IRC is definetly a better option and I'd argue the smartest, but .. people don't really know IRC anymore. Some have a hard time getting on and they don't know you're supposed to just hang around for days until a discussion finally takes place.
When the channel was running, people kept joining to check if there was activity, then disconnected again. I mean, that's just newb style IRCing if I ever saw it. How are discussions going to take place if the days' 20 joins/quits all happen at different times?
Of course the channel is dead now, but if someone else wants to have a go - shoot. I can provide bots and the occasional company.