The difference between these three are best understood by understanding the various sessions that we offer overall.



  • Webinar:  Zoom Webinar mode provides restricted interaction.  Participants have no audio or video control and are unseen by the rest of the audience.  Only those designated as Panelists by the Host may be seen and heard.  Participants communicate through messaging in the Chat and Q&A windows unless the Host requests they unmute.  Private chats between participants is disable.  If there is a Q&A time at the end, it may involve a limited amount of additional interaction, but still primarily the presenter(s).  Webinar mode reduces the number of video streams.  It may be useful where the audience has limited internet connectivity. 

  • Meeting:  Zoom Meeting mode provides greater interaction.  Participants see all meeting attendees and normally have full control of both mic and video.  The Chat feature is enabled and private messages may be sent to any attendee.  The Participant list feature is enabled for everyone.  Meeting mode requires more connection bandwidth than Webinar mode depending on the number of attendees who have their cameras unmuted.  Most EMDC events are setup in Meeting mode to encourage participation and allow for networking to occur in the audience.

  • Workshop: One or more presenters, but there is intentional interaction with the participants. There may even be breakout sessions where the participants will break into small groups. The high levels of interaction do not turn this into an interactive experience. This uses Zoom meeting mode, not Webinar mode so that all participants appear on the screen.

  • Interactive Experience: This is a workshop with added element of interactive screens, breaking into table groups, and the use of some additional software features. These are all designed to enhance the user experience. Available late 2020 or early 2021.

  • Course or Training Track Series: These are multi-session, sequential classes. Attendance at all sessions in the series is expected. They can have varying degrees of hands-on, practical lessons (labs) and experiences. A size limit is set and attendees must be approved for attendance by a class moderator (instructor or staff). An optional application process can be implemented to assist in the decision making process.

  • Ongoing Continuing Series: A series of presentations with a common theme that regularly occur. An example of this are "Minute at the Mic" or "Community of Practice." There are each "one-off" sessions in that attendance at a previous session is not a prerequisite for attending. There can be as few as three in the series or indefinite. The administrative protocols regarding hosts will be the same as a regular Webinar or workshop. This also will be 'archived' in the normal manner.

  • Ongoing Continuing Meeting: This is similar to an ongoing series but the difference is that all administrative hosting is handled by the meeting organizers. Recordings are NOT archived.

  • Podinar: A unique format that is a combination webinar and podcast (e.g. guest interview with an interactive audience).

  • General or Public Class: This is the same format as a Webinar, Workshop or Podinar — but the big difference is a person does "not" need to be enrolled in order to participate. This is kind of viewed as a "sample" class where the attendee can come and audit. It is expected that there will be a big push by the session host to encourage enrollment. Announcements are made so that attendees are aware that the level of security at this session may not be as high as our other session.