Forum and Gabfest

Forum noun - A meeting featuring a group discussion.

Gabfest and forum are semantically related In some cases you can use "Gabfest" instead a noun "Forum".

Gabfest noun - Friendly, informal conversation or an instance of this.

Forum and gabfest are semantically related in convention topic. Sometimes you can use "Forum" instead a noun "Gabfest", if it concerns topics such as conference.