Partner greeting king in conference (7)
I believe the answer is:
palaver
'conference' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'partner greeting king' is the wordplay.
'partner' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'greeting' becomes 'ave' (Latin greeting).
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'pal'+'ave'+'r'='PALAVER'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for palaver that I've seen before include "idle conversation" , "Commotion" , "Time-consuming business" , "Powwow - a lot of fuss" , "Song and dance" .)