When learning what is the difference between a boardroom and conference room, it becomes far easier to understand once you appreciate the difference between the words’ board’ and ‘conference’.
Why Do They Call It A Boardroom?
A ‘board’ refers to a group of C-suite senior executives such as the Chairman, Managing Director, Company Secretary and other Directors that a company has appointed to oversee the running and control of the organisation or business.
Elected to represent the shareholder’s interests, this group of people or a ‘board of directors meets regularly in a designated room known as a boardroom as opposed to a regular meeting room.
Here they receive notifications, and all conversations that take place during a company’s board meeting in the boardroom are discussed formally, minuted in writing, and entered into the company records.
What Is A Conference Room For?
A conference room is typically used for “an event” where a larger group of people will be gathering to discuss a particular subject.
For example, it could be a sales conference, company staff meeting, a new product launch and presentation, an educational event or an annual event such as a conference for a political party.
What Makes A Boardroom and A Conference Room Different?
Now that you have a clearer understanding of the literal difference between a boardroom and a conference room, let’s take some time to consider what the difference might be in terms of the room layout and facilities that each room might have to offer.
A Boardroom Layout & Facilities
Usually, a boardroom will be located within the company or organisation’s head office. However, that’s not to say that, on some occasions and for various reasons, companies may hire an offsite board room in another building.
When it comes to the layout of a boardroom, traditionally, the room was incredibly formal and focused very much on the boardroom table, which tended to be a single rectangle table that was large enough to seat all the board members around the outside.
However, over time and to help facilitate discussion among corporate management, boardrooms have become less formal in their styling.
So today, it’s quite common to find a boardroom set out in either Banquet table format, which is a round table with seating around the edge for board members.
Or a ‘U shape’ or ‘horseshoe’ layout, which allows delegates to be seated along two sides and one end; this leaves one end empty but allows those attending the meeting to see any presentations.
The boardroom will also come with state-of-the-art presentation technology, including the latest video conferencing and conference calls equipment so as to allow remote board meetings to take place with outside members and for conducting video conferencing from inside the company’s boardroom.
Is a conference room the same as a meeting room?
Conferences tend to be unique events such as formal or large meetings, attracting a bigger audience.
As a result, conference rooms tend to have a style that is much larger than what you would find in typical company meeting rooms or a huddle room that would be normally used for face-to-face or problem-solving meetings.
Alongside this, conference rooms typically have the flexibility and space to be configured in such a way that it allows participants to easily see and be seen while simultaneously allowing them to communicate and interact effectively.
Furthermore, to ensure a smooth and successful event, a modern, leading-edge conference room facility will come with the very latest in state-of-the-art presentation technology, including the current video conferencing equipment for operating conference videos and an audio-visual set-up with full internet access.
Finding The Perfect Boardroom or Conference Room To Hire
When it comes to finding the perfect boardroom or conference room for your company or business to hire, it makes sense to speak to the professionals like the team at M1 Business Hub.
As one of the leading market providers of affordable professional office services since 2014, M1 Business Hub can help take the hassle out of hiring everything you need for your next board meeting or conference event. For more details, call 07 3387 0111 or email reception@m1businesscentre.com.au.
