Anonymous messaging in an instant message group conversation

1. A method comprising:

creating, by a first device associated with a first attendee, an instant message group conversation including,

creating a message for an instant message group conversation among a plurality of attendees that includes the first attendee; and

receiving selections for each of a plurality of attendees to be included in the instant message group conversation, wherein the received selections designate each of the plurality of attendees as an anonymous attendee or a non-anonymous attendee, and wherein each of the received selections of anonymous attendees specifies one of a plurality of group identifiers (IDs) each corresponding to one of a plurality of anonymous groups;

transmitting, by the first device, the message to devices associated with the plurality of attendees;

receiving, by the first device as part of the instant message group conversation, a first response to the message from a second device associated with a first anonymous attendee of the designated anonymous attendees, wherein the first response specifies a group ID as a sender identifier of the first anonymous attendee; and

receiving, by the first device as part of the instant message group conversation, a second response to the message from a third device associated with a first non-anonymous attendee of the designated non-anonymous attendees, wherein the second response specifies, as a sender identifier of the first non-anonymous attendee, a user identifier for an attendee associated with the third device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the message comprises transmitting a notification to the first anonymous attendee that any responses provided by the first anonymous attendee to the instant message group conversation are anonymous.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying the first anonymous attendee based, at least in part, on a relationship between the first anonymous attendee and others of the plurality of attendees.

4. A first device associated with a first attendee comprising:

a processor; and

a machine-readable medium having program code executable to cause the first device to:

create an instant message group conversation by,

creating a message for an instant message group conversation among a plurality of attendees that includes a first attendee; and

receiving selections for each of a plurality of attendees to be included in the instant message group conversation, wherein the received selections designate each of the plurality of attendees as an anonymous attendee or a non-anonymous attendee, and wherein each of the received selections of anonymous attendees specifies one of a plurality of group identifiers (IDs) each corresponding to one of a plurality of anonymous groups;

transmit the message to devices associated with the plurality of attendees;

receive, as part of the instant message group conversation, a first response to the message from a second device associated with a first anonymous attendee of the designated anonymous attendees, wherein the first response specifies a group ID as a sender identifier of the first anonymous attendee; and

receive, as part of the instant message group conversation, a second response to the message from a third device associated with a first non-anonymous attendee of the designated non-anonymous attendees, wherein the second response specifies, as a sender identifier of the first non-anonymous attendee, a user identifier for an attendee associated with the third device.

5. The first device of claim 4 , wherein the program code executable to cause the first device to transmit the message comprises program code executable to cause the first device to transmit a notification to the first anonymous attendee that any responses provided by the first anonymous attendee to the instant message group conversation are anonymous.

6. The first device of claim 4 , wherein the program code further includes program executable to cause the first device to identify the first anonymous attendee is based, at least in part, on a relationship between the first anonymous attendee and others of the plurality of attendees.

7. One or more machine-readable storage media having program code stored therein, the program code comprising instructions to:

create, by a first device associated with a first attendee, an instant message group conversation including,

creating a message for an instant message group conversation among a plurality of attendees that includes the first attendee; and

receiving selections for each of a plurality of attendees to be included in the instant message group conversation, wherein the received selections designate each of the plurality of attendees as an anonymous attendee or a non-anonymous attendee, and wherein each of the received selections of anonymous attendees specifies one of a plurality of group identifiers (IDs) each corresponding to one of a plurality of anonymous groups;

transmit, by the first device, the message to devices associated with the plurality of attendees;

receive, by the first device as part of the instant message group conversation, a first response to the message from a second device associated with a first anonymous attendee of the designated anonymous attendees, wherein the first response specifies a group ID as a sender identifier of the first anonymous attendee; and

receive, by the first device as part of the instant message group conversation, a second response to the message from a third device associated with a first non-anonymous attendee of the designated non-anonymous attendees, wherein the second response specifies, as a sender identifier of the first non-anonymous attendee, a user identifier for an attendee associated with the third device.