If it were me organizing these events, I'd change the international events trying to pair them with another ongoing event, if possible. Then seeing as I just looked Axpona online and notice it appears to be a yearly event in Chicago, that is where CanJam ought to be for the Midwest, while continuing with RMAF every year also. Then have three national sole CanJams in the U.S., one in New York City, one in Los Angeles, and then I'd get one in Orlando, Florida. I think there ought to be at least one somewhere in Canada also, possibly Toronto.
Six per year in North America on a once every other month basis. This would be a great way at really covering the continent with events that at least most people in North America should be able to attend. Having two events in Asia while missing out a good chunk of the U.S. seems like a poor strategy to me. Cut the Singapore event and just keep the Shanghai one. Keep London also, but try to see if there is an event pair up opportunity. That would make for eight events per year. Plenty.
If you've seen our preview video for CanJam Singapore 2017 (link for those who haven't) you'll remember Jude opened by saying, "now, I don't know if you know this but the Singapore Head-Fi community - in terms of cities - is our single biggest community in the world by a margin." There are a ton of Singaporean Head-Fi'ers (Hey guys!) who are constantly active on the forums and I'm told CanJam Singapore has an energy about it that's hard to understand until you see it first-hand. I think it's fairly safe to say that the odds are slim that we'd just "cut the Singapore event."
I'm not privy to all of the details, but I know a considerable amount of thought and research goes into choosing locations for CanJams. Ethan spends a substantial amount of time researching the many Head-Fi markets that are out there and planning events so we can reach as many Head-Fi'ers as possible.
DEN, JFK and LAX are all just a short flight from ORD.
So who's excited for another year of incredible CanJam fun?