Most JW's have heard the title, "Watchtower Bible and Tract Society" many more times than they could possibly count.
I suspect that very few actually understand the significance of this term as it relates to their organization. They really did start out as a Society rather than a Religion. --that is to say, a largely non-denominational, loose-knit, democratic society of Bible students.
Even though the JW's today are more properly described as a Religion rather than a Society, the structure of their meetings still resembles the latter far more than the former.
One of the easiest ways to see this it to simply attend a secular society of some sort. I think you will be struck by the similarities. In the U.S., The National Geographic Society and The National Audubon Society are two well known societies, but every city has societies organized around particular interests. From badminton societies to lichen societies, you can pretty much name your topic and find a society dedicated to it.
Let's just take one at random, a local gardening society:
Meetings last two hours with a fifteen minute intermission
First half is a one hour public discourse given by a either a guest speaker or senior local member
Second half is a general meeting consisting of an accounts report, announcements and local business.
The similarities between the JW public talk and service meeting are immediately obvious just from the meeting structure, but they go much deeper than this:
Although the discourse is open to the public, if you don't have a very serious interest in the society's purpose and objectives, it will be more boring than watching paint dry. People visit out of curiosity sometimes, but most don't return
The accounts report typically ends with a mild exhortation to contribute. "Our monthly newsletters are printed with volunteer labor, but paper and ink cost money."
Resolutions are passed and voted on using Robert's rules of order (Or some parody thereof.) Even JW's themselves sometimes wonder why they bother with Robert's rules, since they are unequivocally democratic in nature. --Typical of secular societies, but not commonly associated with religious services.
Members are urged to donate time to "Field work" (i.e. Volunteering at the local botanical garden, arboretum, plant rescues, etc.)
Once a year, local societies meet with the national parent organization for 3 day conventions. This typically involves traveling to a different city, and staying at a particular hotel with a pre-negotiated off-season rate. Conventions consist of day-long lecture programs from a variety of speakers. As with the JW's, this is something that outsiders just don't 'get.' --Why would anybody want to do this?
I've often wondered how JW's could refer to their meetings as 'worship.' If you exclude the song and prayers, they don't seem anything remotely like worship. To me the answer is obviously tied up with their organizational roots as a Society rather than a Religion. JW's in fact used to deny that they were a religion and their meeting structure still reflects that denial to this day.