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VCF East 4.0 call for participants!

E

EvanK

VCFed Founder
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Messages
1,017
Location
New Jersey
Hi all,

I'm getting an early start on signing up VCF East exhibitors / vendors / speakers. If you're interested and not already on our local (MARCH) list, then please contact me off-list.

- Evan

(Erik: posted here for maximum exposure)

-----------------------------

Prior update: In addition to Chuck Peddle, our panel (in the morning of June 9) will feature Bil Herd, Bob Russell, and Dave Haynie .... Along with several of the early models (and even some ultra-rare prototypes) on display .... In case the panelists have a sudden urge to demo anything. ALSO: there WILL be a second day! The official dates are now June 9-10.

Location: InfoAge Science Center (www.infoage.org), Wall, N.J. .... Sponsored once again by MARCH (www.midatlanticretro.org).
 
If you can possibly find a way to get to a VCF you really, really should. It's the closest thing to a moral imperative that a vintage computer collector has.

Book it now! You won't regret it.
 
Erik,

Any more news on VCF 4.0 East???

Floorplan?
List of current Exhibitors/Vendors?
List of Speakers/Special Guests?
Cool T-shirt designs?

I will be attending, I just want to get an idea of how things are shaping up.



Curt
 
I would like to see what that's all about, unfortunately we've got a wedding that weekend...
 
atarimuseum said:
Erik,

Any more news on VCF 4.0 East???

Floorplan?
List of current Exhibitors/Vendors?
List of Speakers/Special Guests?
Cool T-shirt designs?

I will be attending, I just want to get an idea of how things are shaping up.

Curt
Click to expand...

Curt, why didn't you just email me directly...? :?:

We don't have a floorplan yet -- still signing up exhibitors and vendors. As previously announced, our major guest this year is Chuck Peddle, along with Commodorians Bil Herd, Bob Russell, and Dave Haynie -- to celebrate the 30th anniversary of C='s computer division.
 
I wish I could get off of work (no more vacation time left) to hit that event up. I would literally sell off body parts to get a chance to slam beers and talk old days with the gang of them ...

Truly amazing people that helped shape how I approach computing (and now my son's :D )
 
See everyone who's coming to VCF East in the morning, looking forward to the speakers and seeing everyone again!



Curt
 
VCF E4.0 - Saturday recap...

I couldn't make to back to VCF East today, but yesterday was well worth it. Lots of really nice displays of stuff, Hans came out from Germany, good seeing him again, Vince had his new Kim-1 kit's on display and I gotta say - I'm pushing my way to first on line as they are very cool and I want one, especially if he makes the Flash Basic module for it too, also saw the Apple 1 Replica-1 Compact Flash adapter which is really neat!

Played Space Invaders on a Challenger 2P, talked to Eliza on a CP/M terminal too ;-)

I have to say, the Infoage center is coming along, the main hall is finished and restored exactly the way it was in the 40's/50's and looks great, the other section is coming along and shaping up (fresh drywall in place in a few sections.... Infoage has got a lot of potential and is going to be something really great!)

Chuck Peddle's trans-global Skype-Videoconference was a BLAST!!!! He tells a good tale, I think he was a little too forgiving of Jack Tramiel during his Commodore days, but Chuck told a very compelling history of the MOS days up into the pre-C64/VIC days...

At that point, this couldn't have been staged any better --- the videoconferencing server suddenly BSoD'd!!!! Very fitting ending to a great video-conference !

Not to be outdone, the other Commodore Alumni shared a 30th anniversary cake with the crowd and put some truly eye popping drool-factor eye candy out on display like proto's of the VIC's, 64's and the all elusive, mythical C64 LCD Laptop that was shown at the 1985 CES, I took lots and lot of pictures, that was worth it alone!

Sellam picked a fight with some computer equipment... and lost! His 3" butterfly stitched gash right between his black eyes was evidence that vintage computers may be old, but they pack a mean wallop !!!

Jason from BBS Documentary was on-hand, showing his video and making rounds as he works on his next great masterpiece - Text Adventures, which I think will be just as great as his BBS work...

After the show, I think 50 to maybe 60 of us essentially took over the entire back of the local Chili's and proceeded to make this continuous 100' long table out of all the tables in the area, that must've been one scary bill at the end of the night!!! :)

Thanks to everyone who exhibited, came out and especially to Evan & Co and Sellam for making another memorable event for all of us to get together, geek-out/nerd-out for the whole day, have a lot of fun, share great stories, swap advice and tips, laugh, smile and enjoy, thanks!!!


Curt
 
Cameron wrote on the cbm-hackers mailing list that the Commodore (*) LCD prototype may be the last one around, which would make it quite one of a kind.

It would've been fun to go there, like Hans travelling from Germany.

(*) As far as I understand, it doesn't have much in common with the C64 in particular.
 
Evan's take on VCF East

Evan's take on VCF East

Hola, collectors!

I just got home from VCF East 4.0 … of course I’m biased, but what a great weekend!

Around ¼ of the exhibitors came Friday night afternoon/evening to get ready. This year we expanded the venue from one room to two. But, the second room is still VERY under construction. Some of our volunteers were literally still installing sheetrock that morning. So we had to use some yellow caution tape, but it added character. :)

Friday night was bar trip #1 … I drove back to my hotel safely was but very, very tired waking up early Saturday.

For Chuck Peddle’s videocon Saturday morning, the weakest part of our internet connection was the wifi … or so I thought! Turns out, the wifi worked great, as did Skype. Chuck spoke to us for an hour+ … then he got an strong round of applause … then we were about to begin audience Q&A.

All was fine until that part. Until our videocon server went BSOD!! We couldn’t even get it to reboot in “safe mode” … so we emailed Chuck from my cell phone, who said he had to get going anyway, but that anyone with questions could email him. Okay then!

Bil Herb, Bob, Russell, and Dave Haynie took their turns next; lots more great stories and they brought many prototypes to show us, including the famous Commodore LCD. They even hung around out exhibit hall after the panel and after some chocolate chickenhead cake. One of them, Haynie, joined us for the official VCF Dinner that night.

Speaking of dinner: the bill was $555.58. If only someone hadn’t drank that last three cents of beer…!

Today was just as much fun. We had how-to lectures, we learned the history of CPM, we heard all about Jeri E.’s toy-making experiences and there’s a picture of someone posing next to our museum’s chip collection. Meanwhile the collecting guru Sellam told some secrets … which I’m not going to share here … except for this one: when pushing an 8-foot-tall rack, be alert for unstable monitors on top. (Hopefully there won’t be a scar.)

My LEAST favorite part of any VCF is tearing down at the end of the weekend. But it had to be done. To ease out of the weekend while keeping out good mood, I went to dinner with Hans and Sellam, had a few beers, and … well it’s been a while since I drank three nights in a row.

Anyway, the show was terrific. Peddle’s unique hour-long lecture, 20-ish exhibits, attendance in the triple figures, and we even gave a few museum tours. Heck, one guy came all the way from New Zealand.

Pics and hopefully some video will be posted soon.

Patrick: I now pass the baton to you!
 
VCF East Audio - Hear Commodore Engineers

VCF East Audio - Hear Commodore Engineers

I have some audio from Saturday's conference panel uploaded for those interested, highlighted by legends Chuck Peddle, Bil Herd, Bob Russell and Dave Haynie.

Check it out here: http://armchairarcade.com/neo/ under "Exclusive VCF East Audio - Hear Commodore Engineers Chuck Peddle, Bil Herd, Bob Russell, Dave Haynie and more!".

I'll post the photos I took soon.
 
For the record, I had an awesome time at VCF East 2007. In fact, such a good time that I hardly took any pictures. :-(

The highlights for me were (in no particular order): Chuck Peddle's live presentation via video-link from Sri Lanka, Sellam's presentation on how he got that big gash complete with stick-figure illustrations, taking over a large section of Chili's, sitting up til all hours chatting in the hotel lobby, trying to figure out why all those cops were suddenly in the hotel lobby, Andy Molloy's Antartic Kaypro exhibit and chatting over hotdogs out on the front lawn. Sadly, I missed Jeri Ellsworth's presentation, but she did autograph my DTV (does that make me a "fan boy"?).

It was good to see old friends again and make some new ones. I wasn't sure there'd really be enough stuff to fill two whole days, but looking back, somehow 2 days didn't seem like enough time either.

I'll certainly be back next year. I'd better get started on my new exhibit. :)

Andy
 
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