Still not familiar enough with the platform to offer up anything worthwhile by way of suggestion, but from what I've learned so far, your ideas hold a lot of merit.
There's evidence of this even in the introduceyourself thread - its obvious when new people get introduced or instantly resteemed by users who already have quite an influence. And there's nothing wrong with introducing a friend, but, some of these intro posts are total crap and pulling in $100+ in a day.
I know there are a number of whales that are working hard to support new members, and its great. But it doesn't feel like enough, yet.
Folks in teh PALnet chat talk about a welcome group for newbies. It's on the list.
Good to hear, thanks for the follow-up.