Position Statement August Culbert

I have felt a magnetic attraction to and enthusiasm for technology my entire life. I began tinkering with computers when I was about five years old, and it only took me that long because that was when my parents finally relented and let me touch their then prized one and only computer, a Macintosh SE. During high school, after a stint of employment as an IT assistant at the local middle school, I started a technology consulting business that I operate to this day. I have always maintained a collection of “obsolete” systems I find interesting, either for reasons of technology or industrial design, or simple reverence that they helped my grow my skills into what they are today. I have been attending the Vintage Computer Federation’s events for a few years now, beginning with the swap meets and branching out into East, Festivus, and most recently, volunteering for MARCH.

Over the past year, in my managerial position as MARCH Infrastructure Specialist, I have tackled a multitude of projects. I made new electrical connections to realize this year’s past museum rearrangement spearheaded by the MARCH Chairman, Thomas. I have done quite a bit of work in our warehouse, overseeing selective demolition of the two BRAC-destroyed bathrooms in the warehouse to facilitate repairs to turn them into usable space. I ran new circuits to reactivate long disconnected lighting in those bathrooms, as well as to be able to accommodate an additional industrial portable AC unit during the summer. I secured the donation of gently-used central HVAC equipment that could be used to condition the warehouse in the future. I purchased and installed new dark-sky friendly color temperature lighting on the exterior of the building to make accessing the warehouse during the darker months of the year safer and easier. This is all in addition to assisting other managers with their duties. It is my belief that a prosperous club begins with good facilities in which to work, collaborate, and socialize and it is my hope that my efforts now and into the future will help achieve that.

I’ve also become involved with InfoAge in an effort to further a mutually beneficial relationship between us and the campus we call home. I was involved in establishing an IT committee at InfoAge and, as a member of that committee, I have been able to better communicate the needs of our organization to InfoAge’s Chief Technology Officer. I have made improvements in infrastructure such as expanding connectivity into building 9036 so that we could host consignment there during this past VCF East. I continue to make further improvements to InfoAge’s network infrastructure behind the scenes, creating the foundation for an extensible network infrastructure that can well serve InfoAge, MARCH, and the Vintage Computer Federation’s present and future needs.

I consider myself to be an interdisciplinary and cross domain technology professional. I aspire to continue to bring real world expertise to my efforts with MARCH. As an IT professional and as an enthusiast, I have wide experience in supporting, maintaining, and interfacing a variety of systems and platforms, from applications all the way down to the physical network infrastructure. As an AV and control integrator, I have experience between technology, facilities, and architecture, designing and integrating technology with buildings in a way that is harmonious to the environments within. In its efforts in expansion, I hope to help MARCH create a broad interactive, living, breathing museum space similar to that of the now defunct Living Computer Museum, combined with the carefully considered presentation of the Computer History Museum. We have big shoes to fill, and an important mission to carry on as computing history disappears more quickly than ever in the name of progress.