The "Messenger" -- located at the bottom right corner of each Online Conference Community Area page -- allows you to chat one-on-one with any other conference participant who is on the Conference site at the same as you. You may use the Messenger to chat with participants you already know, or get acquainted with new colleagues. You always have the option of turning off the Messenger, or changing your "status" to let people know you are unavailable at the moment (see "My status" pulldown menu in the Messenger itself).