I haved a few ideas for you. First, see of you can find Jeff from Poboys on this site. He is from Central PA and very well in tune with the regionalization of flavor for BBQ. I think I remember Jeff telling me that he uses lots of things like molasas, brown sugar, etc when cooking in PA.
Even in Virginia, I have a hard time pleasing everyone with a single sauce. I like Carolina style, but a lot of people want the thick stuff. I have to cringe and hold my breath when I see people drown the meat in sauce that I rubbed, injected and lovingly cared for thru the cooking. The last cook I did was for a friend and his wife (who is a great cook) made a rub that was heavily cummin based. She even roasted the seeds before mixing them in the rub to bring out the flavor even more. I was not sure how it was going to go over, but the crowd loved it. Who would have thunk it?
I'm pretty new at this too, but I'm taking it very seriously and will continue to do so as long as I am having fun and people are enjoying what I cook.
Chiles