My first thought would be just a simple forum. What made you stray from your forum? Forums are my favorite place to meet new people and converse with friends because they provide such a casual atmosphere. Anybody can say what they have to say and get replies about it.
http://invisionfree.com/ has great forum services. Completely free, takes about 3 minutes to set up a board and tweak your settings, and has no annoying banner ads or popups.