simonpedia wrote:
The reason forums have proved so popular over the past few years is not (just) that it enables people to communicate. The rule of thumb is for every conversation there are 10 reading and 100 who use a thread for reference to other conversations.
So if Sandy invites people to participate in a blogging initiative and then, as Cary suggests, forgets, an enthusiastic volunteer isn't left feeling they have been ignored. And if the logs for meetings aren't put up, they aren't left feeling that things have come to a full stop. Fourums work because conversations aren't split into monthly 'directories' and separated lists which together discuss things which give people an overview of what's going on, and discussions which overlap, without requiring editors who must answer FAQ's continually, and readers attempting to understand the recategorization merry-go-round.
There mail readers allowing conversation threading (which has the little problem that you need to have received the emails). There's also gmane, providing a news interface for email lists. Your news client *will* support threading. And as the mails are stored on the servers, you can access to threads no matter how old. Alas, this list is not in gmane (other wiki*edia lists are) but it could be added. Consider if that fills your expectative.
The other stuff, the real time stuff, like IRC has come an aweful long way since IRC. I'll point you at the big daddy - the accessgrid http://www.accessgrid.org/ - which could be used for (as I've suggested) tying together the Alexandrian Wikimania site with the runners up in different countries.
At least it's easy to find out how to entern on an irc channel (you know there're web gateways you could use, do you?). Arriving to that page i don't see what i'm supposed to find nor how to get to it.