Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2023- Joyful Chaos!

[@VeronicaExplains]

OK, I really wish KZbin let me put a thousand cards in the video. Anyway, here's everyone I mentioned/featured/connected with during the video. :) - @Mac84 : vintage Mac videos and streams - @ActionRetro : totally normal computer shenanigans - adwaterandstir.com/: Altair clone kits! - @CanadianRetroThings : might have convinced me to buy a CoCo 3 - www.superphonerecordings.com/: best band website I've ever seen - @TaylorAmyShow : don't panic and go subscribe to them - @TiltFive : the good kind of AR that brings you and your friends together - @jeriellsworth : legend - @sloopymalibu : vintage repairs and commentary and fun - @adriansdigitalbasement : noted repair enthusiast and lab tech cosplayer - @RetroTechChris : retro know-how and friend to all - @NybblesandBytes : did not get a chance to interview her, but her channel is awesome!

[@terminallyonline5296]

"For some reason you're blurry." "That's just me naturally" lmao

[@krisdjames]

Man this channel is the coolest. From the 90s educational programming esthetics to the useful Linux tips to the retro fanatics. Creativity in its purest form, beautiful.

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@sandrodellisanti1139]

wonderful Video, thank you very much for this 🙂 my first computer was a Commodore vc20 in 1986, in late 1989 i own an Amiga 500 and in 1993 my Amiga 1200, great times back then..many greetings from Brunswick in Germany and please stay safe.

[@1BitFeverDreams]

Kudos on making an extremely palatable video of the event and I'm certain you had to fight your way to condense it to the final duration of the video by filtering so much footage. I'm so glad of your presence in the community and I appreciate your great work.

[@sloopymalibu]

Great video! And I even saw people I know! It was great meeting you also!

[@VeronicaExplains]

I might try for an Octandy surprise!

[@arthurdent8086]

I recognized you there! Was my first time, too ... ended up missing the you tuber forum because the room was just too full, so I have been waiting to catch the recording ... wow, the convention brought back all the excitement of learning about computers in my youth!! Thanks for what you do!

[@costasspartan1894]

Thanks, much appreciated Veronica for the V.C.F. Panel footage and your channel itself.

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad the footage turned out to be helpful!

[@martykong3592]

:) WOW! Veronica, you have outdone yourself with this one!!! I am SO HAPPY to catch it, and YES I can relate to SO MUCH of it!! I Started as maintenance person on old telephone SxS equipment as shown, learned to build a Clone TRS 80 / Z80 because I couldn't affor one, Commode 64's , grew up some to support AIX Machines after PDP's and ALL... JUS AhhhMAZING stroll down memory lane! I wish they had things like this on left coast :( ALL the BEST and Cheers from an old Geek with 2 Geeky Daughters !!! :)

[@fractalMD]

There is VCF West :)

[@martykong3592]

Thanks MUCH! Take care!@@fractalMD

[@dadecoza]

This morning I watched the KZbinrs panel on the VCFMW channel, and if I understand correctly that was thanks to you for saving the day with your recording of the event! Thanks!

[@fractalMD]

That was 10000% the day saved by Veronica.

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you! Yes, I sent Jim some footage which turns out to have been useful. I'm only sorry I hadn't had a lot of practice with the gimbal until that point!

[@ActionRetro]

Woohoo!

[@fractalMD]

Sean!

[@chrisdigitalartist]

This is so fun finding more computer related channels and retro computing. I really appreciate people uploading videos of this festival. As far as I know, I don't have anything like this in my area. It would be so fun to connect with more people about this stuff. My favorite computing era is the mid-late 90s. New Subscriber!

[@ByteDelight]

Couldn't we all live on one island, all of us vintage retro lovers? I mean, me and my retrocomputer business (dreamjob) are located in The Netherlands. Buit I really want to get to VCF Midwest once (or more often)! Really great to see lots of people I know and communicated with - Clint, Taylor and Amy, and lots of others, awesome! - though online only thusfar. I promise: once I got my ByteDelight backlog sorted out, and find some time, I will travel a lot! Thanks Veronica! Ben

[@fractalMD]

Ben you totally should!

[@CanadianRetroThings]

Great video, it was awesome meeting you and thanks for the shout out!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thanks for convincing me of the joy of the CoCo!

[@fractalMD]

Ken!

[@IBM_Museum]

And Thank You for providing an ability for the VCFMW KZbin panel to be viewed - I met many of the panelists (and participated myself) at VCF Southwest.

[@fractalMD]

Fellow panelist!

[@Wythaneye]

Thanks for giving Adwater & Stir so much attention in this video. His Altairduino kits are well known in the international retro community. I keep telling mself I'm giing to buy one, but then remember that it will just end up on the massive projects pile. No matter, very nice video! Thanks for sharing!

[@VeronicaExplains]

That's great to know! This was the first I'd heard of his kits but I'm very excited to build this one.

[@JamiesHackShack]

Great video! That gimbal is the business! Again, props for saving the yt'er panel! 👍🏻 That Altair kit is fun. Blinkenlights++

[@capnrob97]

Nice! I just ordered that Altair 8800 due to your video. Never knew it existed.

[@VeronicaExplains]

Fantastic! Hope it's a fun project for you!

[@fredmckinney8933]

FUN FACT! The first TV game show to use computer-generated displays was Tic Tac Dough, which, after a nearly 20-year absence, returned to TV in 1978 with a computer-generated board. All of the monitors on the board for the individual boxes were centrally controlled by an Altair 8800.

[@michaelstoliker971]

Hey! Thanks so much for videoing the VCF panel. Much appreciated.

[@VeronicaExplains]

I'm glad I could help!

[@Brian-qv1ir]

I really identified with that person's comment that she got into "retro computers" when they were just called computers. Still rocking my overclocked x486 for Doom, Quake etc.

[@fractalMD]

That's Taylor! 😃

[@ShinGoukiSan]

My father and I built an IMSAI 8080 when I was 5 and then in the 3rd grade I got an Atari 1200XL. I love stuff like this!

[@VeronicaExplains]

That's so cool!

[@ShinGoukiSan]

@@VeronicaExplains thanks, love your channel

[@chabis]

Just sent in my entry for the Vintage Computer Festival Zürich (Switzerland) 2023 in November. Small, but next-door to where I live.

[@Tom-n5tti]

COOL VIDEO --- i still have my TRS80 COCO 3 So wild seeing all the OG computer nerds 😁 in one place!!

[@byteshiftmusic]

This is the first truly entertaining video I've seen of the event. I even had a cameo! You've really captured the spirit of the event here. Kudos!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Aha! Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed my recollection of it!

[@Wandering_Horse]

How much fun! Reminds me of early Linux meetups I used to attend and that one time I went to Linux Fest in San Fran back in the early 2000's! I grew up with all that vintage 80's stuff, that looks like so much fun.

[@AddieDirectsTV]

2:54 I had our engineers at the station teach me! And OMG LAN party!

[@VeronicaExplains]

It was so much fun!

[@terryleach5108]

So awesome! My first computer was a Heathkit H-89 (CPM). Guys I went to school with worked at MITS (I live in Albuquerque) and my best friend worked in the Chemestry Dept at UNM and could program a PDP-11 without pulling a reference card from his pocket. Wow! This video brings back so very many memories! Today's computers are better in every way but don't have the soul of old iron!

[@arxaaron]

Thanks for this joy filled video !!! Brings back great memories of my many years traveling to Amiga Conventions around the country, or attending the half a dozen Vidoe Toaster Flyer conferences that 3rd party devs held in the 90's (including the 1998 Barnstormers event that I organized in Atlanta). Was nice to see that you got to hang out with Jeri Ellsworth at the MWVCF -- one of my favorite humans and my most admired tech genius from those Amiga Con days -- last saw her at the Amiga 30th Anniversary Celebration in San Jose, where I was the sole "vendor", releasing my menagerie of systems, software, gadgets and peripherals to the wild for another generation of vintage computer fans to enjoy. Go Tilt Five!! 🙂

[@RetroTechChris]

So much fun hanging out with you there! See you next year!

[@VeronicaExplains]

It really was a blast!

[@Draconicrose]

This is really cool and amazing stuff! I'm glad there are enthusiasts out there who take it upon themselves to keep and preserve these pieces of computing history. As exemplified at 4:03, the companies who make them sure won't.

[@patrickdeunhouwer5926]

Best video I have seen about the festival up to now :)

[@fractalMD]

Just SO good

[@maillouski]

My setup at 10:57 yay!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thanks for doing it! It was super fun.

[@UpLateGeek]

Can't wait to see your Altair 8800 build! I've been wanting to buy an IMSAI 8080 kit (the one designed by fellow countryman The High Nibble) for a while, but I haven't been able to justify the price. Looks like that Altair kit is a little cheaper, buuuuuuut maybe I'll wait to see how you go with it. Plus it lets me put off spending money on something that's not actual retro computers/parts or parts for projects that I've actually already started. Anyway, looks like VCFMW was a lot of fun, so thanks for taking us on your trip!

[@VeronicaExplains]

I think it's going to be the inaugural project when the basement is complete and I can leave my soldering station up for more than a few hours at a time!

[@UpLateGeek]

@@VeronicaExplains Having a permanent soldering station setup would be awesome! I miss going down to the workshop at work and spending an afternoon soldering. (Although perhaps that's just because nobody knew where I was and couldn't bother me.) But being able to just pop down to resolder a broken connector was so convenient. I've been planning on building a workbench on wheels to put in place of my broken second fridge once I get it removed. It won't be a permanent soldering station, since I'm also planning to buy an ultrasonic cleaner, but it should be a massive improvement over just my desk.

[@esra_erimez]

My dad laughed at 1:56 He remembers when that was new. And, connecting AS/400s to RS/6000s to convert data as programs were being converted to C

[@VeronicaExplains]

It's a legend!

[@esaedvik]

Still have customers on those...

[@RacerX-]

Such goodness here. Thanks for sharing, it really helps those of us that live in another part if the USA that couldn't make it. I hope to attend one of these events eventually. Thanks for your excellent channel and infectious retro spirit.

[@tekdragon]

Oh man, this video hit me right in the feelz. Such a beautifully communal experience! The annual CoCoFest is also held in Chicago and thats always been a bucket list thing I wanted to experience! Thanks for making this video :) #Team6809 :-P

[@Silent700]

Cocofest and VCFMW are friends! And believe it or not, they're growing, too. Who knew there was such love for the 6809 out there? We recommend attending both shows :)

[@TDGalea]

My god I'm not jealous at all. Being UK based, things like this are so rare. The closest we ever had, to my knowledge, was "Arcade Vaults" who took up a store in Cardiff at one point, but had to disband it after COVID took a dump on their visitor figures. They're still up for events as far as I know, but it's been a while.

[@VeronicaExplains]

That's too bad that this sort of thing is rare. I'm privileged to be close enough to be able to drive to this event!

[@inranglhood60]

It was fun meeting you at vcfmw 2023. Keep up the awesome content!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you! It was so much fun, wasn't it?

[@MicahCochran-d2w]

Thanks Veronica! Your videos always puts smile on my face.

[@bountoj]

Love it! So wholesome to see everyone enjoying their passion. Thank you Veronica for the videos and showcase of the event. : )

[@diamonddave45]

One of the things I'd like to see more at these festivals are computer bulletin board systems (BBS). I know someone who currently runs one was there with a table and had some BBSes running, but I'd like to see more of that. BBSes played a very important role in early computing.

[@geekwithsocialskills]

Awesome video Veronica! Thank you for taking the time to capture the show. I'll bet dollars to donuts that VCF will be asking you to be on the YT creators panel next year 🙂

[@fractalMD]

They have got to! Maybe we can muster up also a whole women in tech panel.

[@VeronicaExplains]

I've been asked to, so hopefully if the timing works out I'll be there next year!

[@fractalMD]

@VeronicaExplains Fingers crossed for us all! I got lucky and wasn't working VCFMW weekend 2023. And I work 50% of all weekends so it is literally a coin toss.

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

Your Bop-It skills are truly second to none. :) This show truly looks like heaven for us vintage tech enthusiasts... wow!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thanks! It was a ton of fun. I only wish it was a day longer or twice as large of a venue!

[@ForgottenMachines]

4:59 thanks for the Forgotten Machines table shot! Your videos are awesome, thank you!

[@lonewolf31337]

So cool. I was all set to go and couldnt at the last minute. Thanks for the video its great. sorry I missed it.

[@CubicleNate]

Oh, man, did I love this! What a fantastic montage that brought such an incredible smile to my face. Thank you!

[@chrisdavis3055]

Thanks for sharing the experience, and thanks for stopping by my booth! This was my first VCFMW and it was amazing. I've been to a couple other VCFs in California and Atlanta, and while those were fun, they were a bit more sedate and cerebral. VCFMW is more like a crazy fun exciting party swapfest. It reminds me of the Hamfests of old. I will definitely be back next year.

[@francoisp3625]

0:12 I guess You ll find that cool ; all the retro fest I went to it was- very cool :)

[@8bitsinthebasement]

Not much like that where I'm at so, that settles it, I'm selling up and moving to the US. Just gotta find a way to break it to the wife and kids ;) Man, that looked like so much fun.

[@fractalMD]

One of us!

[@cubenux]

Loved it V!!

[@nicozica]

Like an episode of The Office.. Your videos are very enjoyable to watch Veronica. Very interesting stuff in that festival!! I spotted the case of my first PC at 2:10 🤧 Cheers from Buenos Aires my friend😃

[@brandonconstant7226]

Great coverage of the event! I gotta make it out there next year.

[@ChopeZzz]

What an enjoyment being in such place with all those people! Amazing, thank you for the video

[@litebkt]

Thank you for sharing this. I started my engineering career in 1978 and recognispze just about all that old gear.

[@oliverw.douglas285]

It was a crazy fun time at VCFMW18. I enjoyed meeting you, as well as our conversations. I ended up selling my Sony Mavica camera at the show to another gentleman, who in-turn used it to document his experience at the show. Next year I'll bring extra floppy disks for you! I think you summed up the experience very well. Met a wide variety of people, it was an incredible experience. I look forward to next year. :)

[@tolkienfan1972]

I saw the AS/400... I worked on those for years. Mostly in a weird language called RPG/400. And the occasional fun hackery

[@Silent700]

Thank you Veronica for this energetic tour of our show. It's the only way us organizers get to see it anymore! So many exhibits I didn't even know were there. Next year, I'll shake every hand (or maybe a fist bump considering how this year went ;)

[@VeronicaExplains]

It was such a blast, and you all deserve so much credit for getting it all done. Can't wait for next year!

[@Hey-Yaz]

This was amazing. I took a left turn down memory lane with this video. Thanks

[@stopthink9000]

This looks like a BLAST!!! Sorry I missed it but glad to experience it second hand. Maybe I'll go next year!

[@crumplezone1]

Rally enjoyed the video, you are a natural Veronica :)

[@Angeboun]

Awesome Veronica! I was there and got to meet you very cool. I so wanted to buy 1 one of everything they were selling there LOL

[@VeronicaExplains]

It was so much fun!

[@MikeWood]

AS/400? PDP11? Now that's awesome. That looked like a pretty big event. I haven't seen anything like that locally.

[@CathrineMacNiel]

This looks sooo fun and awesome, especially your Mavica Selfies!!

[@toddrlyons]

I loved the selfies with other tech KZbinrs. In my mind, you are mutual fans with people like Adrian Black (the way I'm a fan of all of you) so it was lovely to see so many of them featured.

[@2009numan]

saw a lot of my favourite vintage computer hosts in this video I think my favourite is Adrian from Adrians digital basement

[@VeronicaExplains]

Adrian is great!

[@derekchristenson5711]

Wow, this looks like a lot of fun to see in-person! Very cool.

[@derekr54]

Great video Veronica,thanks.

[@proteque]

thanx for showing! looks like a great vintage festival!

[@Thepigeons377]

I love seeing all the weird and wonderful tech from years gone by , my first computer was a 16k Tandy TRS80 ( Tandy was the brand here in the UK ) .. I had to be different cause everyone else had zx spectrums . Amazing to think how technology has come so far , as I type this on my Google pixel ( well someone had to own one 😂) Anyways great video and add 1 new subscriber and keep up the great work .. and hello from England 😊

[@Thepigeons377]

And sorry for the rambling comment , it's early and I'm not fully awake yet .. the joys of getting old lol

[@more.power.]

Thank you m6y first visit to your Channel. Cheers

[@DV-ml4fm]

Thanks for sharing the computer retro tour Veronica. I bet some of these retro companies can run a 32 bit linux os.😊

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for sharing.

[@JoePCool14]

Cool recap of the event! It was my first time attending and I barely got to scratch the surface of what was there. I did get to attend the KZbinrs' panel (thank you for your footage, I was sat right behind you in the second row!). Super cool, hopefully I'll know more and get to come back for next year's event too.

[@VeronicaExplains]

It was a ton of fun! I only wish the event was longer!

[@Charleshawn66]

GREAT video! TY for the retro content! I love your 6502 shirt!

[@jacobfrost2843]

I appreciated your contribution to the panel (and printer recommendation)!

[@VeronicaExplains]

Thank you! I don't know when they'll be publishing this year's panel but it's going to be fun!

[@lexington476]

I recognize some of that stuff in the video from when I was a kid. Maybe playing with that old stuff as a kid is what made me an IT professional to this day 😎.

[@youreale]

Ok, you sold me... this channel is a GEM!

[@ralfr.5974]

I love this old stuff🤩 Nice Video👍🏻

[@trevorford8332]

It's my happy place, love computer fair.

[@samsh0-q3a]

Awesome, you rock!

[@NuAngelGames]

Transcriptions that name the panel speakers? Fantastic touch, Veronica. Well done!

[@talideon]

One if the things I like about FOSDEM in Europe is the solid retrocomputing track at the conference. After FOSDEM, there are usually some smaller affiliated conferences in Belgium, and maybe something like that, but retrocomputing-focused would be fun!

[@oliverw.douglas285]

I hope VCFMW in 2024 is as spectacular as 2023. It was a blast!

[@BronsonTheCat]

Hopefully VCF get you on the stage next time to talk.

[@channelgogrvk]

that looks like it was so much fun!

[@MrBobaFett]

Oh man, I am so sad I didn't know about this weeks ago! I will so be there next year.

[@techaddressed]

If only I'd known this was a thing ... I just moved about 30 mins from the venue a few months back. Next year!

[@VeronicaExplains]

You should totally go next year!

[@wingflanagan]

Suh-WEEET! If my wife would let me, our house would look like that venue...I mean, when I was a kid, I wanted to build HAL!

[@ashwoodedward4708]

Just AWESOME

[@meowcula]

So cool! can't wait to see the Altair kit. That will be fun.

[@dastafford]

The best hobbyists seem to all be in the Midwest ;-)

[@austinterrell5420]

When you said "vintage for the current generation" I was half expecting you to show a table off with a Macbook Pro 2016 to make us feel like withered crones.

[@VeronicaExplains]

Not quite old enough, yet, but I did wither a bit when I saw my MiniDV cam being referred to as "vintage" (but, I mean, I bought it anyway).

[@AddieDirectsTV]

10:19 I so want to go to this at some point.

[@ShinGoukiSan]

I had a Mavica back in the day!!!

[@DeadCat-42]

Just found your channel! fantastic!

[@theindependentlinuxuser]

Nice to see a change of background scenery for a certain video and a relief from the hustle of Linux drama.

[@francoisp3625]

there are some few nice and cool stuff there :)

[@esaedvik]

Eyy, a friend of mine carried a Mavica around an our LANs and demoparty tours in the late 90s. Literally just ran into one on a local Craigslist and was thinking of copping it...

[@WW-jt2sq]

Was really nice meeting you and chatting the one evening!

[@VeronicaExplains]

It was such a fun event!

[@TastyBusiness]

Lol, I see myself way in the background at 10:30.