Different professions tend to call their event sessions by different titles even though they’re all talking about the same thing. A client and I were having a conversation recently with another planner and she continued to use an alternative word for “main session” that I was familiar with but others in the meeting were not. For several minutes we had a rousing, confusing conversation until finally someone asked what we were talking about.
Let me explain. When attending a multi-day convention, you will probably sit in on an opening or closing session at the very least. These are sessions when all of the attendees, exhibitors, board members, staff, and anyone else related to the event gather in one large room to hear from a keynote speaker or a performer. There may even be a meal involved. These sessions can be called main, general, plenary, keynote, or congress (although this is not the correct use for this term) sessions.
When attending an event where you break into smaller groups to hear from a speaker in a NON-interactive format, you might attend a breakout session, training session, presentation, or a seminar. If you break into one of these smaller groups for the purpose of intentionally interacting with the speaker, the materials, or other attendees, these could be called workshops, training sessions, or symposiums.
When gathering for the purpose of mingling with others, you might attend a networking event, meetup, social event, function, reception, or a colloquium (this one is more academic in nature). And, when walking around a show floor visiting vendors, you are attending an exhibition, tradeshow, fair, or exposition.
Other and more obscure meetings or events you might find yourself registering for include:
1. Dinners, banquets, or galas (large-scale dinners including entertainment)
2. Board or shareholder meetings
3. Consumer shows (tradeshows open to the general public)
4. Retreats or team-building gatherings
5. Product launches
6. Conclaves (secret or closed-door meetings)
7. Press conferences
8. Green or sustainable meetings (meetings that are environment-friendly)
9. Political events (meetings to raise awareness or funds)
As professional planners, it is our job to know the names of the sessions and the subtle nuanced differences of them all to guide our clients to the most appropriate session to meet their goals and objectives.
Do you have another example of a session name? Share it with us here
or you can email me!
Like this blog and share it with your friends and on social media!
Discover more from Tracy's Tidbits
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.