Shadowdancer said:
My experiences with the RPGA have generally been pretty positive, too, both with my primary "group" (online), and with the local Chicago-area folks. I DM for three different home campaigns; RPGA is my primary opportunity to actually be a player.
That said...the presence, or absence, of the RPGA in any particular area is entirely driven by the interest of local players. As Shawn noted, the RPGA has all of 3 paid staff people...and they're all in Renton. There really isn't any such thing as a "local RPGA representative", at least not in any official sense. (The closest there really is to that is the regional Triad members for Living Greyhawk, but they're really working only on that one campaign.)
So, if there's no RPGA presence in San Diego, it's not because the RPGA is actively ignoring San Diego...well, at least, no moreso than they "ignore" any particular area.
Once upon a time, the RPGA had a different format...you paid for membership, and they put a lot of emphasis on organizing local RPGA clubs (IIRC, they even published an annual directory of the RPGA clubs, making it easier to find other RPGA players near you). That's all gone by the wayside, as the RPGA is now solely a marketing expense of WotC RPG.
