VCF PNW 2018 is now officially a memory. Nothing caught fire, so we could not hand out that award. We had a few glitches but overall, things went very well.

If you have pictures send them along and we’ll post them (and give you credit, of course …)

Thanks again to our exhibitors, speakers, and VCF volunteers for their effort, LC:M+L for giving us a place to make the magic happen, and Hackaday for helping to fund our adventure.

Michael Brutman
michael@vcfed.org or mbbrutman@brutman.com
Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2018 producer

It’s here! The inaugural Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest — we’ve been planning this for almost a year. The show is 10am-5pm this Saturday and Sunday at Living Computers: Museum+Labs, 2245 First Avenue South, Seattle, Washington. We are very excited about this new edition of the festival series. Please come check it out!

At the show you’ll find hands-on exhibits of historic computers from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, a consignment booth where you can buy or sell just about any vintage computing item, presentations on a variety of interesting topics, and much more. You can even purchase a Vintage Computer Federation mousepad or coffee mug.

Special thanks to our sponsor Hackaday and our supporters at the Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE History Center.

The first ever Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest (VCF PNW) starts Saturday February 10th. Come join us for a weekend filled with vintage computers, presentations, and some of the people who make up the community. The show is being held at Living Computers: Museum+Labs in Seattle, Washington. The museum is a great attraction by itself but on this weekend you can enjoy both the museum and the show for the same price of admission.

We have 20 exhibits ranging from original “old iron” to modern enhancements for old systems.  Exhibits are interactive and the exhibitors will be happy to spend time showing you their projects and talking to you. (See VCF PNW 2018 Exhibitors for the current list.)

Our six presenters will cover topics from the history (and future) of microprocessors to recent experiences while writing an emulator for a classic machine.  Don’t miss the live demonstration of the LC:M+L time-sharing systems or the panel discussion on restoration techniques used on DEC and HP systems.  (See VCF PNW 2018 Presenters for the full list.)

Are you looking to sell some of your vintage computing collection? Or are you interested in acquiring somebody else’s treasure? If so, VCF PNW 2018 will have a consignment area to help connect buyers and sellers of vintage computing equipment.  Click here for details.

Coming to Seattle for the first time? If so, check out our list of local attractions to visit while you are here.

We hope to see you at the show! More details can be found at the VCF PNW show home page.

Michael Brutman on behalf of VCFed.org

Winter is here, and so we at Vintage Computer Federation reflect on the year past, look excitedly to the new year ahead, and think of the many ways for more people to be involved.

Vintage Computer Federation is, at our heart, a user group. Our mission is to enable collectors/hobbyists and to spread awareness of the history of computing. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

We achieved many of our goals in 2017. Highlights include refreshing our computer museum with digital signage, interactive kiosks, and new artifacts; diving into a massive inventory project; making more of the collection available to restorers; beginning work on a hobby knowledge base; upgrading our museum infrastructure with 208/3-phase power; substantial progress on restoring our mid-1960s Univac mainframe; and announcing the inaugural Vintage Computer Federation Pacific-Northwest with our newest partner Living Computers: Museum+Labs scheduled for February 2018.

For 2018 we’d like to continue working on the inventory, knowledge base, and Univac projects; determine additional regions to expand the Vintage Computer Festival series; begin installation of our dial-up BBS service; offer a wider variety of classes/workshops; select additional exotic systems for restoration; and much more!

We do all this thanks to the hard work of volunteers and those who make contributions to our mission.

There are many ways you can help. At the VCF museum in Wall, New Jersey, we’re always looking for volunteers. We need docents, inventory specialists, and technical restoration experts. At the Vintage Computer Festival events in New Jersey, northern California, and now Seattle, we need volunteers in roles such as setup, class instructors, security, front desk, consignment booth, and cleanup. For the under-construction knowledge base, we’ll need subject-matter experts, and for the Vintage Computer Forum we could always use additional moderators. And of course, we always welcome your suggestions for new ways that we could serve the vintage computing community!

Behind-the-scenes, we ended our previous fiscal year 2016 with $8,368.51 and more than doubled the year-end amount to $20,765.79 this year. Our major expenses include general operations, event venue rental, forum hosting, insurance, rental trucks for large artifact rescue missions, museum improvements, artifact handling, and marketing. As with any growing organization, the more we engage in exciting new activities, so too do costs increase.

Please help us succeed in reaching our present and upcoming goals. Visit https://vcfed.org/contribute/ where you can make a tax-deductible donation. You can also share this post with friends and colleagues via email, social media, or a dot-matrix printout pinned to your company’s lunchroom corkboard. Another way you can help is by including us in your Amazon Smile purchases.

All feedback is welcome! Feel free to reach me by phone or email anytime.

On behalf of the Vintage Computer Federation, I wish you a joyous holiday season and fond moments of vintage computing!

Thank you.

Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! We’re @vcfederation or subscribe to our email announcement list.

Vintage Computer Federation is bringing the Vintage Computer Festival to the Pacific Northwest. The first VCF PNW will be held February 10th-11th, 2018 at Living Computers: Museum+Labs in Seattle, Washington. We are actively looking for exhibitors, speakers and volunteers.

For exhibitor information and registration please visit our exhibitor registration page. For general information about the show please visit the VCF PNW page.

If you have questions, suggestions or comments please contact VCF PNW producer Michael Brutman (michael@vcfed.org).

“Seeing the early equipment at VCF is an amazing experience… It touches on all the hopes and dreams of the time and the many efforts to achieve what others thought would never happen. It brings back memories of a revolution in the making… The people you meet at the VCF are amazing.” — Steve Wozniak, co-founder, Apple

Still not sold!? Come read what Al Alcorn (Atari), Lee Felsenstein (Homebrew Computer Club, Sol-20, Osborne), Gordon Bell (DEC PDP-8), Jon Titus (Mark-8), Bil Herd (Commodore 128), Dave Ahl (Creative Computing), John Dilks (Personal Computing ’76), and Michael Geselowitz (IEEE History Center) all said about VCF.

There is still time to sign up for an exhibit booth at Vintage Computer Festival West XII. The deadline is noon ET on Monday, July 17. Take your favorite vintage computer, software, or homebrew project out of the basement and bring it to VCF West to show off to the world! If you’re unsure or have questions, then email show producer Erik Klein (erik@vcfed.org).

Vintage Computer Federation is pleased to announce an expansion of the Vintage Computer Festival series to the Pacific Northwest.

The first VCF PNW will be held at Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle, Washington on February 10-11, 2018. Seattle is a rich and vibrant tech hub with beautiful scenery and every variety of rain possible, but it has been missing the Vintage Computer Festival experience. With the cooperation of the LCM+L we are fixing that by providing a weekend full of interesting exhibits and even more interesting people in what is already a great destination.

In the next few weeks we will put out more formal calls for exhibitors, volunteers, and speakers. If you would like to chat feel free to reach out to me at michael@vcfed.org.

Vintage Computer Federation is a national user group serving collectors, hobbyists, and anyone interested in the history of computing. More information about the Vintage Computer Federation can be found at vcfed.org. Living Computers: Museum + Labs provides a one-of-a-kind, hands-on experience with computer technology from the 1960s to the present. The LCM+L is online at livingcomputers.org.

Thank you,

Michael Brutman, on behalf of Vintage Computer Federation

Last summer we brought back Vintage Computer Festival West from the bit bucket. Now it’s almost time to do it again! The show is August 5-6 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Click here to learn all about exhibit registration and to reserve your spot.