Actually, I think it would be best to create a limited pool of people who vote for the location of the CIS event. For example, those who have already attended, chatted, voted, and made a decision for everyone. Then, all interested parties can choose whether or not to attend the CIS event.
Democracy is good, but the decisions should be made by those who really understand what this event is, who have already been there. If you want to have a say in the future, come now, and next year your voice and opinion will be taken into account.
Because sitting at a computer and playing the game is completely different from traveling to a faraway place and spending a lot of money. It's not worth letting armchair critics decide.

So, newcomers shouldn't be taken into account at all, as there's no certainty that they will come? But if someone vouches for a person and says that they will definitely come, will their "armchair" opinion be of interest to anyone? Of course, those who will participate should have more voting power, but completely disregarding the votes of those who have not yet attended the tournament seems too extreme.
And a gathering of old friends is, of course, very good... But there are also people who want to come and chat, join the Heroes community, etc. Personally, I can only make it to Korolev, and the option of "if they want to, they'll go there and back" seems a bit strange (+playing poker and other activities also requires money).
The more people there are, the cheaper the costs for the conference hall and everything else will be. Many live near Korolev. And if everything is beautiful and good there (and most importantly, cheaper), why not? :smile02: