For those of us who are interested in hacking and making, events where we can meet like-minded people and check out the projects they’re working on don’t exactly happen every day. Unless you can travel around the country (or better yet, the world), you should usually do a few events of the year that are within a reasonable distance of your home. If you’re lucky that might give you two or three opportunities during the year to look forward to, usually spaced out enough that you have enough time to prepare before the event and taper off afterwards.
But occasionally, the planets and geekdoms align. That was the case this past weekend in the Northeast United States, with the Vintage Computer Festival East and the Philadelphia Maker Faire happening at the same time. Both are must-see events in their respective communities and cover almost the same area, so if you’ve ever had a foot in either camp, this presents a very difficult decision.
That is unless you take the third option. Since the Philly Maker Faire was on a Sunday and the VCF took place over the entire weekend, there was little way to attend both events. It wouldn’t be right, of course. For one it would mean speed running the VCF East, and there were several hundred miles of travel to contend with. We won’t even talk about the physical amount being done – although there seem to be no official dosage recommendations from the Surgeon General, certainly this level of exposure that experts disagree with comes with some risks.
But sometimes such sacrifices must be made, especially when you are paid to do it. So I packed twice the usual number of Wrencher stickers, and hit the road in an attempt to deliver a condensed version of my experiences at these two fun events.
Vintage Computer Festival
Regular Hackaday readers may know that we’ve covered VCF East for several years now, and seeing its growth firsthand over that time has been pretty amazing. The event has moved from occupying several rooms in the main building of the InfoAge Science & History Museum to being spread across different buildings on campus. This year it seemed like exhibitors filled every available space at the former Camp Evans Army research facility, and even with the dotted signs, navigating the exhibit took little effort.
For those who want to add new toys to their collection, the luggage space has also been greatly increased. What were once a few folding tables covered in old dusty hardware have now become a large part of the exhibit taking up almost as much floor space as the exhibits. But fair warning, in many cases the price tags have also grown. While there are still deals, some items were sporting four-figures.
Given InfoAge’s size, I wouldn’t have thought it possible for VCF to outgrow the space, but part of me thinks it’s pretty close. Although many buildings at the center are renovated and opened to the public every year, there is still a limit to how much organizers will be able to pack into the available space. Moving some shows outside can help, but that presents its own problems. Renting tents would be easy enough, but it wouldn’t be a computer festival if exhibitors couldn’t power their equipment.
But even if it may stop growing, I can tell you with absolute certainty that one day is not enough time to see everything that VCF East has to offer. Even if you don’t mind skipping all the talks and don’t want to buy anything, there’s not enough time to give all the shows the attention they deserve, especially if it’s your first time.
Philly Maker Faire
Although it hasn’t grown to the scale of VCF East, the Philadelphia Maker Faire has also gotten bigger and better with each passing year. The venue has once again become the Cherry Street Pier, although this year some of the exhibits had to be moved outside to fit them all in. The weather wasn’t great, but the organizers thought ahead – there were umbrellas available for use, and most of the outdoor activities were at least under some form of cover.
Compared to the VCF, the Maker Faire attracts people with a wider range of interests. There’s no shortage of high-tech hardware on display, including a battle robot competition that ran throughout the day, but was joined by art projects and local food vendors. There were attractions for attendees of all ages, with several activities specially organized for young children. Where else can you fly a kite, fly a scale model Curiosity A Mars rover, and a sample of local honey all under the same roof? Although there were quite a few children at VCF East, there was no doubt that the Maker Faire was family-friendly at these two events.
Much of what I saw at the Faire was new, but naturally some of last year’s visitors returned. Brett Houser was back with his amazing Wasteworld toys, and surprisingly there was a huge crowd around the table for most of the day. The ChompSaw area was also busy, and representatives from local bands such as Hive76 and Philly Mesh were eager to share their thoughts.
Getting on the Same Page
Although the two events were very different, there is no doubt that there was a clash in attendance. On Sunday I saw a few people at Maker Faire that I saw from VCF the day before. While everyone I spoke to was happy that they were able to skate back-to-back games, they were also disappointed that it meant cutting their time at VCF.
Of course, neither group intended to step on each other’s toes. It was a simple matter of discovery – by the time the organizers of the two events realized that there would be a conflict of dates, things had already started and there was no time to make changes. Now that the lines of communication are open between the two groups, they should be able to avoid similar problems going forward.
In addition, there is a desire on the part of those involved to increase cooperation between such events in the area of the three regions. Representatives from JawnCon, a growing con in Philadelphia that we have had the opportunity to follow for the past few years, attended the Faire to raise awareness for their event in October. The hacker and developer communities are stronger when they work together, and I would like to see more of these crossovers in the future.
