It doesn't always help, but it's a strong characteristic of the system. My hunch of one of the reasons Jeanne was nominated as a representative of the host community is that she often does this in conferences where she isn't an official host. The last two posts bring out some poignant questions about flames and passionate disagreements. Most people have some issues they won't budge on. Sometimes a familiar, congenial rudeness seems respectful to one party and cruel to the other.
Politeness can seem cold or insincere where there's no trust.
This is a function of The WELL's maxed out accounting system. The relevant staffers are working towards a major upgrade of those capabilities. Doing all sorts of research, estimates, etc. I like this because if it were otherwise, the Director of Conferencing, or someone else in a similar role, would have to read those confs and have an idea of the content. And that takes time.