

whiteboard - a smooth white surface on which words can be written with a special pen;

gavel - a small hammer which a person in charge of a meeting uses, knocking it against the table in order to get attention