( Sent on behalf of Jason Timmons <[email protected]> )
Hello vintage computer fans! According to the official vcfmw.org counter, we have just shy of five days to go until the 12th annual Vintage Computer Festival Midwest opens. Of course, the planning and work to make the show happen started months ago and we are in "cram mode" now as we make our final preparations. There are badges to print, shirts to retrieve, tables to wrangle, bins to pack and last-minute displays to tweak into working order. There are also email updates to send! THANKS: First we want to thank the many donors - 29 at last count - who help make VCF Midwest happen. As a community-supported event, these donations are crucial in helping us pay for the hotel space, insurance and all of the necessary supplies to put on an event like ours. We thank you heartily! Thanks also to all of those who contribute in other ways, including our guest speakers, planners and contributors, and everyone who volunteers with the increasingly complex set-up and take-down. The show is growing every year and we could not have it without you. And on the topic of the hotel - our relationship with the Holiday Inn of Elk Grove Village continues to be mutually beneficial. As of last week, we've booked 64 rooms for them, over 130 nights of occupancy. Wow! THE FREE PILE: If you haven't heard of the Free Pile, it's exactly what it sounds like. There will be a big pile of stuff outside the main show entrance. Leave an item(s), take an item. Just make sure it's all gone as of 3pm Sunday! You never know what you'll find there - but the hot tip is: no printers! THE AUCTION: Do you have something that's just a little too nice for the Free Pile? Then consider donating it to the VCF Midwest Auction! This will be our third year holding the auction, an event that has proved to be an exciting highlight to our Saturday afternoon. Typically running 90 minutes or more, our amateur auctioneer (aka your humble email author) grinds through an always surprising array of old and not-so-old items graciously donated by the local vintage computing community. Not only a theatrical spectacle but a great fundraiser for the show. Clean out your basement/garage/shed and help support next year's VCFMW! THE BADGE: In an addition to our usual free paper badges, the RCA 1802 crew have developed a clever electronic badge, based on a real 65C02 CPU, just for our humble little show! You can pre-order or purchase at the show a blank PCB for $5 or kits for $25-$35. Check out the details at:http://www.sunrise-ev.com/6502.htm SET-UP: Early set-up on Friday night has become essential for our exhibitors. The hotel has informed us that we'll be able to open the doors before dinner time Friday, but the exact time will depend on a number of factors beyond our control. Show staff will arrive early in the afternoon and begin applying gentle but firm pressure on the hotel to allow us in. Once we've confirmed that the tables have been set to our specification, we'll open the floodgates and VCF Midwest 12 will begin! -jht
