This question, has in recent times been coming up a lot, thus we have decided to provide a succinct explanation in order to make clear the differences between a conference and a trade show.

A trade show is an exhibition for companies in a specific market to showcase and demonstrate their latest offerings. Most of the times, trade shows are open to the public, but gather mainly interest from market participants, namely people and businesses active in the specific market.

Conferences, on the other hand, are meetings of many people, generally to discuss about ideas or problems related to a particular topic. Often they are focused on ideas or developments related to a particular topic.

At times, trade shows and conferences can happen simultaneously and are combined under the same exhibition floor.