Workshop vs Conference
Workshop and conference are common words that we hear every other day but rarely pay any attention to how these two differ with each other. Though there are many similarities in these two terms, they are different educational settings having different functions and purposes. In general a conference has a wider scope and spectrum than a workshop which is limited to a few participants who come together to enhance their skills in a particular field. This article will attempt to highlight the differences between a workshop and a conference.
Workshop
As the name implies, a workshop is a short term educational training course that is designed to enhance the skills of participants in a particular field or professions where advancements in techniques force people to upgrade their skills. Workshops typically have a small number of participants who come together to benefit from the knowledge from experts. The classes in a workshop tend to be informal and there is less attention on lectures. The experts prefer to demonstrate the new skills rather than giving lectures. There is active participation from attendees and individualized attention is a special feature of workshops. The strength of participants is thus deliberately kept low to enable experts to help all the attendees to gain maximum knowledge in a short duration.
Conference
Conferences are congregations of like minded people in a profession who gather to share their views and opinions on a broader range of subjects. The atmosphere is typically formal and the venue is also different from a workshop. The place chosen for a conference is required to have all audio visual aids as well as accommodation facilities for the participants as conferences can spill over a period of few days as participants come from far off places. In a conference, luminaries on the subject chosen as a topic of discussion are invited and there are various kinds of sessions. Participants are given a chance to share their views and opinions and the focus is more on sharing of knowledge than imparting some skills which is the case in workshops.
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In brief: Workshop vs Conference • Though both workshops and conferences are educational settings, conferences tend to be more formal in nature than workshops. • Workshops are short term training courses where participants come to enhance their skills through an expert who demonstrates new techniques rather than adopting a lecture type of style. • Conferences, on the other hand tend to be congregations of like minded people who come together to discuss a pre defined topic and participants share their views and opinions for the benefit of every one present.
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