I agree there's no signs of much happening although thousands of accounts are being created every month by various people. I don't know how many of those become active, although there may be stats available for that. I know several people who have accounts, but have yet to use them. A musician/artist friend says it's not really worth his time as it stands as he is not likely to make much. He was also concerned about some extremists being on Steem, but that was always likely given the freedom it offers.
I have just about run out of people I can try to get on board. There needs to be some sort of marketing campaign that raises awareness of Steem. A few projects may have the funds for that, but then a low Steem price makes it harder.