Today, there are different kinds
of meetings taking place all over the world. The name given to the meeting
depends on the purpose of the meeting. Some call their meeting symposium,
seminar, workshop, while some will say they are holding a summit or a
conference. Like I mentioned earlier, the name depends on the purpose at which
the meeting is organized.
Some meetings look very similar
in their style and content. The style and content mostly depends on the
organizers.
Let’s visualize how a good
conference should be, i.e. talking about its different sessions.
There are basically three kinds
of sessions in a good conference. These are the plenary, round table and
special sessions.
- Plenary session: this session is the first session that takes place daily before any other session. This is because it has to do with the introduction of the theme of the day. It gives a clue of what is expected to be the outcome of every discussion in all other sessions. The speakers are experts and authorities in the subject. The theme of the day is generated from the sub-themes of the overall theme of the conference. The plenary session may be sponsored or otherwise. It all depends on the strength of the organizers.
- Round Table session: this session is mostly sponsored by donor agencies or partners. The speakers are also generated by the sponsors. Discussions in this session is bordered on the successes of the sponsoring organization toward the subject for discussion of the day. The sponsors might decide that the session should be attended based on invitation, so, based on that, the attendant is controlled, having few people. This session can run parallel with other sessions. The round table session is mostly used when organizing a summit since it has to do with success sharing of sponsoring organizations.
- Special session: this session is generated from Abstract papers submitted either by organizations or individuals who have worked or are working in the field of the sub-theme of the day. This session can also be sponsored by interested organizations or partners, but its attendance is not restricted to invitations. The Abstract paper presentation are categorized into two classes. One is oral presentation while the other is poster presentation. The former class only is accepted to make presentation during the special session.
The poster
presentations are made using the creation of posters, which are built using a
given dimension by the conference organizers, to explain what the presentation
is all about. Participants walk round the poster stands while the presenters are
available to explain the presentations.
I wish every
conference organizer success. (e no easy…)
