Hayden, Fred, and Brick(October 23 and August 15 entries) have added their takes on this.

I'd like to thank everyone who's participated, and please continue the discussion. I've found it enlightening, and more than a little frightening. Not because of any particular vision of the future, but because every version that has been presented lacks one simple component: what can be. While everyone has brought up concerns worthy of consideration, the prevailing notions take one of two forms: either that "if we fix the problems I'm bringing up, we'll be all right" or "there's nothing wrong here that won't always be wrong. So why bother?" The latter I find simply wrong, and the former I find to only address part of the problem. Neither gives us anything more than a view of the future other than a view of today, perhaps a little better polished.

I have to take a few things as given which, though my work has demonstrated to be true, there will be a few who doubt whether they will be true.

Premise #1: There is an immense number of people not currently served by the circuit, who, if exposed to it, would like to be involved. This is true whether we are discussing the collegiate level, high school level, or even the post-college level.

Premise #2: While the circuit is by any measure healthier than it was previously, in no reasonable way can it be considered healthy.

To a certain extent, the last wave of great circuit expansion via currently available means is over. And really that wave, the expansion of the circuit into community colleges was a cheat, since there was an existing circuit that was merely integrated. Without that sort of group integration, we've only seen about a 5-10% growth in the new teams on circuit per year over the past 5 years. And when you factor in teams that have fallen off the circuit, the growth is more like 0-5%. Let's consider that the baseline, and let's consider that the fundamental problem: that five years of progress on the circuit will leave us exactly where we are. Except we will have spent five years generally grinding on each other's gears. If you think that is our fate, that's fine, and I won't be able to stop you from thinking that. I'm hopeful for more than that, because it means that quiz bowl will be available to more people, and because there are benefits to the circuit in growing.

Now let me tell you what I think is possible, should everything roll together correctly. (Admittedly this is the ultimate extension of wish fulfillment, but the components to make this happen are at least possible, and available. I couldn't say that five years ago.)
In 5 years, it should be possible to have all of the following, given sufficient effort:
400-500 teams participating on the circuit.
10-20 tournaments every weekend across the country, hosted by circuit teams, either for college or high school.
An existing and vibrant masters circuit, competing in a variety of formats, throughout the year.
A reduction in tournament costs such that everyone is able to play as much as they want.
A 50% increase in high school teams competing in quiz bowl, as we percieve it, and a 500% increase in high school teams competing in quiz bowl events hosted by circuit schools.
And finally, for NAQT's (Okay, maybe more for my sanity's) sake, at least one full-time employee.

I will freely admit there are a couple of ugly little cheats involved in this which I will get into later, but I want to give you the possible, not necessarily the assured. In most of the cases above, the actual number is not as important as creating enough growth to actually be able to shift from the stable point we're in now, to another stable point with a larger, more inclusive circuit. Just 100 new teams would be a tremendous jump. But each of these bits interacts and plays off each other, making all the other parts more probable, and easier to pull off.

I'll follow this up with the advantages, drawbacks, and necessary actions to achieve these in later entries.