[vcf-midatlantic] Gerry Lawson's 82nd birthday - Today's Google Doodle

[Jeffrey Brace]

Everyone,

Thank you for your opinions and weighing in.

It sounds like the consensus is:
1) We would love to hear him talk.
2) $5000 is a lot of money for a talk for a non-profit.
3) Paying a speaker would set a precedent that others might ask for as well
as make previous speakers ask "Why wasn't I paid?"
4) That money could be spent on other projects.

I will continue to ask advice privately from the Steering Committee and
others before I decide whether this is a good idea or not.

Thanks!




On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 1:15 PM Christopher Gioconda via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

> Precedent setting notwithstanding, I can think of several other things
> listed in Jeff’s and Corey’s emails that would benefit from $5000 and offer
> more for the group as a whole.
>
> Chris
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 1:09 PM Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic <
> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>
> > My question would be, once we did this. How do we explain to future
> > presenters why we can't pay for their presentation?
> >
> > How do we explain to past presenters why we didn't pay for their
> > presentations?
> >
> > Once this is done, the group is setting a precedent and I don't know
> > how that would affect the group in the future.
> >
> > This is really outside of my scope, maybe my concerns are unfounded. I
> > don't know and hopefully people who are more experienced in this than
> > I can chime in about this concern.
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 10:43 AM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic
> > <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > Today's Google Doodle is about Gerry Lawson who helped design the
> > Fairchild
> > > F and on the team that pioneered the video game cartridge. Gerry has
> been
> > > deceased for 11 years. He is one of the few African Americans who have
> > been
> > > inventors in the early vintage computer and vintage video game
> > industries.
> > >
> > > Related to this: I have been presented an opportunity to have another
> > > African American with similar experience come talk at VCF East: Ed
> Smith.
> > > Ed Smith started out working for APF Electronics, Inc. which released
> The
> > > Imagination Machine, a hybrid video game.
> > >
> > > Would any of you be interested in hearing his story?
> > >
> > > So here's the catch. Ed Smith wants a speaker fee of $5000 and travel
> > > expenses. As far as I know the Vintage Computer Festival has never
> paid a
> > > speaker fee. We honestly can't afford such a large fee. It is beyond
> our
> > > budget. We have paid travel expenses for a select few speakers who
> can't
> > > afford it and/or are very important speakers. I'm contemplating doing a
> > > fundraiser for this. Just a straw poll. How many would donate towards
> > this?
> > >
> > > I would love to hear his story.
> > >
> > > Thanks for your input!
> > >
> > > =========================================
> > > Jeff Brace
> > > VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President
> > > Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner
> > > Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity
> > > https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/>
> > > jeffrey at vcfed.org
> >
>