Hi Kent,
You will see my sign-on listed on the bottom of the main forum page nearly every day of the year and see that my info shows that I am an AWS forum moderator, unless I'm on vacation in a spot where there is no internet service. I can't speak for AWS except that I volunteered to monitor the boards on my own time, so yes, in one respect these boards do get monitored fairly closely and often.
AWS has people who check in and read from time to time and may watch certain topics to see how the dialog is going. I have no idea how many or how often, unless they chime in and take part in these discussions. I am aware that the editors and whatnot from the Welding Journal and Inspection Trends magazines look in from time to time and take excerpts of the dialog to feature in their articles and writings in the magazines. Several of the members here serve on AWS committees and take an active part in developing many of the specifications that we in the welding industry work to everyday.
long story, short...yes the boards here are monitored.
edit: I forgot to mention, the information in the user's ID, is filled in by the user only....I personally have no access to anything in the user's ID account.