You know, I think my team, who were all first-timers, quite enjoyed the mystique associated with the 2-hour rule, the 22nd-hour rule, the 24-hour rule, etc. In a sense they had to let themselves trust that their team captain (me, this year) knew what they were doing and everything would work out in the end — I'm sure they'll be along in a minute to corroborate or contradict, as is the way. Tomsk did the same last year when I rode on his team — a list of controls, a sketch of a route, and a sense of "follow me". Simplifying this would seem, to me at least, to turn it into a time-limited 400, instead of the 24-hour team event that it is.
The 22nd-hour rule is the new offside rule
As for digital — while I am fully digital, I do like my paper. I think paper works just fine for the Arrow, I wouldn't want to rely on the digital skills of the rest of the team for validation (nor them on mine) — this time everyone was fine, but it would be a bit rubbish if one team member cocked it up at the cost of the rest, and digital is much easier to cock up than paper (DAMHIKT).
And as for increasing its reach — do people really think that it's not already growing year-on-year? Is it not already attracting more people? This year over 130 riders were Out There — that's almost the same size as the Brian Chapman and Ritchie doesn't rely on the goodwill of a random pub as the final meeting place. I would be concerned that if it became too big then it would need a formal booking at a nominated finish venue, as per Ivo's post, and all the expense and hassle that would cause, especially given that the org doesn't live anywhere near York.
I think it also helps if team members one year go on to captain teams in subsequent years, taking the experience with them. Hence five (is that correct?) Essex teams plus one Cambridge team this year branching from (as far as I know) Tomsk's stewardship over the years, which is quite a feather in his cap
Not as quick growth this way compared to simplifying the format into something different, but probably a better result overall.
Don'tcha think?