I always have the feeling that simply cg is incomplete and i think its because most the forums i been on have an intro page to start with.
For example cgtalk is cgsociety.org , 3dstudio was the3dstudio.com all of them contain links to forums within these sites.
threedy ----> 3dtotal
3dbuzz Forums ----> 3dbuzz (but has front page)
Cgtalk ----> Cgsociety
the3dstudio ----> the3dstudio.com (into page with all products and crap)
Maybe an intro page with just the logo centered with a short intro into the forums or a front news page containing all latest news, posts and such.
(new could be, latest cg news or real life, archers cgcast?, new amazing posts in forums, and anything else interesting on the net.)
Thats the first idea i had, you may not agree but i thought id put it forward to see what you all say.
My final idea is a Usergallery, all images that mods select as finished/awsome work could be posted in this gallery at Mod choice and this would enable views to browse through this to see what the forums consist of rather than scanning each post.
Just ideas