Even if it's a copy/pasted welcom messages, they are welcoming nonetheless to new members. A board that cares about newcomers is a close community. This also helps with bringing in more people. One of the things we do at my site is we actually have a board specifically for new members to introduce themselves at and where they can get to know some of the regular posters. It really helps in making people more at home. Also, even PMing new members welcoming them to the boards is a really generous way of saying that you're glad to have them join the community, thus reducing the chances they'll never come back.
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