On the contrary to many others, I find #psypoke to be one of the most awesome places to hang out in. I find myself spending more and more of my freetime in there as each day passes.
Yes it's true, there are inactive/silent times where there isn't much discussion. But hey, we're people and we can have other interests to occupy our time with and lives that need to be attended to. And yeah, most of the regulars never sign off of IRC, so when they're afk/out to work/eating/whatever, it's gonna be silent. But as I just said, people have lives that need to be attended to.
When enough people are present and discussion starts, it usually doesn't stop until enough people leave. I've seen countless things talked about in #psypoke, ranging from the hilarious to the saddening. But even when there's sadness, we all cheer each other up because we're great like that.
I don't think there's anything one person could do to make the chats more appealing. I think whether or not the chats appeal to you comes from your approach to the chat. If you think it's serious business, then you're gonna have no fun by any means. If you think it's a dictatorship full of power-hungry mods, then you'll never enjoy it.
I for one view it as a place where I can talk to my friends at almost any time, forever. And that makes me enjoy it.
tl;dr - #psypoke is cool :0