It probably helps that then and now the game stores that I frequent are adjacent to college campuses. So a nearby large number of young and eager folks happy to bring their other young and eager friends to fill an open table. And unlike my experiences at say a convention, very few horror-story-level (usually grognard nerds near my own age) players.
But the mailing list thing was a delight, despite them all being grognard nerds near my own age.