I attended INIT HELLO over the past weekend, and had a very good time. Located near Baltimore and spanning 2 days, the event was an Apple II themed potluck and contained about 50 people using said machines, doing workshops and giving a smattering of presentations. I ran the streaming/recording machine and even got a chance to give a little speech at the end. An excellent repast all around.

Why INIT HELLO even happened is a subject for another time. Today’s subject is also not specifically about the building where it was held, but now’s a good time as any to tell you about it if you’ve never heard of System Source.

System Source is a business sort of business that handles training and IT and does all that office sort of stuff, but it also contains a computer museum, which itself is composed of multiple other museums. It’s like a fun museum turducken.

INIT HELLO was organized rather quickly, months to be specific, and it’s a miracle it all came together so well. This was, in part, not only the effort of the organizers, the folks who dropped some cash to float the costs, and a lot of volunteer labor throwing in – it’s also because the owner of System Source opened doors for an odd, unproven, lumpy event to take place.

That kindness led to a fun little conversation at some point when it turned out the owner of System Source was also on the board of the Vintage Computer Festival, which I’d written about semi-recently.

He and I chatted a little about this and that related to the VCF organization, my interactions with it, and the law of unintended consequences.

Thus, here we are.

While I continue to not attend Vintage Computer Festivals, and my interactions along various lines tells me the inter-organizational structure of the place is prone to misunderstandings and confusion, you shouldn’t punish the attending exhibitors, who do some of the finest work in retrocomputing and have no say or agency in matters beyond their table space.

For many people who harbor love of old machines and concepts, and who are filled with a wish to share their knowledge or collections with a sympathetic and engaged audience, the Vintage Computer Festivals held throughout the United States (and soon Canada) are often their sole opportunity to connect with old (and new) fans of their efforts.

Some of my finest interactions with people who have gone above and beyond to maintain and present technology have happened at VCF-related events – and while I won’t drag them into a sort of paradoxical Jason Scott-attention Devil’s Bargain by mentioning them, I’ll say that I’ve enjoyed their smiles and their conversations. Solid, good people, doing good things: A brimming joy and wonder about these expensive machines converted to toys and educational entertainment about the world they came from.

A good display of computer history doesn’t just happen – it can represent years of careful collecting, precision layout of signs and wiring and explanatory diagrams, and then hauling (at great distance, personal expense, and time) into a waiting empty space at various venues. VCF is not the only place that offers this, of course; but even as one of a fabric of opportunities, it is a not insignificant percentage of the chances these exhibitors have in a given year to meet future fans and collaborators.

Interpersonal conflict is my personal candy, and while it’s a delightful jaunt when the gears turn just so and a truly well-crafted flaming arrow can be directed into unsuspecting machinery, I’ve been led to believe that my essays far exceeded their mark and have caused financial distress. Without diving too deep into research for that claim, I’ll simply say that it would truly make me sad to have some of these families and individuals, just trying to show their home-baked technological wares, be left standing in an underattended hallway or chamber hoping for an audience that seems less populated each passing year.

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