Just gave it a whirl. Kinda interesting. I personally don't like a lot of these X vs Y minigames, and instead just like to look at eye candy. Anyway, here's my thoughts:
I'm wondering if IOTD could be less "formal" kind of like #screenshotsaturday, where users post screenshots of what they're working on with a very minimal explanation. Then GameDev.net cycles through this posting "feed" on the front page. With today's IOTD, all I really want is to look at the screenshots, and if they interest me enough (along with maybe a very small explanation), provide me with a link to a blog post/video/whatever where I can read more about what the images are about.
Then bump up the "formal"-ness of Your Announcements, so it's kinda like IOTD is now (but not really based around screenshots). That is, make it so Your Announcements isn't just a forum where you make a normal thread (that typically ends up being dry, a wall of text, or just overlooked), but where things are kind of a bigger deal.