Howdy:

 

You may already be acting on this idea that may have come from others, but as you redesign the website you might consider making a "choose your state/province/country (with optional city)" entry obligatory for all those posting classified ads, as well as those posting information about concerts and workshops, especially, and any other categories that may come into being in the future where such information would be very useful for users.  Such a choice should be a forced entry; that is, the poster should not be able to write the message until the location choice/entry is made. 

 

So, the end result would then look something like these posts:

 

Concert:  NY--The ABC Chorus in Albany presents a special holiday program....

Workshop:  CA--San Diego choral masters organization offers....

Director Wanted:  IN--Community church in Terra Haute needs...

Workshop:  BC (Vancouver)--BC Harmonizers presents a two-day workshop on...

Concert:  Ireland (Dublin)--On Saturday, December 17, 2011, the Irish Brogues present...

 

Being able to immediately see the location where the event is happening, or where the classified ad originates, at the very beginning of every such post would really save a lot of search time for users, I think.  Thanks for listening.