When you do have time to read the fest, I'm sure you'll find some to like! Please forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but all the stories I read there were earnest and diligent, even if not all equally excelled.

>"I wonder if having a couple of chatroom chats over the course of the writing period might help promote more community feeling? ... a couple of semi-official brainstorming chats ... comments too..."

I don't have experience with chats, but whether in that forum or on LJ, I think those are very good ideas. As it's not an exchange, there's little need to worry about spoilers, and cross-pollination wouldn't be a bad thing in such an exceedingly diverse field.