Dave,
what is so bad about "dot-com style branding"???
I mean if we had a subsite to openacs called openacs.com that is lead by community members that like "branding" and another subsite called openacs.org that is lead by members that like "developing"... A marketing guy wouldn't have to visit .org neither would a developer have to visit .com!!! Both would peacefully coexist and be driven by the visions of their members...