Phone calls are a nuisance unless previously arranged.
A phonecall will disrupt everything, you can’t multi-task while talking on the phone.
I find it easiest to just PM affiliate managers when mails get lost, which does happen.
One on one beats a thread in the forum anytime, managers can’t publish personal info in the forum anyway, so what’s the point? The forums are good though for general questions and for resolution of problems that failed to be resolved after talking privately.
One thing I do not like to see from either affiliates or managers is open publishing of private mails. It’s a “Private Message” and not a “Public Message”. I would get really pissed if anyone published my private mail.
I always tell affiliates to stay in touch with managers. The managers want your sites to do well too, you make money, the casino makes money, the manager makes money. It’s all interrelated, and it makes good sense to work together to make it all happen.