You may know this already but the first thing to recognize is that your project is a Collection Project and the other project that you refer to is a Traditional Project.
How to tell Collection vs Traditional Project
Traditional versus Collection project?
Project Types
You have made a journal entry and yours will be listed in a manner such as the other but yes, they do not show up on the main page of the Project Home Page because that is the nature of collection projects.
The way you’re rules are set up for your project, every other observation a member makes will show up if it was made in the greatest encompassing region which for you is Pacific Northwest Coast Zone (which just happens to be my account Default Search Place) - I’m gratefully participating from the Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations.
It is possible that a traditional project may suit you better. If you observe and post a Lazuli Bunting while up Grouse Mountain, it will show up in your existing project because all species are included under your current Collection rules. If it were a traditional project then submitted or curated observations will only end up in the project. I have two projects that are framed around certain parameters and traditional works best for them - one has observations made while using human-powered transport from one’s primary residence to arrive at and record an observation, the other has observations that possibly are associated with Cryptobiotic soil (which sometimes barely reach Kingdom level). If you were only wanting to collect observations that were associated with the light traps, while still using your account to observe other things, a traditional project could be a better fit - your other observations would remain out of the project, while submissions would show up in the traditional project.
I’m not sure how the public event notices would work. I think people have social media accounts that draw people to their projects.