Those of you who want to have your own private chat room, a suggestion:

Vote on whether you'd like to use MSN Instant Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger as your chat program. Open up your accounts. Make a private room called "Ambergris Chat Room" or similar. Don't worry about imposters trying to come into the room...even if someone like that gets in you can ignore or block them out. Do bear in mind, though, that geniune members of the chat room ought to be allowed to vent steam, argue and be genrally up front with their opinions...only block out a member if he/she becomes out of controllably abusive/insulting.

n.b. I'd opt for the Yahoo! software. My vote goes there.