VCF West This Weekend

Posted on by Erik Klein Category: Vintage Computer Festival
The 2021 Vintage Computer Festival West will happen as planned this weekend, August 7th and 8th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
We have dozens of awesome exhibits and an amazing schedule filled with great speakers as well as PDP-1 and 1401 demos at the Museum.
Tickets are available for pre-purchase or may be purchased at the door.
Please note: As of midnight last night Santa Clara County is instituting an indoor mask requirement for all people, vaccinated or not.
This means that everyone at VCF West needs to be masked during the event.  The only exceptions are for people speaking on stage or those with proven medical necessity, including communications for the hearing impaired.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Repair workshop @ System Source in Maryland

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: Repair Workshops

The July Repair Workshop will be at System Source.
The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer workshop on Saturday July 10th and Sunday July 11th 2021 at:
System Source Computer Museum
338 Clubhouse Road,
Hunt Valley, MD  21031
A few pictures from our pre-COVID event:  Details below!

Sign up here

Plenty of free parking, short walk from Baltimore’s light rail (Gilroy Road Stop)
We will open at 9:00 AM on Saturday July10th, 2021 and will lock up by 7:30 PM.
We will go to dinner afterwards.
If you are interested in dinner, then please indicate on the signup form.
We will open at 9:00 AM on Sunday July 11th and lock up at 5:00 PM

Accommodations:  Try https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g41196-Hunt_Valley_Maryland-Hotels.html

Feel free to talk with others about sharing a room.
Food:   There are plenty of restaurants within a short drive.   We will have a catered Indian buffet on Saturday at cost ($12.00?) and catered Barbecue ($12.00?) on Sunday for those who sign up.
We will feature tours of the museum throughout both days and several mini-workshops:

  • Retrobright workshop (bring your yellowed plastics)
  • Pre-industrial computing class –  Learn to use a slide rule, and various types of Abaci
  • Hot Metal Typesetting (3500 lb word processor
  • Preview/contribute to new exhibit IBM PC@40  We will have most of the IBM PCs (and predecessors) load up with various operating systems and software

If you need a machine to work on, please let me know.  We have lots of computers awaiting restoration!
Let others know what you are working on the SIGNUP SHEET
If you have unusual needs, (220 Volts, fork lift, etc please email Bob Roswell at museum@syssrc.com

Bob Roswell
broswell@syssrc.com
https://museum.syssrc.com
410-771-5544 x 4336

VCF East 2021 Exhibitor Registration is open!

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: east, Vintage Computer Festival

Sorry for the delay, but we wanted to make sure everything was in place as we start gearing up for VCF East 2021!

Our assumption is that we will be doing a live show with few restrictions as things are looking really good in New Jersey and are expected to be even better by October.

This is the link for registration of your exhibit for VCF East:

Over the next few weeks we will be sending out updates on VCF East 2021. We already have some exciting speakers lined up for the show and we have some changes to the show that I hope everyone will find exciting and make it a more festive Festival.

=========================================
Jeff Brace
Vice President & Board Member
Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner
Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity
http://www.vcfed.org/
vcfeast AT vcfed.org.

VCF West 2021 Annoucement

Posted on by Erik Klein Category: Vintage Computer Festival

We are pleased to announce that the Vintage Computer Festival West is returning to a live show format with this year’s show.  Last year’s virtual event was great, but it’ll be good to get back together in person and, of course, we can have a consignment space at a live event!  The event will be held on August 7th and 8th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the State of California will be removing almost all Covid restrictions by mid-June and the Computer History Museum will be reopening to rental events by July.
This year’s show is already looking to be an awesome one with some exceptional speakers and exhibits already signed up to participate.
But we’re not done yet!  We still have more space to fill and more time for speakers willing to share their knowledge and experiences with the community or classroom activities for those interested in training others.  Virtual exhibits and talks are also being accepted for those who can’t make the trip.
Exhibit registrations are open here.
Please email the show coordinator, Erik Klein for virtual exhibits or any talks.
Thank you!

VCF Southeast 8.0

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: Events, Vintage Computer Festival

VCF Southeast is back!

August 20-22, 2021.
This year they’re at a NEW LOCATION!
They will be at the Marriott Renaissance Waverly in Atlanta, GA.

This year they’re co-located with the Southern Fried Gaming Expo (who are sponsoring their space!)

There will be Speakers, Exhibits, Hands-on Activities, Consignment, Vendors, Concessions,

For complete information, exhibit registration and updates, please follow this link: https://vcfed.org/festivals/otherevents/vintage-computer-festival-southeast/

VCF Swap Meet!

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: Events

THE SWAP MEET IS A GO FOR SATURDAY APRIL 24! 

GREAT WEATHER IS EXPECTED!

DATE: April 24, 2021
TIME: 8AM to 2PM
ADDRESS:
Parking Lot on Monmouth Boulevard, Wall, NJ
Across from InfoAge Museum and Brookdale College
GPS location: https://goo.gl/maps/m1AAS4UUziGXnoPeA ( 40.1848793, -74.0630848 )
Satellite Map: Click Here
Street Map: Click Here
WEBSITE: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap–meet
EMAIL: swapmeet@vcfed.org
PHONE: 732-722-5015
VENDOR COST is per space. First space is $20, each additional space is $10.
You can park in your space and sell out of your vehicle and/or set a table(s) up in your space behind your vehicle. Space size is normally 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. We are increasing that due to Covid-19 to 16 feet by 20 feet.
FREE for BUYERS!
SEND PAYMENT TO: paypal@vcfed.org (FRIENDS AND FAMILY OPTION)
Write in the note section:
[your name]
VCF Swap Meet 4/24/2021
Number of spaces:
SWAP MEET VENDOR SIGNUP: https://forms.gle/kNCL8WVxTQcnw5nA6
* Reservation doesn’t guarantee sales.
* The Vintage Computer Federation is only providing a space, vendors must bring their own tables, tents, cars.
* In case of inclement weather, money paid will be refunded.
* All items that you bring must be taken with you. No items are to be left behind.
* Porta Potty on site.
The same info can be found here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap–meet
EMAIL: swapmeet@vcfed.org
AFTER THE SWAP MEET, COME VISIT OUR VCF MUSEUM @ INFOAGE!

We are open from 1PM to 5PM: https://vcfed.org/vcf-museum

The Vintage Computer Federation Museum is located nearby the swap meet and is part of InfoAge Science and History museums.

InfoAge and VCF Museums are open every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from 1PM to 5PM

InfoAge museums: infoage.org.

Jeff Brace

Vote for the 2021 Vintage Computer Festival T-shirt Design!

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: Events, Schwag, Vintage Computer Festival

There were 5 designs submitted for this year’s Vintage Computer Festival t-shirt.
Please remember that these are only concept art and not the final product!

Please vote for the one that you like the best!
The one with the most votes will be selected as the new t-shirt design for 2021!

Go to this link to see the designs and to vote HERE

VCF East and VCF Berlin are this weekend!

Posted on by mbbrutman Category: Events

This weekend enjoy two different VCF events!

VCF East (our flagship event!) will take place on Saturday and Sunday between 9:00AM and 6:00PM Eastern Daylight Time. This year it is a virtual event – in addition to streaming the event some exhibitors will be on site at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, NJ. The theme for the event this year is the 6502 microprocessor, remembering Chuck Peddle and celebrating the 45th anniversary of its creation. Be sure to check out our schedule page with info on how to watch the show.

Also plan on enjoying VCF Berlin, taking place on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 10:00AM and 8:00PM Central European Summer Time. Enjoy virtual exhibits, talks and workshops and a special exhibit on “Collecting Computers as a Hobby.” (VCF Berlin is run by a different group of great people and we are happy to see VCF goodness there!)

VCF East 2020 Virtual Only – Oct 10 & 11

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: east, Events, Vintage Computer Festival

VCF East will be a virtual only show for 2020.

The dates for the live show will be October 10 & 11. Time will be from 9AM to 6PM.

We will be streaming to YouTube with the schedule to be released soon.

Exhibitors can submit a 5 to 10 minute video or show their exhibit in-person at InfoAge.

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/24CeNpKFDwVmLeMR9

Class Instructors can submit a 30 minute video on their how-to class.

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/kFhoGKuPBcSAWRHKA

I know that this will be a great disappointment to many. I had hoped that after 4 months that conditions would have improved to the point that the show could be in-person, but limitations in indoor capacity makes the effort to organize an in-person show prohibitive. We considered the time, effort, money and safety to make an in-person show.

But don’t despair! Our virtual hybrid show will still be a lot of fun!
We can still make the show great despite being a virtual hybrid.

VCF West, K-Fest and HOPE have shown that a fun show can still be created while being virtual.
THE GENERAL PUBLIC ISN’T ALLOWED AT THE SHOW.
Only staff and a handful of exhibitors will be there in-person

I will be sending out more details about our plans as we develop them.

VCF Museum reopening August 1, 2020

Posted on by Jeffrey Brace Category: Vintage Computer Federation Museum

The Vintage Computer Federation Museum will reopen starting August 1, 2020 as per InfoAge’s plan to reopen. InfoAge has a plan for everyone wearing masks, providing hand sanitizer, social distancing and controlling the volume of visitors, etc. They are following all the state and local guidelines for safety in regards to Covid-19. If you have any questions, then please let me know.