Ruminations on VCF and C= Expos

 VCF-SW is the Texas version of the Vintage Computer Festival, a yearly celebration of old computing technology that I've been attending for a few years now with other members of the Central Texas Commodore User Group.

Our 2023 and 2025 exhibits included a faux-wood grained C64 in an Aussie case, a bare Amiga 2000 board running in a metal frame, the VICTOR VIC-chip replacement by Jon, the SuperPET running OS/9, a custom 68000-based computer by Rob, the prototype C128D/81, some Commodore 900s, and an Amiga 1000 and 1200.

The VCF-SW event is large, and it is sprawling.   A main hall is packed with a dozen rows of tables, with more lining the wall.  Each table is packed with demonstrations, exhibits, or boxes of stuff for sale from vendors.  Outside the main hall are a series of smaller rooms where other exhibitors and vendors are stuffed, and then an entire external building with Even More.

While all this is going on, classrooms free from exhibits are used to host talks on various vintage computing related subjects.  Several dozen talks will occur during the weekend long festival, so at least one is sure to interest you.  In 2023 I gave a little talk on the history of internet connectivity on Commodore computers called 'Beyond the BBS'.

After the show, the rooms are evacuated, sealed off, and we all wander away to private gatherings, hotel rooms, or dinner.  If there is any socializing to be done, or after-party arrangements to be made, it must usually happen during the Fests open hours.

As VCF is a multi-platform gathering, it caters mostly to the 'retro-computing' crowd, which is a creature I've never entirely understood.   

Some explain them in terms of nostalgia, but that doesn't explain people buying computers made before they were born, or which they'd only recently learned ever existed.  A general 1970s/80s nostalgia doesn't seem to fit the mindset of these people either.  They get excited about new software for their machines, new add-ons and upgrades, etc.  They tinker, and repair, and refurbish, and generally play with them.  These people aren't about nostalgia, as near as I can tell.

Being a multi-platform gathering has the downside of relatively shallow expertise in any given subject, and, for the attendees who are only interested in one or a few platforms, it can be difficult to find anyone who shares your interests  The upside, of course, is that expertise, while shallow, is very very broad.  Trying to figure out some puzzling problem programing in OS/9 might be suddenly solved by a random OS/9 guy just walking by.

From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, I was a regular on the Commodore "Expo" circuit.  This included the ECCC in Chicago, the LUCKI Expo in Indiana, and CommVEX in Las Vegas.  The World of Commodore in Canada is also part of this, though I've never been able to attend that one.  

The differences between VCF and the various C= EXPOs is quite striking and worth discussing to see the pros and cons of each approach.

A Commodore Expo would typically be held in one or two rooms, often in a hotel.  LUCKI always had a row of tables around the room for exhibitors with plenty of chairs.  An Expo might have as few as 5 or as many as a dozen speakers, who are usually also exhibitors in the room.  Vendors were often found outside the exhibit hall, or in a separate room.  Above is a picture of Maurice Randall talking about the future of CMD peripherals around 2002.  

The result is an event that is not only very focused, but more intimate.  Attendees sit down with each exhibitor and spend time talking about their projects while waiting for the next scheduled speaker to begin. 

Whereas VCF was characterized by more breadth than depth, a Commodore expo was the opposite.  Everyone in there cared about the same computers you did, and knew as much or more than you do about using, repairing, and upgrading them.  Every speaker's topic held at least some interest to you, which was perfect, because the entire event went on hold for each speaker, so you didn't miss even one.

Nostalgia was no more present here than at a modern VCF.  These were people looking to get the most from their computers, and if the fact that they were older that just meant they were well broken in.

When the days festivities were over, especially for events held at hotels, a Commodore expo never really ended.  It just moved into lobbies and other rooms where hacking, soldering, and testing continued without missing a beat.   And eventually liquor would arrive and it would all evolve into a party.  That's Eric from Chicago pictured above, and waving in the back is the Commodore legend and party animal Jim Butterfield.

Times are different now.  Commodore Die-Hards have joined forces with their former hated enemies in Apple and Atari fans, just for survival.  The resulting events are far larger and more profitable than ever, but has anything been left behind?  Can VCF take any lessons from those old expos?  I suspect so.

One thing they can do is separate exhibitors from vendors.  Mixing them creates a signal-to-noise problem where an attendee doesn't know if something is for sale, or an exciting piece of history with a story to hear.   This leaves them more likely to browse than engage.

Another suggestion is to get the exhibitors out from behind the tables and put them back in front of them.  They/we should be engaging with attendees, not detached from them.  Having chairs for attendees to sit at while visiting an exhibit would also go a long way to making the event more interactive.  It's nice to see all those faces behind the tables, but seeing someone tapping at a machine invites curiosity too.

Lastly, prioritize putting VCF into moderate-sized convention hotels.  The fun shouldn't end just because the clock strikes 6pm, and if shoestring Commodore expos with scores of tickets sold can afford it, then surely it's no feat for VCFs deep pockets.