A meeting is a gathering of like minded people to discuss topics of concern. 'Conference' has a far broader spectrum of meaning than 'meeting' because it can refer to the meeting of representatives of an organization. In politics a conference is the meeting of two legislative committees; in Christianity it is the area organization of churches, like a regional or national body to which a number of local churches belong; and in sport an association or league of sports teams that compete with each other.

'Meeting' is the more general term and can be used to refer to any situation when people come together either a) for a particular purpose (like a business meeting) or b) just to see and talk to each other (often for the first time) 'They started dating soon after their first meeting.' Meetings can be formal or informal with an agenda or without. A conference is a formal meeting in which many people come together to talk about ideas or problems related to a particular topic often for a number of days.