[vcf-midatlantic] VCF East 2020 was a success!

[Jeffrey Brace]

Phew!! I'm glad to get a day off from work the day after the show. I need
the rest!

It was a long, yet very rewarding weekend. It took a lot of time and effort
to make this show happen. I enjoy doing the show because I see the joy that
others get from the show. It was a disappointment for me and many of you
that we couldn't do a live show this year. Some people recommended I simply
cancel, but I refused. I pushed forward to find a way to make the show
happen and make it fun, exciting and inspiring. I believe that happened.

It was a challenge for me to balance work, other VCF events and my personal
life for this event. It was very difficult to fit in the time in my busy
life. It was also difficult to transition to a virtual show which I had
never done before. There was a learning curve for the technology and
logistics of doing a virtual show. I had the benefit of VCF West and other
shows which had gone before me and to learn from them. I also had the
benefit of volunteers who had experience in the technical aspects of
implementing a virtual show. We still had the inevitable technical hiccups,
glitches and failures, yet for the most part things went well.

Myself as well as others had to learn something new for this show. Many
exhibitors learned how to record, edit and render videos for their
exhibits. It was a challenge for them as well. Some things I did last
minute (like create Discord channels for the show), but I think for the
most part things ran smoothly. We learned a lot from doing this show that
we didn't think about beforehand (sometimes adjusting on the fly). For
example, we learned from Day 1 and made Day 2 better. If we ever do another
virtual show, we will improve upon it. Also we plan on making a true hybrid
for next year's show with in-person and virtual experiences.

I couldn't have made this show happen without the help of many volunteers.
I want to thank the follow in helping me to make this show happen: Kay
Savetz, Andy Diller, Chris Fala, Corey Cohen, Adam Michelin, Tony Bogan,
Bill Inderrieden, Marcus Mera, Jason Perkins, Ian Primus, Alex Jacocks,
Jonthan Sturges, Jeff Salzman, Kaz Kuroi, Anthony Bolan, Amiga Bill, Mike
Brutman, plus all of the exhibitors, instructors and presenters who
submitted videos, answered questions live, and participated on discord
channels. Without all of these volunteers this show wouldn't have been as
great as it was!

-- 
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Jeff Brace
Vice President & Board Member
Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner
Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity
http://www.vcfed.org/
jeffrey at vcfed.org
cell: 732-759-1783