We look at Tennessee (and California and Texas may be in the same thought model) and see how much fuel is involved and think:
"I don't have a corporate subsidy for THIS..." and so it goes.

One answer is designating regions within a state, and if necessary even smaller areas for groups within the overall chapter.

Lets face it folks - meeting eachother should be painless, especially in the era of fuel crunches!

I personally would rather meet people around a barbeque and a picnic table than have to raise money to lease a colliseum and wait for people to drive several days. I know I'd regret not meeting people from the other end of the state, but we could have fun every so many weekends (depending on what we had going on).

LOCAL! We've got to think local...

Bringing people together need not necessarily mean EVERYONE all at once in one place. Think small, and it will grow.

Bob Marley said it best:

"Let's get together, and FEEL alright..."

ZZTOP had a lot to say too...