Ed. note: The following is a rambling account of our trip to the CapitalFest, due to my total recall ability, however one or more memory chips maybe going…I will follow with opinions and ruminations of my choosing and then addresses for those mention herein-PAH
The CapitalFest-THE CAPITALFEST- Clyde Tackley and I left Friday, May 5 and drove thru Pennsylvania and the fog and continual rain for about 6.5 hours to get to the Howard Johnson’s in New Carrollton, Md. There we began meeting a few TSers, got a room and watched some four hundred thousand(church group) teenagers arrive in four buses from various places in the Midwest. The banquet got underway about on time, and Clyde and I sat at a table with TSers from Harrisburg (Dave Bennett), South west PA (Ralph Vasko, Judy Muir) and a couple (Joyce Blaho)from Boston. After a few introductory remarks by the president of the C.A.T.S. group (the good folks who put on this affair) we got to eat. Those of us who were saving room for dessert didn’t have to worry, there wasn’t any. The after dinner talk by Tom Bent of C.A.T.S., was a non-computer talk for the benefit of loved ones who don’t compute. Unfortunately the dinner wasn’t attended by Audrey Curnutt, the FEST chairperson, who had given up her and husband Bob’s tickets so that late arrivals could eat. She could have kept errors from being spread about the next day’s schedule by staying. Audrey apparently did at least 85 percent, if not more all by herself. The fact the FEST occured, went off with very few apparent gliches, spoke volumes of the effort that she and Bob put into it, and we applaud her work – Thank you Audrey!! The prize for the person or persons traveling the furthest went to the people from the Vancouver TSUG, and I wish I could remember the name of the gent I met. Well, before the night was over, the drawing for the door prizes was made, and wouldn’t you know, I won a gift certificate from RMG. Thanks Rod, thanks C.A.T.S. and thanks to Carol Davis, ISTUG, for drawing my name. We turned in early, as it had been a long day, and the….zzzzzZZZZ
Saturday, we got up with the birds, the skies were clear, the sun beautiful and the shower only had COLD water. So Clyde decided to skip that treat. Well, we were on the seventh floor and it just takes awhile. We walked over to a franchise diner, and order the “All you can eat Breakfast” for less than $6 each. But with coffee and orange juice, the bill was over $17! So much for the big city life! We met some more TSers there and chatted with Hal Johnson from Florida. Back to the hotel, people were already starting to set up. So we decide to do likewise. By opening time just about all the tables were set and ready for the masses, well crowds of eager diehard Sinclair users. By 9:15 it became evident the crowd was going to be a little slow in getting there, but a couple of people were stopping by and chatting so it seemed we were busy. Zebra had a sellout of TS stock sale all day long and they seemed busy all the time. Dave Sharp, of Sharp’s had the QL, Z88 and Amstrad stuff, and it seemed the crowd was two deep all the time in front of his tables.
Tim Woods, from Time Designs Magazine was there mending fences, handing out missed issues and bringing up all to Volume 5, Number 1. Tim is going to hang in there and the next issue is well underway. I am sure the problems he had which kept him away from his magazine hurt his reputation, but anyone willing to fly across the country and face his subscribers, will undo much of the damage. A short pleasant chat with Jack Dohany got me a viewing of Mscript5.5, and a note that Version 6.0 will NOT be done, in lieu of a completely rewritten word processor. Those who have paid in advance for 6.0 should contact Jack. Met a big bunch of fellas from LIST from the Big Apple area. A few minutes with Frank Davis, ISTUG and a swap of 2068 programs and our swap librarian has lots of NEW stuff to look at. George Chambers of the Toronto TSUG stopped by and we talked Larkenese and he got me straighten out on some fine points. One of the user group tables near us was set up by a bunch of hardcore TS nuts from SMUG. These guys were VETS, they’d been to a whole bunch of Fests, and I spotted that when they started setting up an erector set like contraption over their table. They had a neat demo of their video board, and it works great!
During the day, we got to meet a few former and current SINCUS members, and we signed up four new people. One, Harold Jones, was from right across the line in Montrose, Pa. We hope to see him at our meets this summer. We met and talked to a lot of users out there who have NO local group to contact. Of all the tables, the QL and the 2068 were well represented, and the ZX-81/TS1000 was anchored by the good folks from southwestern Penn. During the day, several announcements and drawing for door prizes were made, but I could not hear and if busy at the table, the announcements were totally missed. There were talks given on TS computer topics thru out the day, ending with a talk by Nigel Searle, a representive of Sir Clive in North America. We missed this too, as we had decided to leave bright and early Sunday morning. The only opportunity to pack was during the talk, and it POURED the whole time we packed the car.
We then got an invite to a wine and cheese party by some nice folks from the Cleveland, Ohio TSUG, and we attented! A run out for dinner, and back in time for the S.N.U.G. meeting. The meet held in one of the hospitablity rooms, was attended by nearly all those who had a table at the FEST. However many came and left at various times, so except for a few would were present for the whole meet, most just got an idea of what S.N.U.G. was up to. Frank Davis, ISTUG was literally roped into chairing a meeting for which he had no idea of what to expect. Frank tried to give the general idea of what S.N.U.G. was for, what they had done and what they hoped to do. The only recently elected officer present was Audrey Curnutt, and all the other officers were absent for one reason or another.
FESTs are the only public exposure that S.N.U.G. has, and this was an opportunity lost to get many UGs behind it. The elected officals are President, Mel Nathanson, Port Richey, FL; 1st Vice-President, Paul Holmgren, Indiana STUG; 2nd Vice-President, Basil Wentworth (I think – Chicago); Secretary, Audrey Curnutt, Maryland; Treasurer, John Cushran. Currently there are 83 members or user groups represented in S.N.U.G. The comments by those present started out on a general tone of confusion, but after a couple hours, the frustrations got a little more specific and personal. Personally, the lack of communication from the organizers of S.N.U.G. has hurt them badly in the opinions of its members, and the lack of specific goals or actions, of its leaders, will compound the frustration. SINCUS will lend space in its newsletters to let our readers know what is current with S.N.U.G., we hope that news will be forth coming soon.
We turned in early for the trip home in the morning. We got under way before 6am Sunday, and drove thru beautiful SUN lit country all the way to York, Pa before getting back under the cloud cover. We were home before noon, and back to late winter, dark clouds, snow in the forecast, and cold winds. The summer – like foliage was gone, and mere buds were peaking thru on the trees. The next day, Rochester got 11 inches of the winter white stuff. Home again, hardly seemed like we were gone, and but for a CATS T-shirt, and a couple fliers, and the door prize, I wouldn’t have known. The low turnout was disappointing, but there were severe thunder storms and several tornadoes in the area, and lots of rain, and that could have kept a few away. I met a couple guys who had driven hundreds of miles just to see the FEST and then turn around and drove home. I met many users who stayed over night just to met and talk with other users because there is nowhere or noone else to turn to. I also watched other groups function there, and I suppose the biggest detriment to a successful group is EGO. Yet it takes a forceful person to do the job of organizing and running a group. Jack Dohany had the best point of view of anyone,”THIS IS A HOBBY, we are supposed to be having fun”; I feel, if a group wishes to function, the efforts should be shared, not letting the other guy do it all the time, so all have some fun. So we are home, and again we are not alone as some are, so let’s have fun, and share not only what we know, but also the work load.
Addresses and whatall of some of the people/groups we met:
Harrisburg TS Users, David Bennett, [address omitted], Lemoyne, PA
Vancouver TSUG, Rod Humphreys, [address omitted], Port Moody, B.C. Canada
Boston BOSTUG, Joyce Blaho, [address omitted], Medford, MA
RMG Enterprises, 1419 1/2 7th Street, Oregon City, Oregon 97045 (503)655-7484
C.A.T.S. POB 467, Fairfax Station, VA 22039
I.S.T.U.G., 513 East Main St., Peru, Indiana 46970
Hal Johnson, [address omitted], Orange City, FL [phone number omitted]
Dave Sharp, of Sharp’s, Box 326, Mechanicsville, VA 23111 (804)730-9697
Time Designs Magazine, 29722 Hult Rd., Colton OR 97017 (503)824-2558
Jack Dohany, 390 Rutherford, Redwood City, CA 94061 (415)367-7781
George Chambers, Toronto TSUG, [address omitted], Scarborough Ontario Canada
LIST, 5 Peri Lane, Valley Stream, NY 11581
SMUG, Sinclair Milwaukee Users Group, POB 101, Butler, WI 53007
Southwestern PA User’s Group, Ralph Vasko, [address omitted], Donora, Pa
Greater Cleveland Sinclair Users Group, 12706 Leeila Ave., Cleveland, OH 44135
Sinclair Northamerica Users Group, S.N.U.G., Mel Nathanson, [address omitted], Port Richey, FL
Tom Bent, Quantum Levels(mag)9016 Flicker Place, Columbia MD 21045 (301)730-7187
A final note: How to report the SNUG business, report no problem, or every disparging remark? Lack of info is the biggest problem, we can not help if we don’t know of the problems. There seems to be an abundance of suggestions and a drought of helpers. Perhaps every suggestion ought to be accompanied by a willing soul who will do what is asked of him.