Most of our in depth discussions, presently, are of a technical nature and not everyone may feel knowledgeable enough to participate in those discussions.

There have certainly been instances of new users not understanding what on earth we're talking about when we've been discussing technical Gridcoin/BOINC topics.

I agree that rewarding users will lead to more attendees/participation. If each attendee walks away from a hangout with a small task/goal for the week then we'll be a very productive crypto community! :D