The best replacement for conference is convention.

The best alternatives to conference are rated as following:
★★★★★  convention
★★★★  seminar
★★★  symposium
★★★  meeting
★★  conference
★★  journal
★  workshop
★  western conference
★  eastern conference
★  journal paper
★  summit
★  congress
★  committee meeting
★  trade show
  symposium difference
  joint committee
  mid continent conference
  lecture
  forum
  preliminary hearing

Your alternative for conference is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about conference, one probably shouldn't forget about most final four appearances.

Other search terms related to conference and their ratings are:
★★★★★ most final four appearances
★★★★ most teams in sweet 16
★★★ most teams in tournament
★★ most teams in ncaa tournament
most ncaa basketball titles
obama
You have in mind a companion for conference and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of conference in all years. Click on graph for more.
conference
convention
seminar