<p>Despite being one of the guilty parties, I don't look favorably on the statistics that show a small number of people are collecting most of the points.  (<em>E.g.</em>, look at the number of people with an increase in rep equal to at least half the <em>second place</em> person [to provide some resistance to outliers]: 8 in July, 10 in August, 11 in September, only 4 in October.)  As part of a strategy of keeping and growing this community we should help make everyone feel welcome to contribute their ideas.  Perhaps we should value broader participation over providing quick responses.  How can we encourage that?</p>

<p>Note that one of the SE metrics of community strength is the number of participants with 200+ reputation.</p>
