A journalism convention this week featuring Hillary Clinton included nearly a dozen instances of attendees clapping and cheering the Democratic presidential candidate.

The applause and hollering came even as the event's organizers and the Clinton campaign characterized her appearance at the convention as a "press conference."

Clinton spoke Friday afternoon at the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in downtown Washington, D.C. Her prepared remarks, and her answers during a Q&A session that followed, received a warm welcome from an audience comprised mostly of African-American and Hispanic journalists

Though not all of the clapping and cheering was directed at Clinton, as convention-goers also directed their appreciation towards guests in the audience and at mentions of others in media and politics, the former secretary of state was nevertheless the chief recipient of the audience's approval.

Following her speech, Clinton participated in a Q&A with five pre-selected journalists.

Two journalists who asked Clinton questions, NBC News' Kristen Welker and Telemundo's Lori Montenegro, also doubled as moderators for the Q&A session. Additional questions came from three journalists in the audience.

The event's organizers and Clinton's campaign team maintain that the Q&A portion of the candidate's appearance at the journalism convention constituted a "press conference."

That means, then, that the Democratic presidential candidate held a "press conference" in a room filled with people who just moments earlier were cheering and applauding her vision for the White House.

NABJ President Sarah Glover said Friday that Clinton's appearance marked the "largest press conference with any presidential candidate before a room filled with journalists of color."

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon defended this characterization Friday, and criticized journalists who said otherwise.

"Pretty sure she is standing at a podium taking questions on a broad range of topics from national print and TV reporters," he said on social media. "The fact that journalists themselves disagree about what counts as a press [conference] suggests the inanity of this debate."

NAHJ president Mekahlo Medina told the Huffington Post Friday afternoon that Clinton's Q&A with pre-selected journalists was indeed a "press event."

"What happened today is Hillary Clinton took questions from members of the media. I don't know if people want to call that a press conference or not, but that's what happened," he said.

"I've been a journalist for a long time," he added. "Anytime there's somebody who takes questions from the press at a large event, that constituted a press conference."

The Huffington Post also noted the Q&A moderators were selected before the event due to their familiarity with the Clinton campaign.

"The other journalists were part of a 10-person preliminary panel discussion at the joint conference," the report added.