ct-vt-trekker

Possibly it's not popular because people don't know about it?

My wife and I like to ride long distances so we're thinking of riding a brevet so I asked around to fellow riders to see if any of them had ridden them and I was shocked at what riders know (or don't know) about long distance cycling events. I casually polled the people I ride with during the week and of the 20+ riders I spoke to only one had ever even heard of Randonneuring. And these are all active riders who all ride 1000 to 6000 miles per year. Most of these riders ride charity rides and at least several centuries per year but when I mentioned the distances involved in Randonneuring most were shocked. Most have no idea that there are events like this. I just think that at least in my area of Connecticut it isn't popluar but it may be to lack of exposure or awareness of the events.
If bike riders don't know about the existance of such events how can participation increase?