An article in yesterday's New York Times on the relationship between web conferencing and business travel noted that web conferencing has yet to diminish the need for business travel. Indeed,
there is a countertheory that air travel, Web communications and phone calls drive one another. “As technology has advanced, it increases the need for face-to-face travel,” said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, a group that advocates lower fares and better conditions for passengers. “In 1990, you and I might have managed 100 relationships, and that was a lot,” he said. “Now with e-mail and instant messaging, you and I may manage 1,000.”

This tidbit reinforces the view that online community-building can't happen independent of face-to-face interaction. It's why the easiest recipe for a successful online community is one that is grounded in offline relationships: the trust that people develop in real-world interactions is a great resource for building trust and interaction online.