The Monero community utilizes a lot of IRC channels that each serve different purposes. Some to work, and some just to hang out. You'll find the more popular ones below.
If you are looking for places to spend your Monero, the directories below have some options. Please remember to do your own research before trusting them with your money:
The best way to exchange Monero for other currencies (or the other way round) is using P2P exchanges, because they allow traders to directly interact with each other, without the need of trusted third parties (except maybe for providing an escrow service). These exchanges are more private than their centralized counterparts and allow people to be in complete control of their coins if they are non-custodial, but they usually have less volume than 'traditional' exchanges. In the section below, we offer a list of P2P exchanges that support Monero.