Upcoming Repair Workshops

January 6 & 7 @ InfoAge Signup Here

January 27 & 28 @ System Source Signup Here

February 17 @ Kennett Classic RSVP here

Friday night 2/16 (load in and set up). Repair Workshop = All day Saturday, Feb 17th.
Address: 115 S Union St, Kennett Square, PA 19348 (Across the street from Kennett Classic museum).
Additional details as we get closer to the event.

Check out these great vendors at VCF East 2022!

  • Jeff’s Vintage Electronics – S100 boards, 8 bit trainers, Apple ][ parts, computer terminals, electronic components, miscellaneous vintage computer parts.
    • Jeff’s Vintage Electronics
    • Tucson, AZ
    • E-mail: jeffs.vintage.electronics@gmail.com
  • Francis Bernier – Commodore 64 related accessories. Website: http://3dpxl.com/
  • Eli Tomlinson – Vintage computer software – C64, Amiga, Apple II, DOS. Website: https://elisoftware.org/
  • RETRO Innovations – Jim Brain – Contemporary Components for Classic Computers: Commodore, TI, TRS-80, and more. Website: https://go4retro.com/
  • Johan Grip – C128 Neo Website https://c128.se/

 

VCF East 2021 was a great success!

I got a lot of positive feedback about our successful show. I heard from people in person as well as through our mailing list and websites such as Hackaday and a mention in article interviewing Michael Tomczyk.

I’m the showrunner for VCF East 2021 and I want first of all thank all of the exhibitors for their great displays. The World of IBM exhibit room was out of this world! Thanks to all the organizers of this exhibit to make a truly unique exhibit space when they took over an entire exhibit room!

I want to thank all the great speakers which was a fantastic lineup and will be hard to beat in subsequent years.
Thank you to all of the volunteers, especially the Sea Cadets who really filled in all the gaps for supporting our show. I couldn’t have run such a successful show without all the great volunteers.
Our A/V crew brought us up to a whole new level with Ethan, Andy and their crew. It was such a fantastic upgrade from the amateurish and crude days where we had setup our personal cameras, pressed record and walked away. These guys truly look like professionals with the lighting, OBS setup with multiple camera angles, slide view, etc. They even setup an overflow room when the main room filled up.
Alex did an awesome job in consignment which is a very tough job. We had 10 times more space than in previous years. There was a high volume of buying and selling. I recommend that everyone get there early next year as this stuff goes fast!
Corey ran the front desk and did a great job of training all the new people volunteering there. Lots of changes and improvements there this time. Everyone seemed to notice how efficient and better the front desk was.
I thank Drew for the awesome new program book design. It is a superior upgrade to previous years and people noticed.
And finally I want to thank all those people who helped out in many ways behind the scenes and in every corner of the show where the volunteers couldn’t be. Together we make this a festival of the vintage community where we come together in fellowship, fun and good old fashioned nerdiness!
Here’s looking forward to seeing everyone at VCF East 2022 which will be on April 22, 23, 24!
==Jeff Brace

Live Streaming during VCF East 2021

Due to the unforeseen circumstances of our planned upgrade from cable modem to FIOS availability, VCF East 2021 live video streaming will be offered for *free* on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/VintageComputerFederation501c3 Check this page for any last minute updates: https://vcfed.org/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-virtual-show/

We will stream most, but not all of the speakers and classes live during the show– however the bandwidth limits may impact their quality. Your mileage may vary.

We ask that you consider donating to the Vintage Computer Federation. These funds will help us continue our work of preserving and sharing computer history. It will also enable us to improve our infrastructure so we can offer high quality video streaming in the near future, among other awesome improvements to our facilities. You can send donations to paypal@vcfed.org or a check to our mailing address: P.O. Box 417, Eatontown, NJ 07724

Discord will be available for live discussion during the streams. Here is our server invitation: https://discord.gg/32maJ6gddU

For the 2022 show we will have more bandwidth and be able to offer a more advanced selection of options.

=========================================
Jeff Brace
Vice President & Board Member
Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner
Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity

VCF West Updates!

Please note that VCF West is happening as planned.  The Computer History Museum recently announced that they will be reopening to the public on September 1st.  This is for their exhibits.  Their rental space, such as the one the VCF is using, will be open earlier and VCF West will go on as planned on August 7th and 8th.

We will be closing Exhibit Registrations immediately after the July 4th weekend.  All registrations must be completed by July 6th to be accepted.

Please note: We have the opportunity to support analog phone lines at this year’s event.  Please let me know if that is something you want to take advantage of.

Speaker schedules and other particulars will be announced shortly.

VCF West 2021 call for exhibitors

Hello folks,

VCF West is scheduled, as always, for the first weekend in August. That will be the 7th and 8th this year. We have the full second floor of the Computer History Museum booked!

As of right now things are looking fairly good for an in-person show. The CHM is projecting that they should be open in July, vaccine distribution is accelerating and should approach universal availability within the next few months and, overall, signs of pending normalcy are on the rise.

Nothing is certain, of course, but I am cautiously optimistic that we can have a show so I would like to start planning for it.

With that in mind, exhibit registrations are open at VCF West Exhibit Registration

Please consider signing up to show off your favorite toys! We have a lot of space to fill and I’m hoping that there is a lot of pent up demand since we were purely virtual last year.

Speaking of virtual, we will be doing a hybrid show. The Hahn Auditorium will be used for live talks when we have speakers in the building, but we’ll run video presentations of exhibits, talks and classes in between those. If you are out of town or can’t attend in person please consider submitting a video! Heck, we could use your video even if you’re planning on being there in person!

As always we are actively seeking speakers and classroom instructors for the show. If you are able, or if you know of someone who would be a good fit, please let me know.

Also, as usual, we’re always looking for volunteers to help out with show preparations and on show days.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns and please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested.

Thank You and All the Best,

Erik Klein

erik@vcfed.org

Keep the lights on at InfoAge (GoFundMe fundraiser)

Vintage Computer Federation has initiated a fundraiser for InfoAge operating expenses. As with many museums across the country InfoAge was hit hard by lower visitor numbers, yet the expenses keep coming. For those that don’t know, VCF leases space for our museum and warehouse from InfoAge. So we are looking to help them as it benefits us and all the other museums under the InfoAge umbrella to stay in business.

Our doors stay open as a result of the volunteers’ efforts, the donations made by visitors to InfoAge, as well as grants and other fundraising efforts.

As you can imagine, the long closures, limited capacity and public concerns that have come as a result of COVID-19 have seriously hurt our ability to raise money and continue to maintain and improve the Camp Evans Historical Landmark Site and the museums that occupy it’s spaces.

Starting with the resident non-profits, we are pooling our resources to keep the doors to our home here at Camp Evans/InfoAge open and continue to share this wonderful place with the public. But we need your help to make it through these difficult times.

ANY donation will help make an impact.

How will your donation help? Your donations will assist InfoAge in paying for daily operating expenses (like keeping the electricity on!) repairs and maintenance and installation of new exhibits just to name a few!

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.

We set a goal of $10,000 to go towards operating expenses to keep the lights on. You can donate by going here: https://gofund.me/f72ab5f0.