[ThePimp]

This would require a little development of the Shoutbox, but it would seriously increase postcounts.

Add an "Add Shout" option below the Poll options when creating a thread.

This would add a shoutbox to the thread that is created. Each "Shout" counts as a post and gets posted to the thread.

End User Options:
Shout Title
Shout Topic (A bot posts the shout topic on set intervals)
Shout Expire (Shout expires after X days, or no expiration)
Ban certain users (Ability to keep some users from shouting)
Enable / Disable Images
Enable / Disable Smilies

Admin Options:
On/Off
Enable End User Options
Add Bot (For global announcement shouting / ads)
Shout Size / Options / Features

I can see alot of possibilities with this, and it would definitely increase post counts, thread counts and overall stickyness of the site. It would also help keep people on-topic in a particular thread if someone sets the Shout Topic Bot.

Regards,
ThePimp