Meeting v webinar

Hello, I'm holding a book launch and hoping to have 300 plus people there. There'll be one host, 5 people doing very short readings and an interview with me as the author by my editor. I thought I should do this by webinar (which haven't used before) but I'd like to see familiar faces and gauge people's reactions. Am I right in thinking it won't be possible to see attendees on the webinar? Would a meeting, using the mute function therefore be better?  Thanks very much!