On a serious note: Things like this thread may be why people think this board is a "private club."
You've got 8 pages here of basically two people posting to one another a lot, interspersed with a few others, and using it like a Twitter status for the most part.
And it's named the "Hello thread."
I'd rename this or strike it, and start a friendlier "Hello thread," and then _sticky_ it. Let people post to it as they will instead of bumping the heck out of it.
My 2 cents. Most webforums don't look like this, and it may be weirding people out. They may think the board is just a joke, or a private playground.