Note that the host in either format has ultimate control over the virtual event and can grant and restrict permissions beyond what is stated in the general reasons below. Nonetheless, here are some common reasons for choosing each one. Zoom meetings and webinars are similar enough to each other that most virtual events at Whitman can be run using either format. Live Streaming is available to reach a larger, yet strictly passive audience.Ī table and comparing Zoom meetings and webinars is available on the Zoom support website: Meeting and webinar comparison. Webinars have a maximum attendance of 1000 participants. Breakout rooms are NOT available in Zoom webinars. The host can, however, prompt individual attendees to unmute their microphone and thereby grant them access to be heard during the event (usually to ask a question). Webinar participants/attendees cannot share their video or be seen in Gallery view. Polling, Q&A and chat can be used to solicit attendee responses. Zoom webinar : A three-tiered virtual event held on the Zoom platform wherein one person is the host, a set of panelists are presenters, and all other participants (attendees) are mostly passively witnessing the event. Live Streaming can be used to reach an even larger, yet strictly passive audience. A large meeting option for up to 500 participants is also available. Although a meeting should have a minimum of two participants (one host and one participant), it can accommodate up to 300 participants. Breakout rooms, polling and chat are modalities available in Zoom meetings.

Zoom meeting : A two-tiered virtual gathering held on the Zoom platform wherein one person is the host and all participants have two-way audio/video communication and the ability to screen share. A webinar host can solicit and manage some audience interaction through polling, text questions and answers, and they can grant individual audience members audio access to ask questions.

A Zoom webinar is more structured and controlled, like a concert, where only the panelists have access to the “stage.' The audience is not visible in a webinar and they passively watch and listen. The following analogy may be helpful, a more detailed explanation is below.īasically, a Zoom meeting is akin to a “campfire ch at” where everyone sitting around the fire is free to be seen, heard and share content- without much intervention from the host. If you are wondering if your next virtual event should be a Zoom webinar or a Zoom meeting, then this article may help you decide.

Free zoom webinar