Small planetaria address their audience in a somewhat different way than large facilities with hundreds of visitors. The latter ones are forced to provide elementary content to a mixed public with people having different ages and different levels of astronomical knowledge. Visualisation comes at the expense of firm education. This is where smaller planetariums can play to their strength: They deal with rather homogeneous groups and, in addition, the shows are usually live sessions. Both factors support a more efficient didactics. For example, an already known item may be shown in a different perspective. Acquired knowledge will be longer kept when visual distraction is less. The higher requirements to presenter's skills make it worthwhile transmitting the interest in science.

Another difference to the large planetarium is the more isolated work of the educator. When a personal style of presentation is found, there is a danger of repeating the same content much too often without significant changes. One gets used to the same sequences and perhaps vocabulary. Therefore, the conferences of small planetariums focus on the gaining of new inspiration, in contrast to the conferences of large planetariums that prefer to test the latest technological developments. In the recent years, teachers recognised the importance of the pedagogical exchange, so, these special meetings became more frequent. The current president of the IPS, Susan Button, promotes this section, too. In Europe, inflatable planetariums are very common in Britain.

European Meetings of Small and Portable Planetaria: