Making Auditions more user friendly

I've often found that attending auditions with a new theatre group can be quite daunting. I discussed this with my fellow cast members in Darlington's upcoming "Table Manners" (a must to see incidently), very few people turned up for the auditions and of those who did (I'm talking about me here)the welcome was not what you would call 'friendly'. That is not to say that people were rude or unfriendly, just that they weren't warm and welcoming. Having said that, they are a great and committed bunch to work with and are very friendly now we have all got to know each other (just like normal life I suppose). Perhaps if more effort were made to make people feel at home during auditions (this probably doesn't apply to those who a) know a large proportion of people on Perth's theatre scene or b) those who are supremely confident in their ability and within themselves)more people would be encouraged to come again or bring their friends with them, thereby increasing the pool of available actors. While we are on the subject, I've often thought that a day's training, group workshop or some sort of dummy run might be a winner, at least it would give the first timers (and a lot of others, me included) some hints on what to do to ensure that we get the part that we would like, or a part anyway. It could be made into a fun day for all and help raise the standard, after all isn't that what it's all about. I'll be most interested to see what other people think of this.