@ LFH - RE: Syndicating a discussion...
I don't know how other communities do it, but I am a leader of MomLoop. What we call a "syndicated discussion" is a thread that is sponsored by a company. We are financially compensated for running the thread and publicizing the company/products mentioned in that thread. We have had a few sponsored threads - like 6 or 7, we'd like more but haven't put much effort into finding companies to sponsor. Hope that helps :)
I think the community Coffee Talk is doing a great job - for ideas of how to base a convo around a product check them out.