As someone who has personally hosted twelve get-togethers of various iterations for audio or HT groups over the last 11 years and organized or planned 4 more that were hosted by various local dealers. At all of these attendance has varied from 15-30 people every time, so there are plenty of interested parties in Austin.
Thus getting attendance is not the problem. If you plan an event that is going to be lively, engaging, with good gear, good music, and most importantly great food and wine, beer and, liquor. And you announce the date far enough out in advance, folks will come.
To make promotion easy, I maintain a database of every audiophile that I meet or hear about, or run across while surfing a forum. It has about 60 names plus all of the local dealers or distributors on it. I would guess that list, could easily add another 60 names, if it was more comprehensive. I also have an HT enthusiast database of another 40 plus names, this one is not very up to date, as I don't really keep up with HT anymore.
So again, attendance is not the problem, as I have discovered "if you build it, they will come."
The problem is a lack of people willing to host groups of that size, especially with many of the invited people being complete strangers to them. When we were actively trying to schedule big group meetings for the Austin Audiophile Club, there was only myself and one other that consistently stepped up to host, and eventually are systems matured and so there wasn't as much new pieces coming in, and we also discovered it costs alot to buy booze and food for 20 on average.
Now a lot of people are much more willing to host smaller soirees for 6 or less people, people that they have met, be-friended or vetted in some way. As well as the fact that this amount of people can actually fit in most listening rooms. So it's easier on the host, it can be scheduled in a shorter timeframe, and there is greater piece of mind.
So in comclusion, anyone that ever wants to promote something feel free to contact me, as I am happy to share my database(s), as long as you promise to use the list for audio get togethers only. No politics, no religion, no business sales calls, etc.
I can also tell you from my experience, that aiming for anymore than one large get-together per quarter is folly. And even that can be pushing it. Personally, when or if I start putting something together on a regular basis, my target would be a Spring meet and a Fall meet at most.
So that's my 2 cents, posting on this or any other forum and saying your willing to attend is not going to get anything done. Obviously your interested in attending, because your a junkie that surfs high-end forums and has $10K, $30K, $100K or $250K invested into your system. Instead one should think of a get together like any other party.
What's the theme?
What's the schedule?
What comparisons if any are going to be done?
What piece of gear will be highlighted?
Or maybe its just some great new music you've picked up?
What is the specialty drink going to be?
How much booze do I need?
What good food am I going to cook or have cattered?
Can I pull in a maufacturer, dealer, or distributor to add panache? In person or just hook me up with a demo unit?
Those are things that have been addressed at the best meets I have organized or attended. And frankly if they aren't then it is just a bunch of tire-kicking going on that gets old quickly.
