It’s been almost a week since Google began sending out one of the most sought-after and exclusive invites on the Web. Google Wave, the company’s latest (and, it hopes, greatest) development, was unveiled to a select few last week. What can Google Wave do for associations? I’m glad you asked!

Google claims Wave could eventually be an “e-mail killer.” (Full disclosure: I haven’t gotten my invite yet. Much to my dismay.) The reviews I’ve seen have been tepid, but I think it’s worth taking a look at how associations can benefit from the Wave. There are so many cool features, and I want to (hopefully) pare them down to see how associations can best use it.

Via http://mashable.com

Overwhelming, no? There are definitely a lot of features, but I’m betting most people won’t come close to using all of them.

Step 1: Creating or Joining a Wave. You can belong to multiple Waves (one with friends, one with family, one with coworkers, etc…) and communicate and collaborate with other members of the wave.

Essentially, Google Wave is the most powerful free communication tool to ever emerge. It’s real-time, which means you’ll be able to see what someone else is typing, character by character. All the conversations within a wave are shared, so anyone can edit anything in a conversation, much like within a Wiki.

Waves will also feature drag-and-drop file sharing — which means no more browsing your computer to find a file. Additionally, you’ll be able to embed waves on any blog or Web site. Waves could, over time, replace blog comments, but I think we’re still awhile from seeing that happen.

There are tons of Google applications that will already work in Wave, but I think the most important feature is really the way it could alter communication. Remember chat rooms from 1998? These will be bigger, better and spammer-less. You’ll be able to choose who’s in your Wave and it makes file sharing a snap. It will basically provide for the most collaborative environment ever, and will certainly be helpful when planning a conference — and during them, as well, for all those last-minute things that come up!

You can sign up for a Google Wave invite here, but a warning: it definitely won’t come immediately. It’s still not widely available, but it’s worth learning more about and considering for your organization.