I really couldn't find a place that was "exactly right" to share this experience so opted for here as the most suitable. I'm sure a moderator will move the thread to somewhere more suitable if necessary!
The British Council is currently using Moodle to create an online platform for the annual IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) conference, which is currently running at Exeter in the UK.
There are 17 "special interest areas" (aligned to the SIGs of IATEFL - Applied Linguistics; Business English; ELT Management; English for Academic Purposes; English for Specific Purposes; ESOL; Global Issues; Learner Autonomy; Learning Technologies; Literature, Media & Cultural Studies; Materials Development; Pronunciation; Research; Teacher Development; Teacher Training & Education; Testing, Evaluation & Assessment; Young Learners), so there may be something of interest to some of you in the Moodle forums.
It's one of the most interesting Moodle sites I've developed because of the technical restrictions we were facing. We currently have over 2000 users and from tomorrow (April 8) will be streaming a selection of live presentations/plenaries as well as recorded presentations/workshops - so we had some concerns over the strain on the database (and servers!). To that end, we've restricted the activities almost exclusively to discussion forums - stripping out even "who's online" and "people" blocks - yet it seems to be getting the thumbs up from plenty of people. It is, in fact, a thriving hub of people from over 100 countries actively discussing various issues of pedagogy, technology, and yes, even Moodle!
You are welcome to check out Exeter Online at http://exeteronline.britishcouncil.org/, where you will find instructions on signing up and accessing this site. It is offered completely free-of-charge.
Hope you find something interesting, and it's nice to be able to offer something back to the Moodle community for once!
Rena