Howdy Capt Harley. Yes, the IM (instant message) feature is something that I've experimented with previously. In fact, I've had a couple of VCCAers test it with me.
About a year ago, I suspended my evaluations of IM when I was asked to research and suggest a solution for a central membership database. I spent from May 2005 until March 2006 on it. The vendor that my committee recomended was not approved at the annual Board of Directors meeting. Since then we've been awaiting further direction on how to proceed. -- A membership Directory is very key to providing new services since most of them need to have immediate access to the most current list of members in the club.
Lately, I've been working on a "major" upgrade of the chat site (at VCCACHAT.org). I'll be announcing the results of that effort later this year. After reading your posting, I will see if I can add the IM feature into the evaluation.
I agree that it's incredibly cool to be able to "chat" in real time with someone halfway around the world.... but then again, most Ham Radio Operators already know that!!
