I’m looking for a plugin that would allow me to create private groups for discussion that are invite only. These would be for people who have taken a workshop and want to remain in communication with their cohort afterwards. They would need to be invited/added by admin after each workshop and would not communicate with other participants. Anyone have any ideas? Appreciate the help!
Forum plugin that allows private groups that are invite only
You can easily create private forums with the Simple:Press forum plugin.
http://simple-press.com/
It can do a LOT more than just that, and for that reason might be overkill (not sure what other requirements you have), but if you are looking for a very flexible and powerful forum system, then I can recommend Simple:Press.
BuddyPress is good for this as well. You can create public, private or hidden groups and control who can invite others.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/
You have the option to have forums in each of the groups as well.