Official Rules: Free Pile Fabrication! Hack-a-Thon

VCF/MARCH Workshop – November 15, 2025
Location: Room 9010D, InfoAge Science Center
Time Frame: 2:00PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday

The scheduled time reflects a last-minute change in date for the event. Rules and other information will be updated in the next couple of weeks, so please come back to see the changes.

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🎯 Objective:

Create something useful, creative, or entertaining using items that were once unwanted… but now have a second chance at greatness. The goal is to repurpose, renew, or reimagine vintage tech into something better.

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⛺ Source of Materials:

• What’s left of the Free Pile from the recent VCF Swapmeet is the public source of materials. But due to the postponement of the event, some consideration will be made to allow alternate sources of material. Please come back to this page to see updates.
• Why? Because not everyone has a personal stash of vintage debris…
  And we all know the struggles of our better halves—or other family members—ahem, FORCING us to get rid of stuff they think is junk, but we were saving for the day it could finally fulfill its destiny.
• That said, you are welcome to bring parts (and useful junk) of your own. Just don’t bring any finished projects. The Hack-a-Thon is the time to plan and build your contest entry.
• Just remember: this contest is about rescuing the rejected, not flexing your pristine collection.
• Honor system applies. We trust you. Mostly. 🙂

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⏰ Timeline:

• Noon – 2PM: Setup, along with an opportunity to peruse and grab items that are still available in the remnants of the recent VCF Swapmeet Free Pile.
• 2:00 PM: Contest begins. All participants should be present in Room 9010D with their materials.
• 6:00 PM: Contest ends. All projects must be completed and ready for judging.
• Late arrivals are allowed, but keep in mind… the clock doesn’t wait. The later you arrive, the less time you’ll have to work your magic.
  (Yes, this is a gentle nudge to be on time. But we won’t shame you. Much.)

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🧰 Tools & Supplies:

• You may bring basic tools (screwdrivers, soldering irons, glue guns, etc.) and generic consumables (wire, tape, zip ties, etc.) to aid in fabrication.
• No plug-and-play wins. If you bring something and just turn it on, you’ll earn a shrug… not a prize.

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📦 Material Lock-In:

Once you begin working on your project, your source materials are locked in.

Bring everything you think you’ll need—from the Free Pile and your personal stash—before you start building. Why? Because it’s not fair to other participants (or even appropriate) to go scavenging mid-build like a retro-tech raccoon. The spirit of the contest is to start with what you’ve got and make something brilliant from it.

If you forgot a capacitor, a bracket, or that one weird connector you swore was in your toolbox… well, that’s part of the challenge. Plan wisely. Pack boldly. And fabricate fearlessly.

And what the heck. Let’s segue to the next topic…

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📦 Material Lock-OUT:

Once you’ve claimed your materials from the Free Pile, they’re yours. No give-backs! Once you start building, your parts are locked in, and whatever you don’t use becomes part of YOUR new collection, not ours. We won’t be reabsorbing leftovers, so choose wisely.

Think carefully about how much you want to work with versus how much you want to haul home. It’s not fair to other participants if you scoop up a trunkload of gear just to leisurely browse through it during the contest, only to use a tiny fraction while others go without.

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📦 Starting Condition Matters:

The disposition of your source items at the start of your project becomes the baseline for judging.

If you begin with turn-key working items (and yes, we know the Free Pile occasionally coughs up functioning gear), make sure you transform them into something even more spectacular than they already are.

The more you elevate… the more you impress.

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🧠 Judging Criteria:

Projects will be evaluated based on:

• Creativity: Did you think outside the box… or build a better one?
• Purpose: Is it functional, clever, or surprisingly useful?
• Transformation: How far did you elevate the original junk?
• Presentation: Can you explain what it is, what it does, and why it matters?
• Resurrection: Did you breathe life into something so far gone it should’ve been buried with a floppy disk funeral?
  If your parts looked like they’d been through a flood, a fire, and a toddler with a screwdriver… and you got them working again… you’ll earn serious respect.
  Bonus points if the judges say, “Wait… that thing works now?”
• Glorious Failure: Even if it doesn’t work, does it sparkle with effort, imagination, and sheer audacity? A non-functional masterpiece still deserves admiration—especially if it makes us laugh, gasp, or say, “Well, they really went for it.”

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🧑‍⚖️ Judges:

• The lead judge is ME (yes, you know who).
• Judges may not compete in the contest.
• There is currently an open call for volunteer judges. If you’d rather critique than create, step right up.
• Bribes are strictly prohibited. Beer is not a bribe. It’s just good manners. 🍻

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🚫 Cheating, Shenanigans & Other Questionable Behavior

Let’s be clear…
This contest runs on trust, duct tape, and the shared understanding that the Free Pile is where dreams (and floppy drives) go to be reborn.

Cheating is discouraged. Unless it’s funny.

But seriously… participants are expected to begin the contest with a collection of parts, not a finished product. The spirit of the event is fabrication—taking raw, unwanted components and transforming them into something new. If your project arrives ready to boot, blink, or play chiptunes before the contest clock even starts… you’ve missed the point.

Here’s what might raise eyebrows (and affect your score accordingly):

• Plug-and-play entries: If you bring a working device, turn it on, and call it a day… expect minimal enthusiasm from the judges.
• Pre-built projects: If your entry looks suspiciously like it was assembled last Tuesday in a well-lit garage with a latte nearby… judges may grade accordingly. Bonus points only if it’s hilarious.
• Questionably curated parts: We know the Free Pile occasionally delivers pristine treasures. That’s fine. What’s less fine is quietly slipping in items from your personal collection that look like they’ve been stored in velvet-lined drawers next to your mint-condition punch cards.
  If your parts are unusually clean, rare, or oddly specific, be ready to explain their origin. Judges aren’t here to interrogate you… but they are here to assess fairness.
  If it’s Free Pile gold, great—just make sure you transform it. If it’s personal stash platinum, make it unrecognizably awesome.
• Excessive outside materials: If your build looks like it came from your private museum… judges may adjust their scoring to reflect the spirit of the challenge.

Honor system applies. We trust you. Mostly. 🙂

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📸 Documentation & Publicity:

The event administrator will be taking photos of projects before and after fabrication. These may be used for:

• Judging purposes
• Social media posts
• Publicity for future events
• And possibly to immortalize your creation in the annals of retro computing glory

Photo Release Disclaimer:
By participating, you agree to be internet-famous for at least 12 hours.
If your project is photogenic, lean in. If it’s shy… too bad—it’s going viral.

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👥 Participation & Contest Validity:

• Pre-registration is required for this event. Add your name to the Hack-a-Thon tab list on this online spreadsheet: November 2025 Workshop and Hack-a-Thon sign-up form
• We’ll take down participant names at the start—not to track your every move, just to know who’s in the game.
• That said… if only one participant shows up by the official start time, we won’t declare a winner by default. The contest will be cancelled, not forfeited. The prize will remain unclaimed and possibly used for a future Hack-a-Thon attempt, and the lone builder will be celebrated—but not crowned.
• We’re looking for at least two participants to make the contest official… but hopefully many more. The more minds, the more madness, the more magnificent the salvage.

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🏆 Prize:

The winner will receive:

• A curated Apple II+ system
  (includes Disk II card, drive, and Language card)
  • Runs Oregon Trail
  • Monitor not included (unless we, ourselves, manage to scavage one off the Free Pile to put with it)
• And of course: bragging rights until the next Hack-a-Thon.

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💬 Final Notes:

• This contest is about fun, camaraderie, and creative resurrection.
• If it was tossed aside, it’s your job to prove it still has value.
• Let your imagination shine… and may your fabrication be fabulous.

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🧷 The Scavenger’s Oath

I solemnly swear…

To honor the junk, cherish the scraps, and uphold the sacred spirit of the Free Pile.
I shall not covet my neighbor’s pristine drive controller card, nor sneak in last-minute parts when no one’s looking.

I will begin with chaos, end with creativity, and fabricate with flair. If I cheat, it will be funny. If I win, it will be earned. And if my creation catches fire… I’ll call it a feature.