The fastest way to discuss Blender development and interact with other members of the community is through Internet Relay Chat. The Blender Foundation maintains an official presence on Freenode, a special network built around peer-directed projects like free and open source software. Many developers, artists, and experienced Blender users hang out in the channels described below:
#blenderchat
Where Blenderheads meet and chat, ask questions, or just have fun!
#blender
For newbie and expert alike, looking for professional advice and chat (any platform or operating system) in a friendly moderated environment.
#blenderQA
Chat free support channel for Blender questions, with a regular attendance of expert users. A great place for that tricky question (replies are often slow, so please be patient).
#gameblender
The place to ask questions about or discuss the Blender game engine. If you want to make a game, this is the place to go. Also be sure to look at the game engine forum on BlenderArtists.org.
#blendercoders
Official Blender development chat room where discussions about the source and weekly meetings are held each Sunday at 14:00 UTC (that's 4 PM local time in Amsterdam). Ok ok here is some help figuring out when it is :)
#blendercompilers
Need help compiling the Blender source code? Although it's quick and easy for some people, not everyone is as lucky getting Blender to build on their platform. Drop by if you need assistance.
For more information on how to use this medium, the authors of the popular IRC application mIRC have put together a good first guide for IRC beginniners here.
Windows and Linux builds of the popular open source chat client X-Chat, are available as free downloads, however the X-Chat development team only offers a shareware version of the Win32 client. If you wish to have an updated and totally free windows version of X-Chat you can visit SilvereX.org where recent (unofficial) builds are made available continually.
All Blender channels are independently operated by enthusiast Blender users and are now coordinated with the Blender Foundation through a partnership with Freenode. However, channel policy is controlled by the individual channel operators, not through the Blender Foundation. Therefore we kindly request that you direct comments/complaints/suggestions to these operators, as the Blender Foundation does not make it a policy to intervene in channel operation.