'Public Groups' are sub-groups which can be established among the general membership, and seperate (hidden) forums created. It's a feature of this software which is not really used right now - but could be if the demand for it ever cropped up.
For example, if Loren wanted to start a 'MacIntosh+Olson' owners group, I could set him up as a 'Group Leader' - and then he could control who got access to this sub-group - and those 'members' could have seperate discussions, etc. Other potiental uses are for the inclusion of other organizations who need space - so if someone like the Maine Owners Assn wanted a sub-group, it would be easy to do...
We actually have something similar to this now, with the Steering Committee - as there is a seperate forum (hidden) for those discussions, etc....
//sse