I printed out our emails as a 20'-long poster.

I had no idea what it would look like.  Now that this first draft is out, we can think about how to size and arrange things, and how to mount it and make it dynamic.  (Search and highlight; laser-point to messages, images, and links; connect to the research gallery, etc.)

To me, there's already something powerful about simply seeing everything -- ALL of the group's email ever -- in a contained and bounded form, like a map.  It's also fun to browse around.

-Bret Victor, Printing Out Emails Research Institute