Jess, I haven't really had much of a chance to chat with you since you came on board but thanks for your comments. You also have some very valid questions and some that I have been wondering myself.
As far as Gattina... she used to come on to the bb's all the time- pre crash. I'm not sure but I think her most recent contri was only the second time she had been back and the first was a shoot with Vienna that was actually Vienna's contri. But I could be wrong. Maybe she would have joined the boards if a thread had been started and an invitation had been extended.
Nicole and Alexa also used to join the boards as well. So did Vienna. Why don't they anymore? Beats me. Elise also used to join in here but now just hangs out on the other side. I heard some stories as to why she no longer frequents here but they were just stories. All I know is that she stopped- so I quit starting threads for her- which is sad cuz she was always a fav. Like you said, why bother to start a thread if the lady won't join the conversation?!
Jess, you are also correct in that some of the newer "stars" have never commented at all. When I see a contri I think is "worthy" of a thread I'll look to see if they reply on the contri comments section. If they do, I will start a thread and then leave an invite on their contri. That's how Petula, Jeny, HomeGirlSexy and HappyGal (where did she disappear to?) and some others found their way over.
Over the years I've found that not all ladies will join the bb's even after being invited. I'm sure bad comments on the contri has something to do with it. The interesting thing about it is that there is rarely a negative comment to a contri posted here on the bb's. And some of the ladies are "professional amateurs"- meaning they post on multiple amateur sites and are primarily in it for the prize money. They don't comment at all.
I've tried several times to get VW to "advertise" the boards more to get more ladies involved. But from what I've been told the powers that be at VW don't really care much about doing that. Why? I dunno. Maybe it's because they derive no income from the free side and would rather focus on the area they do make money. Makes sense... but it's the free side that initially attracts people who then go over to paying side.
There are also hundreds of people who comment on contris but very few that make the effort to come to the boards to have more in-depth chats. I've never figured that out either. My guess is that a lot of people- and contributors- just don't know about the boards. Again, why can't VW advertise it more?
Thinker, you also did start a few threads. I understand the part about life and not looking at the pics. Some of the contris aren't all that great. But this is an amateur site. However, you'd think that contributors would look at some of the better contris as examples. There have been some top-notch contris because the GWC's knew what they were doing. But they also were often accused of being pros. So a lot of them are gone.
That's also a fact of this site. There is a huge turnover here for lots of different reasons. Bad and rude comments by juvenile people (which harkens to Fast's recent thread) which has been a problem for as long as I've been here. Some ladies get bored and move on. Some think they are getting too old- which I've found is not the case IMHO. After the crash a lot of ladies went to the other site and have not been back... though a few have been trickling back.
Sorry, it seems I got back on my soapbox. I do that sometimes. Time to STFU. I've ranted enough.
:roll:
Thankfully I found out after the fact and he's reportedly doing ok. 
- By Clownkicker