VCF East 4.0 wrap-up

Hola, collectors! I just got home from VCF East 4.0 of course I?m biased, but what a great weekend! Around ? of the exhibitors came Friday night afternoon/evening to get ready. This year we expanded the venue from one room to two. But, the second room is still VERY under construction. Some of our volunteers were literally still installing sheetrock that morning. So we had to use some yellow caution tape, but it added character. :-) Friday night was bar trip #1 I drove back to my hotel safely was but very, very tired waking up early Saturday. For Chuck Peddle?s videocon Saturday morning, the weakest part of our internet connection was the wifi or so I thought! Turns out, the wifi worked great, as did Skype. Chuck spoke to us for an hour+ then he got an strong round of applause then we were about to begin audience Q&A. All was fine until that part. Until our videocon server went BSOD!! We couldn?t even get it to reboot in ?safe mode? so we emailed Chuck from my cell phone, who said he had to get going anyway, but that anyone with questions could email him. Okay then! Bil Herb, Bob, Russell, and Dave Haynie took their turns next; lots more great stories and they brought many prototypes to show us, including the famous Commodore LCD. They even hung around out exhibit hall after the panel and after some chocolate chickenhead cake. One of them, Haynie, joined us for the official VCF Dinner that night. Speaking of dinner: the bill was $555.58. If only someone hadn?t drank that last three cents of beer ! Today was just as much fun. We had how-to lectures, we learned the history of CPM, we heard all about Jeri E.?s toy-making experiences and there?s a picture of someone posing next to our museum?s chip collection. Meanwhile the collecting guru Sellam told some secrets which I?m not going to share here except for this one: when pushing an 8-foot-tall rack, be alert for unstable monitors on top. (Hopefully there won?t be a scar.) My LEAST favorite part of any VCF is tearing down at the end of the weekend. But it had to be done. To ease out of the weekend while keeping out good mood, I went to dinner with Hans and Sellam, had a few beers, and well it?s been a while since I drank three nights in a row. Anyway, the show was terrific. Peddle?s unique hour-long lecture, 20-ish exhibits, attendance in the triple figures, and we even gave a few museum tours. Heck, one guy came all the way from New Zealand. Pics and hopefully some video will be posted soon. Patrick: I now pass the baton to you!