Vintage Computer Federation

The Vintage Computer Federation (vcfed. org) is a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit organization. Formally established in 2015, VCF is an amalgamation of the original Vintage Computer Festival, founded in 1997 by Sellam Ismail, the Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH), founded in 2004 by Evan Koblentz and Andy Meyer, and the Vintage Computer Forum, founded in 2004 by Erik Klein.

The mission of VCF is to collect, restore, and preserve vintage computers and related technologies for the purposes of educating the public. Through its museum, volunteers, festivals, exhibitions, educational programs, and outreach to other vintage computing organizations, VCF connects hobbyists and enthusiasts with people who may not have had any exposure to computing before modern graphical interfaces and smartphones. VCF shares the collective knowledge of its membership and hosts talks by people who have been pivotal in the development of computing. In this way, context and depth are added to the understanding of the modern technology that permeates our lives and its impact on humanity and society. Via all these channels, VCF hopes to build a connection from past to present and to the future.

The advent of COVID caused VCF to make changes to its 2020 festivals. VCF West is traditionally held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, USA. This year, the festival was held virtually on August 1st, with efforts headed by VCF board member and festival producer Erik Klein. Classes and presentations were offered on a variety of technical and historic computing topics, including the 6502 processor, PDP, ENIAC, and Univac computers.

VCF Pacific Northwest, produced by VCF board member Mike Brutman and normally held at Living Computers: Museum+Labs in Seattle, Washington, was cancelled this year due to COVID. The requirement to cancel came so close to the scheduled live event that there was no time to organize a virtual event.

VCF East is produced by the VCF Mid-Atlantic chapter and is traditionally held at the Vintage Computer Federation museum, located in the Info-Age Science and History Museum Center in Wall Township, New Jersey. Originally planned for April of this year and produced by show runner Jeff Brace, VCF East 2020 took place virtually on October 10th and 11th. It included live and pre-recorded classes, exhibits, and presenters with Q&A sessions. Among them were Bill Mensch, codesigner of the 6502 microprocessor and founder of Western Design Center, and Stefany Allaire, electronics engineer and designer of the C256 Foenix, which is a reimagining of an evolution of the Commodore 128 computer. VCF also promotes visitor engagement with (socially distanced) monthly repair workshops, where members work on their own projects, help others with their projects, and help repair and restore VCF artifacts. Additionally, VCF’s first annual swap meet will be held on November 7. These events are open to all, and membership is as simple as joining a mailing list.

There are other Vintage Computer Festivals in the USA and Europe; however, these are produced independently of the Vintage Computer Federation.