• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Setting up a local vintage computing club

G

gladders

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
35
Location
London
Hi all,

I've been toying with the idea of setting up a local club to do with vintage computers. I live in a medium-sized town in southeast England. Just wondering if it's something others have done and if it's feasible?

If so, how should it be organised? I'm open to all ideas. Presentations/chats? Or something more laid back like just drinking and talking and letting things happen their own way? Any success stories or words of caution? Bringing actual machines would risk theft/damage and require permission from the venue to use, I would guess, and what would I do with them there anyway, lol

It sounds like a fun idea but I have little idea where to begin right now. It could be ridiculous and not worth doing if course.

Cheers :)
 
We have a local one in my area; while I am not part of the organising team I can give you a fair idea of how it works.

A venue is hired (local hall, but you could use a sports centre, church etc) once a month for about 5hrs on a Friday night.

Part of the venue hire includes folding tables and chairs. The organisers arrive 1hr early and set up tables and chairs around the place for the computers, along with a few extension cords for power. They also set up a projector/screen out the front for demonstrations or perhaps people playing some sort of multiplayer game on a console. People who are displaying computers arrive 30 mins early and set up on said tables. We are told to bring power cords and power boards so there are enough power sockets to go around.

Anyone who comes to the event are asked to pay about $2usd each for entry to cover the hall rental fees. On average about 20-30 people come along so that covers most of the hall hire costs; I believe any deficit is covered by the organisers. When you are starting out prepare to pay your own money to get these events running. It will take months if not years to get such an endeavour to break even. The costs for rental are generally reasonable (i.e. $70-$100 for an event); however over 10-12 events per year they do add up.

The events are run in 3 different ways depending on what the organisers want to do. The simplest is to bring along whatever you have got; everyone looks around and has a go on each of the systems. Slightly more complicated is the themed nights; people are encouraged to bring along a certain genre or type of system (but any system is still allowed through the door, so it's still kind of bring what you have got). The 3rd way is the same as the 'themed nights' but includes a talk and presentation; plus a bit of a show and tell of each system to the entire group. The only thing I don't like about the 3rd way is that the talks are very genre specific; in the case of our meetings they are pretty much always Amiga, Commodore or Amstrad. I am more of a PC person so I don't get a lot out of them; however I think others do so it's still not a bad idea.

The hardest part by far is getting the event advertised and getting people to come along. The only reason it works in our area is because it started as a somewhat online 'users group' years ago. People only really know about it due to word of mouth; and even then it took probably a year for the event to grow from 5-6 people from the original online group to 20-30. The only reason I found out is a friend saw it somewhere on social media. If that word of mouth didn't occur I would still have no idea it even existed.

As for theft risk I would say it's minimal. Part of the hall hire agreement would include a damage clause; I would say any intentional damage must be covered by the organisers. That aspect is very region specific; I would suggest you speak to whoever is hiring out your venue of choice and see what the terms and conditions are.
 
Last edited:
g4ugm said:
I have tried in Manchester with little success. Tried both talks and laid back. There are retro-gaming events but gaming has never interested me...
Click to expand...

Most people go along for the nostalgia aspect. Games will get people through the door; however you would be surprised how many are still interested in hardware. You just need to get them talking about it.
 
As an club with official mission (keeping cultural heritage, teach/show interested visitors our systems) our club has the e.V. status (Eingetragener Verein, registered society) which has some benefits in german law. So for example we get location for free from the home town of the club. 4 to 5 times a year we have a class room in an ex school where about 40-50 peoples have space, and once a year we get the cultural hall of the town, there we have space for about 100 peoples (there is even double space, but not enough tables and chairs), which then comes not only from region, but also far from other parts of Germany or even abroad.

Our large convention is called Retrolution and we even contact local newspapers, local television station that at least they put the event in their public events calendards. So we even get some visitors, not much, but some. Mot come to visit, some even donate old systems what is better than they got scrapped.

We usually don't have themes on our conventions, everybody can bring what he wants. Sometimes, for special historic events, some peoples try to bring something matching. So once we had about 15 Commodore SX-64 on space because of his 30th anniversary. For 30th birthday of Apple Mac, there were also many, plus my Atari 5020ST running a Mac emulator... On each event you can be sure that there are at least some C64 and Amiga, all others are more or less regulary present. This also includes gaming consoles from VCS 2600 over all kinds of classic handhelds until the PS1/XBox-1 era. Also proffessional systems like old CP/M systems, PCs, portables, electronic (video) typewriters, etc... are there some times.

Some of the club also organize a gaming league, they always choose a simple to play game with shourt rounds (like Hexacon, Bomberman, etc.) where everybody can play and collect points, and at the end of the year the first places win something. On our yearly once taking place big event which we call "Retrolution!" this year we started to have workshops and presentations to specific topics. This year we had the topics "setting up an ATARI ST/TT with harddisk and some usefull software/drivers/patches/...", "Amiga-bridgeboards", "restaurating classic computers", "Using DOS on ATARI 400/800/XL/XE series". On the Retrolution we even have some stage acts, this year for example two guys which made impressive music on Nintendo Gameboys and a live internet TV station which made their live Talkshow on space.

The club has also a toolbox and a cablebox, so repairing systems on place, also from visitors is possible and if someone forgot generic cables, adapters, there is maybe something in the cablebox.

If you want to get impressions of our meetings go to the following link and click on the HomeCon and Retrolution events. http://forum.homecon.org/gallery/index.php/Gallery/
 
Thanks guys, this is really useful! I think the hall hire with stands is likely the way to go eventually although I'm not in a position to afford it right now. Doesn't sound impossible in the long run though. Might start out as simply meeting in a pub as a casual thing and see what interest there is before formalising it, perhaps.
 
Yes, that's a way to start, there are a lot of such reguar tables which are held in pubs or restaurants here in Germany, small special interest groups or regional meetings of classic computer enthusiasts. To find the peoples, you should open discussions in classic computer forums for any brands/models which are used in your area. Also if british computer magazines have classic computing articles on their website, join the online discussion and advertise for your events. A good start is also, if you already know some peoples in your area.
 
Last edited:
Very hard but in London is should be feasible. Lots of people there. Advertise on www.meetup.com (in case that is a thing in the UK), www.amibay.com, www.vcfed.org, www.cpu-world.com and any other platforms that may be out there.

When I lived on LI, NY I successfully started an Axis & Allies board game club that is still active. I advertised online and with flyers in board game stores on LI, NY. A boardgame store (closed since: very hard to make $) sponsored us with their location.

In my home town in NL I used to a member of the computer club. Good memories. http://www.computerclubvenray.nl Still active. I should drop in next time I am visiting NL. They meet weekly. Granted: clubs are a big thing of NL culture. Not so much here in FL. I tried starting a Monopoly club in my town here in FL but it failed. My boardgaming / computer game club in NL (0478 Gamers) is still going strong after 3 decades. Even the NL Axis & Allies Federation I started is still alive and plays monthly / quarterly.
 
gladders said:
Thanks guys, this is really useful! I think the hall hire with stands is likely the way to go eventually although I'm not in a position to afford it right now. Doesn't sound impossible in the long run though. Might start out as simply meeting in a pub as a casual thing and see what interest there is before formalising it, perhaps.
Click to expand...

Rooms can be had for free. Many HackSpaces and FabLabs have spaces you can loan for free. Whilst MeetUP seems popular its expensive. If you can find some one with a MeetUp account who could set a meeting up.
 
Meetup costs can be covered by membership / attendance fees. The whole point of meetup and other sites is to get the word out and attendance up (which increases more attendance / name recognition) and increases revenue. Marketing like everything else.
 
This thread got me wondering about starting one round here. In this part of the USA, though, it's geography that's the killer. Curtis and I are the only real hobbyists in the immediate area that I know of and everywhere else is a fair trek along very boring roads.

There seems to be an active scene in Dallas, though, so I might try going to some of those events - it's under 400 miles away. And I know there's a retro gaming scene in OKC, so there's bound to be a vintage computing scene there, too.

Maybe something in Elk City, OK? That's what the hams do and it pulls in people from the OKC metro area and the Texas panhandle, being roughly in the middle.
 
When we started MARCH, which eventually became VCFed, we had an impromptu computer festival in a racquetball court within the Trenton Computer Festival. That's how it all started. Maybe you know of an uncoming local event, like a Maker Faire or general "computer show and sale" or hamfest near by. Get as many people as you can to set up a table or two of exhibits to demo the concept of what you wish to do, sell a few things even to attract others to your group that way.
b
 
I’ve been wanting to get a club going in the Eugene/ Springfield Oregon area. I know there are a few vintage computer users in and around. If possible, I would love to set up something where we could meet once or twice a month. So, if anyone has anything to share, please feel free to offer any kind of help with ideas, comments, or concerns. I would love to hear from anyone.

Many thanks

Chiao
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top