Keys to organize professional meetings

As science and technological innovation develop, the demand for scientific events that allow the sharing of knowledge on a global scale will increase.

The scientific event is part of a process that begins in the organization of research, goes through a scientific production, and continues with a publication process. Given that it is presented as a way of introducing results into social practice, it requires a strategic knowledge management model adapted to the characteristics of the research topic.

Different types of meetings have been held with the aim of publicizing new hypotheses under study, socializing investigations or explorations, exchanging experiences, informing conclusions and getting others interested and involved in various investigations.

These types of events are constituted as great spaces for debate and reflection of new ideas and opinions, since they allow the participation of professionals interested in training, forming new work teams and generating joint projects.

Currently, these news are spread around the world through internet. Indeed, the discoveries make sense, precisely thanks to their wide-spread publications, becoming beneficial contributions at a global level.

Below you will find the main types of meetings aimed at disseminating knowledge from the scientific-technical field:

DISSERTATION

Methodical exhibition of a research work, being of an academic nature, to carried out by the exhibitor and that implies the defense of one thesis or the refutation of another. It is aimed towards a peer audience.

COURSE

Set of pedagogical sessions aimed at developing various topics on a specific subject, during a specific period, which is structured around defined or implicit teaching-learning objectives.

To carry this out, support materials can be used, including evaluations and require a minimum amount of assistance.

The purpose of the course is to broaden the general, professional or academic training of the target audience; therefore, it can consist of several levels of depth or complexity.

SEMINAR

Academic activities of a theoretical nature that is carried out through collective work sessions of a group of specialists to study, analyze or enrich a previously determined topic. It is programmed and directed by an academic expert in the field, has a defined minimum amount of sessions and concludes with the preparation of a final report presented by a rapporteur.

The participants of the event share a common interest in the discussed subject and usually have a similar level of knowledge.

It can last from a few hours to several days, as scheduled by the organizing committee.

WORKSHOPS

When seminars have many participants, they are usually divided into working groups of up to approximately 15 participants and are called workshops or working groups.

Each group carries out a practical activity jointly guided by competent specialists that will then be shared in a collective session, when each group has reached its conclusions.

It is common to designate a coordinator for each working group who should facilitate the interactions of the participants while at the same time record the discussed topics and conclusions.

The purpose of this type of meeting is to study or seek solutions to specific problems in the respective area and to enable the exchange of experiences through work in smaller groups.

CONFERENCE

It is an exposition on a doctrinal or specific topic that has a certain degree of complexity and depth. It is aimed at an audience that has previous knowledge in the subject and its objective is the cultural diffusion in certain areas or the deepening of specialized subjects.

This event brings together representatives of different organizations, countries or regions and in many cases deals with political or diplomatic issues from different countries or regions.

It is organized by a host country, and in certain international organizations, which work with a secretary who determines the venue where the event will take place.

COLLOQUIUM

Meeting of specialists in which there is neither an audience nor a central speaker. All attendees have the same right to participate in a common project, on a topic of their interest.

PANEL

A form of presenting a topic in front of an audience by a team of various specialists, who approach it from different angles, in order to provide extensive information about it. Once the subject is exposed, the public participates by asking questions, presenting ideas or experiences that clarify points of view, without debating. If the debate moves to the auditorium after the presentations, the panel becomes a forum.

FORUM

An encounter in which one or more specialists present before a heterogeneous public a previously determined topic, generally controversial, followed by a discussion in which the attending public participates.

ROUND TABLE

Meeting in which a small group of people specializing in a topic, generally controversial, participate on equal terms and under the direction of a moderator, presenting their points of view to a heterogeneous audience. Its purpose is to present different approaches to the same problem.

Sometimes, after initial presentations, it concludes with a debate between the speakers and a brief closing by the participants and the moderator.

MEETING

Formal meeting of specialists, in which one or more speakers address issues inherent to their area, with the purpose of knowing and exchanging work and experiences carried out in their respective disciplinary fields.

CONGRESS

The word congress is originally from the Latin congressus, and means encounter, meeting, and also agreement.

It refers to the gathering of people who belong to a specific group (political, professional, social or economic) to present a thesis, research or unpublished experiences in order to submit them to the critical judgment of the participants, in a previously determined time.

The congress is generally made up of a set of work sessions on a specific topic that takes place over a period of 3 and 5 days, and is attended by invited specialists, speakers and the public.

These meetings are usually national or international, according to the origin of the participants. For a congress to be considered international, it must have at least participants from 3 countries and have an official language for simultaneous interpretation of the sessions.

The protocol structure of a congress is made up of an opening and closing act, specific acts throughout the development such as meetings or work sessions, receptions, lunches, etc. that are part of the social program.

Generally, at the end of the congress, a report is prepared, which constitutes the scope of the meeting, the resolutions adopted and the formulation of plans that make up a social work program.

SYMPOSIUM

It consists of bringing together a group of specialists or experts on a topic, who successively present their ideas or knowledge to the audience, thus forming the most complete image possible of the topic in question.

It is a formal technique in which specialists expose an aspect of the topic individually and successively, for 15 to 20 minutes. The important thing is that each speaker treats a particular aspect of the topic, in such a way that, at the end of it, it is fully developed and in as much depth as possible.

Authorized and organized information is obtained at the symposium on the different aspects of the same topic, since the exhibitors do not defend positions, but rather add information by contributing their own knowledge of their specialty.

Symposia are usually held in institutions, universities, health centers, and are sometimes a specific activity within the framework of the development of a congress.

WORKING DAY

The event that lasts only one day is called a working day or if each day of the event corresponds to the handling of a different topic, although framed within a general theme.

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

Carl Sagan

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DanielaSánchezSilva©