Providing contextual information and enabling group communication for participants in a conversation

A machine-implemented method for providing contextual information for multiple participants of an electronic message, the method comprising:

• determining, using one or more computing devices, multiple participants included in an electronic message provided in an electronic messaging application;
• obtaining, using the one or more computing devices, contextual information from one or more data sources for each participant, wherein the one or more data sources respectively correspond to an external web service;
• providing, using the one or more computing devices, for display a representation of each of the determined multiple participants and the determined contextual information in a widget included in the electronic messaging application;
• providing, using the one or more computing devices, for display a graphical element in the widget, the graphical element for activating a group web service different from the electronic messaging application for the multiple participants of the electronic message;
• receiving, in the widget, first user input via the graphical element to activate the different group web service;
• receiving, in the widget, second user input indicating selection of a subset comprising at least two of the multiple participants for communication in the different group web service;
• and
• activating the different group web service in response to the received first and second user input in the widget, wherein the activated different group web service initiates a communication thread in the different group web service with the subset of the multiple participants of the electronic message,
• wherein the electronic messaging application is one from the group of an e-mail application, a group chat application, and a group calendar application, and the different group web service is another one from the group of the e-mail application, the group chat application, and the group calendar application.

A system for providing contextual information for multiple participants of a conversation thread, the system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
• determining multiple participants included in an electronic message provided in an electronic messaging application;
• providing for display a representation of each of the determined multiple participants in a widget included in the electronic messaging application;
• providing for display a graphical element in the widget, the graphical element for activating a group web service different from the electronic messaging application for the multiple participants of the electronic message;
• receiving, in the widget, first user input via the graphical element to activate the different group web service;
• receiving, in the widget, second user input indicating selection of a subset comprising at least two of the multiple participants for communication in the different group web service;
• and
• activating the different group web service in response to the received first and second user input in the widget, wherein the activated different group web service initiates a communication thread in the different group web service with the subset of the multiple participants of the electronic message,
• wherein the electronic messaging application is one from the group of an e-mail application, a group chat application, and a group calendar application, and the different group web service is another one from the group of the e-mail application, the group chat application, and the group calendar application.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

• determining multiple participants included in an electronic message provided in an electronic messaging application;
• providing for display a representation of each of the determined multiple participants in a widget included in the electronic messaging application;
• providing for display a graphical element in the widget, the graphical element for activating a group web service different from the electronic messaging application for the multiple participants of the electronic message;
• receiving, in the widget, first user input via the graphical element to activate the different group web service;
• receiving, in the widget, second user input indicating selection of a subset comprising at least two of the multiple participants for communication in the different group web service;
• and
• activating the different group web service in response to the received first and second user input in the widget, wherein the activated different group web service initiates a communication thread in the different group web service with the subset of the multiple participants of the electronic message,
• wherein the electronic messaging application is one from the group of an e-mail application, a group chat application, and a group calendar application, and the different group web service is another one from the group of the e-mail application, the group chat application, and the group calendar application.