one thing with the forums being so active there is a lot of socialising (which is a great thing.. but trying to keep up with the amount of different threads is a bit mind boggling)
have you thought about introducing a web-based IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client, or web-based chat room.. where we can all talk IRL (in real life/time), instead of using the forums. we can still use the forums for general questions, interest areas, things to do/see etc, but then we can use the chat room to socialise. if you don't want to host it on ice-in-space, then we can create a room and use one of the australian IRC servers and use a IRC client such as MIRC or perch.. etc.
my 2c worth
rowena