Users don't go to forums because they look pretty. They go there and stay because there is action, people willing to answer your questions. (many must be unemployed cause they are online all day). A lot of forums look like shit but they are focused on content.

I am attending the AT&T Hackathon. Coming down from Chicago to check it out. The LSM can be pretty deceiving. A lot of folks don't build anything. I have seen teams that win without building a product and spend months in a limbo trying to figure out how to build it. I hear this website collects all the tech events in Miami. Check it out: http://miamitechevents.com/