Transportation links have ALWAYS been critical for major events particularly those held outside major metropolitan areas.

I remember one AGM held at a Canadian Open tournament where I gave my proxy to
(1) any BC Governor present failing that
(2) any BCCF Executive member present failing that
(3) any Governor present from western Canada

... and the president gave my proxy to someone from Thunder Bay as the only "westerner" present. (Which was interesting since my part of proxy instructions were 'vote against any motions moved from the floor by Mr. X' - the Thunder Bay guy - who was known for moving all kinds of motions without much notice most of which I found fatuous though to his credit he executed the proxy faithfully and with integrity)

Basically any event more than 3 hours from a major transportation hub (Vancouver, Calgary/Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal) is likely to have poorer turnout than it should particularly if it's a short event.