Author: Erik Klein

VCF East is in the books! Congratulations to everyone involved in this great event!

With that show put to bed, it’s time for us to turn our attention to the next big show, 3,000 miles to the West.

There will be a few notable changes to VCF West this year, including the following:

First, like last year, we’re still a Friday and Saturday show, with load in on Thursday.

This year we are partnering with the Computer History Museum to put on the show, so there will be some new opportunities opened up for everyone.

Primarily, there is now only one admission charge for the event, managed by the CHM front desk. We will be setting up ticket pre-sales and our VC Federation member discounts in the coming weeks. This admission will be for both VCF West and the Museum attractions so VCF attendees will be able to tour Revolution, Make Software and the like and Museum attendees will have full access to VCF Exhibits, Speakers, Consignment and the rest of the show.

Beyond that, we will be able to use more of the Museum. Once we have an idea as to what our exhibits will look like I will try to place some select exhibits in one or more of the downstairs spaces to highlight the show and to encourage visitors to spend time in the rest.

On that note, exhibit registration is now open for VCF West. We were just about at capacity last year so please bear in mind that I might have to limit tables and or exhibits this year. Maybe. Get your applications in early just to be sure!

We will also be hosting a Friday night meet and greet in the CHM Courtyard and in other parts of the open space downstairs. There will be food and drinks for purchase and an opportunity for everyone to relax after the first day of VCF while getting to know each other or just catching up.

The rest of the event will be as we know and love. Exhibits, speakers, consignment and tons of vintage fun!

We’re still signing up speakers, classroom instructors and volunteers. If you are interested please contact me! If you already have then hopefully I have gotten back to you. I am a bit behind, but feel free to remind me.

Hello and Happy Pi Day!

With VCF East coming up fast that is the current focus of the Federation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t multitask!

VCF West is scheduled to occur on August 2nd and 3rd (Friday and Saturday) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

This year’s show will be a little bit different than previous iterations as we are now a full partner with the CHM and not just a sponsored rental event. That will give us a bit more flexibility in how we use the space and should make the advertising for the show a whole lot better. It also means that there will be one admission price for both the event and the museum, taken at the CHM front desk.

We’re going to work on how to integrate our pre-sales and membership discounts into that in the coming months.

We have already started signing up speakers for the event but there is room for a whole lot more. Please contact me if you are interested in hosting a talk or if you know someone who would be.

As usual, we’d also like to use the classroom(s) for actual classes, if anyone wants to sign up to teach what you know. Again, please contact me with interest!

We are also hoping to host a gathering after we close the doors on Friday Night. We’ll use the patio area out back of the CHM, and maybe some of the indoor space, to let people eat, mingle and geek out.

As always, we’re going to need a lot of volunteers to help with the event. Please let me know if you’re willing to jump on board and share some of your time and enthusiasm for this show or for any other VCFed related events in the Bay Area. We’d love to do swap meets, meet and greets, repair workshops, etc. All we need is folks willing to take the lead… Please, again, contact me if you are willing.

Planning for VCF West 2023 is moving along nicely!  This is a good thing since there is less than a month left!

The show will take place on FRIDAY AUGUST 4th and SATURDAY August 5th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Please note that this year’s show is Friday and Saturday. There is no event on Sunday for 2023.

The Exhibitor list has been posted and registration is now closed. Amazingly, we have more exhibits than we’ve ever had before!

If you missed the deadline please contact us via the link on the Exhibitor page and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

For those already registered, look for an email containing our standard set of Exhibitor instructions in the coming days.

Our cast of Speakers is absolutely outstanding this year! This will be finalized along with a schedule in the very near future. Thanks to Bil Herd and others we have a packed speaker schedule with tons of exciting talks!

We have a new space for Consignment this year!  We’ll have lots more room and a more streamlined system. This will, however, require some extra help from those participating in consignment. The instructions on our page will be updated very soon.

Thank you all for the encouragement and support.  This show can’t happen without you all.