You should probably ask for the actual witnesses on https://steemit.chat/ … If they actually are there.
I only heard legends of this place called steemit.chat, but never went there myself.

There probably is some Discord-Server for this out there in the world wide webwork, too – but don't ask me which one.

If you actually do get hold of someone knowing their stuff, I'm certain they're willing to help. You may even write an up-to-date guide on creating a witness (though I think requests aren't high – you seem to need a somewhat powerful server, which cost $$$).

If Steem gets as big as we all think it will, then we will need more witnesses or it will bog down just like Bitcoin.

Be aware: There are only 21 witnesses.
The first 20 witnesses are voted here – the spot of the 21st witness is randomly selected between all others.
So the difference between 30 and 200 witnesses is relatively minor.