I checked back a couple of pages, and didn't see this suggestion, but it would be great if you could add some city/regional forums so people can connect in their areas. I would really like to connect with other participants in my area (Washington, DC metro), and learn about local retailers, deals, events, etc.
This may be a huge undertaking, but maybe you could do some research of the members and see what say the top 5 regions/cities they are from, and add those as test cases.
Thanks!