Just moved to Colorado...and this section is just insanely too big geographically. I'm going to fly to sectionals this year? Completely crazy!
However, it would be completely worthwhile if sectionals was an awesome event. Nice venue, well-paid refs, really nice awards and maybe a goodie bag for all participants. Give incentives for people who preregister early, like $5 off. That really works well from my past experience running competitions. I was mortified to find out that at the recent Colorado Cup this past weekend that refs were only being paid $40. No wonder we had to self-direct pools. They are the cornerstone of a good competition and should be treated well for their time.
Seriously, tournaments should generally not be "money-making machines," but they should always be well-run even at the local level. I helped all the organization and marketing of my club's tournament for nearly two years and integrated some great strategies and watched our tournament participation jump 60%. We had a dinky little epee-only tournament in the beginning that we were trying to launch, but now it's attracting people from 5 different states/two sections. Nearly 50 people for the open and 8 teams for the team event one year. Why? Good marketing, good incentives, well-paid refs (minimum $75 for the day plus breakfast and lunch in a private room. We also pay for gas for those traveling from out of state.), and good prizes. We spent all our money on venue, food, refs, and prizes. Made a few hundred bucks, not much...but it's not for the money...it's for good competitions. My feeling is the motivation should always be for great opportunities for fencers' growth. I'm assuming most people feel the same way.
Additionally, having results posted from year to year so people get a general idea if it's worth their while is also good incentive. Why travel REALLY far for 10 people to fence? Ack. If that is a problem, then there needs to be a LOT of marketing at the Division level so people will show and then that will coax other Divisions to come out.
But, nice prizes and WELL RUN tournaments with refs ALWAYS brings the fencers. Marketing--telling people what to expect and giving them reminders--also helps (they need to know about it and WHY it's going to be awesome...aka, what's in it for them.).
BTW, my old club had a MUCH easier time getting refs because of the way the refs were treated/fed/paid. Some of them wanted the club's schedule so they knew when to come even before the season started. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, that's my .02.
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