I was in that meeting, mostly to observe, but even though I think the theme queue (which is now reaching 4.5 months from submission to going live) is a priority issue, the idea behind the proposed Featured List concept is interesting.

Abuse and conflicts of interest are going to be a problem to try and avoid from that happening, but can it really be fully avoided? Over the years, there has always been some form of controversy with the whole theme directory and review process.

As for not having themes listed that have up-sells or some form of commercial aspect integrated into the theme, as Justin mentioned, could limit the pool. The truth is, most theme authors submit themes with the hope of up-sells. Look at what the Zerif Lite brought in; who wouldn't want to grab even a tiny percentage of that. I know others will say "it's supposed to be about giving back to the community". But if that is true, then perhaps "all" themes in the repo should not have any up-sell or commercial elements in themes.

Anyway, the idea for the new Featured List is interesting, but it needs to be carefully laid out before it gets implemented. Personally, I've brought this up many times to only be ignored, but I would love to get rid of that Popular List. Keep the Featured one or the proposed version, and drop the popular list. The unfairness of it means that only the BIG players are monopolizing the list in the higher levels.