25 May
2010
25 May
'10
12:05 p.m.
I didn't read any of this thread until tonight, when I read the whole
thing ... and now I have a headache. :)
Some thoughts:
Tony wrote: >>> What benefit would there be to the rest of the classic
computer community if I visited such an event
Having attended five VCF events (four California, one Boston) and
personally organized four more (East 3, 4, 5, and 6), I can say this
with complete confidence: VCF attendees (and most exhibitors) don't
attend with the attitude, "Everyone is there to see ME" -- they go with
That's not what I said!
If I'd said ';What would _I_ get out of going to a VCF' then yes, I guess
you could put that interpretation on it. But my original message asked
how others would beenfit from having me there. Not the same thing at all!.
In anty case, theis was a reply to a message where people were offering
to pay for me to got ot the VCF. If somebody is oaying me to do
something, I think it's reasonable that they should get some beenfit from
it, fdirectly or indrectly ('they' meaning the person doing the paying).
the attitude of, "I'm there to see everyone
else." VCF is a * community
* event. Even some of the most name-brand keynote and panel speakers at
past VCFs were excited to see the rest of the show, despite them truly
That is another of my comments. I have been involved with several HPCC
conferences and min-conferences over the years, which I believe are
similar in concept and organisation to a VCF (it's a group of people
getting togewther to show their toys, talk about them, share tips and
tricks, and so on. The fact that it's HP calculators, old and new, rather
than all old computers doesn't make much differece. Anyway, one continaul
moan was that people who were running the event in many cases couldn;t
attend the talks. And I can fully understand that.
So, at the VCF-UK, if somebody is running a private collection stand, how
do they get time to hear anyt/all of the talks? Who looks after their
machines than? [The solution we adpoted at HPCC wouldn't work at an
event where the general public were admitted]
being brought in for others to meet. Anyone
non-celebrity who thinks
their personal attendance is for others' benefit -- well, such people
won't be missed.
Ah, I see, SO the reason to attend a VCF is for what you can take, not
what you can offer. I am darn sure I don't want to attend any event like
that.
But perhaps you can answer one thing. I regard this list as a sort of
virtual VCF. So why do I spend time looking things up for people, making
measurements on my own machines, reading manuals and working out how to
diagnose a fualt and repair it. Because I am this close (indicates about
1nm) to packing it all in.
-tony