Vintage Computing Festival Berlin (VCFB) – Call for participation
12th to 14th October 2018, German Museum of Technology, Berlin, Germany
The Vintage Computing Festival Berlin (VCFB) is an event about historical computers and computing technology. The vintage computing hobby is being presented with exhibitions, lectures and workshops. Our goal is to contribute to the preservation of historical computers and other data processing devices, and to foster interest in "superfluous" hard- and software. Our focus does not only include historical computers, but also historical operating systems, software, programming languages, network technology and other devices that compute, like calculators and calculating machines.
The VCFB is located in the historic Ladestraße area of the German Museum of Technology Berlin (accessible from Möckernstr. 26). Buildup begins on Friday, October 12th, and the event is open for visitors on Saturday and Sunday, 13th and 14th of October. Entry is free. Visitors of the VCFB will also get free entry to the Network exhibition of the Museum of Technology located in the same building.
Exhibitions, lectures and workshops
We are looking for people who would like to contribute exhibitions, lectures or workshops about the following topics:
- Historical computers: minicomputers, microcomputers, workstations, vacuum tube computers, … everything that is both interesting and older than 10 years
- Special Exhibition "Graphical User Interfaces": In 1968 the "Mother of all Demos" heralded the era of graphical user interfaces, mouse control, and menu navigation. In this year's special exhibition we present contemporary witnesses of this technology – hardware as well as sofware – and show newly developed graphical user interfaces for historical computers.
- Historical software: Operating systems, programming environments, games, demos, CAD software, …
- Historical computation equipment: calculating machines, slide rules, disk calculators, pocket calculators, …
- Help with repairs of historical computers/pocket calculators/…: We want to offer a repair corner where visitors can bring their own hardware and get help with repairs. Workshops for repairs are also possible, for example a workshop about repairing C64 computers.
- Benchmarks of exhibits: We'd like to host a Benchmarking Competition like at the VCFe.
- Would you like to do an exhibition/lecture/workshop about something that doesn't quite fit these categories? Shoot us an email to info@vcfb.de and we'll talk about it.
The registration will close on August 13th, 2018.
Organisational information
This info is slightly outdated, please contact us if you have any questions or take a look at the German version of this page.
- The exhibition area is not at ground level, but there is a wheelchair ramp. Delivering exhibits without crossing a height difference will only be possible using a truck with a tail-lift. If you want to bring heavy or big items, feel free to contact us beforehand. Cars can be parked in front of the venue for loading and unloading only, but parking space for exhibitors will be available close by. Exhibition tables are 70cm*70cm in size, at least 250 of these will be available. If you need a special power connection, please tell us beforehand.
- Buildup will start on Thursday. Tables, chairs and power need to be set up before buildup of exhibitions can begin. If you'd like to help with buildup, please send a mail to info@vcfb.de.
- Slots for lectures are 90 minutes long, but your lecture may be shorter than that. All lectures will be recorded and published under a Creative Commons license.
- If you'd like to contribute an exhibition/lecture/workshop, but can't cover your travel expenses, please contact us at info@vcfb.de and we'll look for a solution.
Page last modified on 2020-07-10