How to increase member participation ?

I want to increase member participation on my site. I went to one forum, and every day it tells me that there are 140 new posts. The forum is 1 month old, maybe some of you know whose forum I am talking about.
So, I found a mod , called buy me a beer or whatever you want it to be, the reward system with real money through paypal. I am thinking to install it. They guy on taz used it, he said it increased the registrations. What are some other ways. I am also looking into vbcredits but momma said it's corrupted.

You can try setting up posting contests, then presenting a forum perk or small gift to the person that posts the most good content over a period of time.

You can set up a contest with the same type of reward to the person that has the most new member referrals over a period of time. Set it up so the person that refers the most people to post 10 posts is your winner.

If you want to keep it economical, then offer forum perks - more Private Message Space, larger avatars, a special badge, etc. You don't always have to use money to achieve your goals.

There are options available, you just have to think outside the box.

Sometimes, it is a simple matter of posting some good starter posts in some new threads, on topics you know your members will be interested in, and then let them run with the ball.

vBCredits isn't corrupted. That was vBPlaza/vBux.

vBCredits is great and getting better all the time.

Peggy are you using it on your sites ? If anybody do you recommend ? What are your members saying ?

Yeppers I do use vBCredits on TalkOhio and my members like it. Of course right now they're only able to earn credits because the store part isn't complete yet. But once it is, it'll be fun. Here's the website for vBCredits - http://www.vbcredits.com/forum/index.php