I would probably attend. Years ago there was a group of us Midwest Chileheads from the chile-heads email list that got together for hot lucks for a few years. As I recall, we had folks from Topeka, Kansas City, other places in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. The event rotated locations, but died out after 7 or 8 years. It would be fun to meet up with some more "locals" and enjoy some spicy food.