[vcf-midatlantic] Moving forward

[Tony Bogan]

Recent discussions have really been liberating, with details many people were unaware of finally being brought to light and pent up feelings and opinions finally being aired. It’s been long overdue.

As such, I personally am really psyched moving forward. Speaking as someone who may not even be on the Steering Committee in another month, I couldn’t be more excited for the future of VCF.

Some thoughts and extra details I’d like to share. Adam has said from the start of the SC that he wanted his seat to be one of the first up for election. Now that he’s moved to South Carolina, he isn’t running for election (he’s already explained his feelings previously) Knowing what some people were told about me from former management and what others thought (and one expressed recently in comments about the state of the vcf “business”) I insisted mine be the other of the first two. While I’ve enjoyed this first year of the SC, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections I’m both excited for the future and to see what the SC does next, with or without me on it, secure in the knowledge that I will continue to do everything I can to help VCF grow as I did before I was on the SC and while I’ve been on it. Doesn’t hurt I have the utmost respect for the other people nominated for the two seats and am often in awe of their knowledge and expertise every time I speak with them or see them at workshops.

Win, lose or draw for me retaining my seat on the SC, the future looks awesome indeed.

We’ve set up a dedicated fund for warehouse improvements, have a working yearly budget with the ability to request additional allocations from the Board for the museum, have cultivated a working relationship and repaired burned bridges with no less than three other vintage computer museums (two on the east coast and a new relationship with one overseas) started the process of getting estimates for repairing and redoing the warehouse, appointed a liaison to Infoage and the township of Wall, and a whole slew of other things that just weren’t possible or feasible in the past. One of the benefits of having a group of people working towards a common goal with the ability to make decisions and act upon them. We don’t always all agree of course, but with a system in place and a framework (now published for all to see) within which to work, it’s a pleasure to be a part of.

The difficulties faced by Infoage, along with museums around the world, and the financial and political aspects were touched upon by Mike Brutman in another thread. Those things are always on our minds along with a dozen other things on any given day! 

We also have a great working relationship with the other groups at infoage, in particular CDL and The Military Technology Museum of NJ.

We have a full time social media coordinator (our social media accounts have never been so alive!) 

But we need more. We need help at the museum and working in the warehouse. We need help getting the artifacts in the museum and warehouse up and running (never in the 6+ years I’ve been here have we ever had literally almost every machine in the museum running) and just did our first “VCF Artifact” workshop to help achieve that goal. We need ideas for new exhibits (we now change some things up regularly in the museum to give visitors a reason to come back again and again and not see the same exact things every time) 

We need ideas for improving our current events and adding new ones (like the first swap meet we just did. The first of many that is!)

The up front, honest, no holds barred discussion of late was a true breath of fresh air. People don’t need to feel stifled or belittled for having an idea, even a hair brained one! It’s not about letting the inmates run the asylum, it’s about having somewhere to go and know you’ll be listened to And your thoughts, ideas, concerns, whatever won’t just be dismissed out of hand. Members now have five people they can reach out to, and know the person they reach out to will bring their comments to the SC for consideration. Sometimes the answer will still be “no,” but it will be a consensus decision that was given consideration and discussion by a group of people, not dismissed without a second thought.

THAT’S what the Steering Committee is there for, and THAT is one of the reasons the Steering Committee was created (only one reason, but an important one!)

Tony

Sent from my iPhone