The translator: random, clueless, and hired at the last minute.
Communicating / hanging out together: In my experience, people can usually manage to find each other if they have some channels of communication and make some basic meetup arrangements -- all of which can actually be pretty haphazard and still work, as long as people try to connect.
My recommendations: Go to Hello! Party and hang out with Kita.
And.... Oh, that's right -- see Morning Musume.