VCFMW COMES HOME!

Full disclosure first, "VCFMW fan", I actually grew up in Hoffman Estates.  But how can mere borders have meaning when your neighbors lived in what (back then) we called Actionburg?!  No one checked your ID when you hung out at Woodfield.  To me, Chicago is the suburb. This town is the big star on my map.

That's right, the new home of the Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is beautiful Schaumburg, Illinois!  After four years plus a gap at the Waterford with nothing but great times, 2024 will see us shed our carapace and emerge bolder than ever at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center, where we will occupy a full third of their cavernous main hall.  That is (somewhere around) 33,000 square feet of vintage computer exhibits, vendors and general hackery. And admission is still free.

There is a whole lot we still have to work out - it turns out when you're going big time, there are a lot more rules and regs you have to follow.  But fear not, we have rolled high scores in charisma and diplomacy (that's we, not I) and we're going to make sure it all works out.

HOTEL

But enough of those revelations, you want to know how to book a room!  We have a much larger block this time and, as of this writing, there is one room booked.  That means you've got a pretty good chance!

The standard rooms at the Schaumburg Renaissance Marriott are $179/night, which a decent chunk off the regular price.  There are also a few fancy suites in our block for $219/night.  And it's a much nicer hotel than we had last time.  Too nice for us?!?  Nah....they know "our kind" there.

HERE IS THE BOOKING LINK: https://vcfmw.org/hotel.html

...and the direct link in case our site goes down:

https://book.passkey.com/go/VCFMidwest19

Our room block covers Thursday through Sunday nights (that's September 5/6/7/8, 2024).   If:

• You need nights outside of that block
• You find certain nights are unable to be booked while some are OK (i.e. the block is partially full)

...then please call the hotel booking office at 847-303-4100.  We are growing but we haven't bought the hotel yet, so we can't help with booking directly.  Be sure to mention that you are booking for "Vintage Computer Festival Midwest" (you may also mention "Chicago Classic Computing" in case they haven't updated their records.)

TABLES

Table layout, allocation and (sorry to say) fees will be a whole new ballgame this year.  Please give us until May (maybe June) to open table registration.  Why the fee?  And why can't we figure out what it is yet?  The charge for the tables will, for the most part, we just that, for the tables....and the power.  Both of which we have to rent (can you rent power? It's not like we're giving it back) at this venue.  No more all-incusive packages in the big leagues.  We're in the a la carte zone now.

We're still crunching the numbers but our goal is to keep the fee as low as possible, essentially passing our costs along.  We want to keep VCF Midwest the same old community user group meeting it's always been.  Just a little more...comfortable.

So much more to come...watch our marginally-usable website and this mailing list and please pass the sign-up link on to your friends.

No sleep 'til October,

jason