Got it...will withdraw my invitation...thought participants would be interested in a more organized event....but given the responses here and the desire to keep this sport strictly an amateur pursuit...will drop the whole idea. Thanks to those who offered the feedback...didn't want to spend a lot of time chasing something that didn't have a hope of getting off the ground...
no desire for commercial gain...the monies suggested would have gone only to promotion, prizes, t-shirts, lanyards, trophies, geocoins, etc. - budget hadn't even been worked up so the estimate was just a shot in the dark...since all of the Chambers are non-profit...any profits would have rolled over to sponsor the event for a future year...or...since this was a new project, one idea could have been that all those in attendance could have voted on a charitable organization for which the donation could have been made...certainly, the Chambers of Commerce are interested in bringing visitors to the area...and that was their primary motivation - was introducing people interested in this sport to the region.
A weekend event like this was hosted out in Illinois and was what I was thinking of recreating here in the Northeast.
For those interested in a more specific description of what I was trying to duplicate...check out
www.geostl.com/SLAGA/SLAGA_Event/2006_MOGA/MOGA%20Manual%20Final.html