This article explains the differences between Zoom meetings and webinars and recommendations on when to use either platform. For a detailed comparison please review the Zoom support article Meeting and webinar comparison.
Zoom Meeting
Zoom meetings are ideal for hosting collaborative, interactive sessions where participants are able to turn on their video and audio and engage in the meeting. Zoom meetings also offer the ability to break into smaller groups using the breakout room feature. Zoom meetings can also be used for less interactive sessions and more information sharing, especially when the audience is internal. The facilitator can ask participants to turn off their video and audio at the start of the meeting and request that Q&A be handled through the chat by putting a Q: in front of their question to help differentiate between comments and questions.
It is recommended that large department meetings, large groups or organizations, and trainings be held in the Zoom meeting format or through Microsoft Teams. See the related IT knowledge base article Large Zoom Meeting Recommendations for additional guidance.
All Ithaca College faculty, staff, and students have access to a standard Zoom license that can host up to 300 participants. There are a number of 500-person Zoom meeting licenses available upon request.
Zoom Webinars
Zoom webinars are ideal for large audiences and events that are open to a broad group of attendees. Zoom webinars are more event-based and information sharing with less attendee participation. Participants are divided into panelists and attendees, with only panelists having the ability to appear on-screen or share media. Attendees are typically viewing only and can only interact via the Q&A, Chat, or Polling features.
Ithaca College has a limited number of webinar licenses for the campus with one license that can hold up to 1,000 participants. Requests for webinars are handled on a case by case basis. Conference and Event Services (CES) and a small number of areas have a designated webinar license for their area.
For event or large forum requests using the Zoom webinar format, and where the attendee count is anticipated to be between 500 - 1,000 attendees, please contact Conference and Event Services through the CES Virtual Events Request or at ces@ithaca.edu. Webinars are more complex and require advanced planning, therefore requests for webinars should be made with as much advanced notice as possible with a minimum of 10 business days lead time. For all other inquiries regarding webinars, please submit an IT Service Request here.