[Coco] CoCo Fest video and chat

[John W. Linville]

On Thu, May 04, 2006 at 01:57:15PM -0400, Ken Carlin wrote:

> When the fest was in Pittsburgh, I *did* attend.  And I felt kind of out
> of place.  Not anyone's fault, that's just the way I am.

I'll second this.  I've been to 4 or 5 of the Chicago fests, and
the last one in Pittsburgh.  Yet, I still don't really feel I'm part
of the group.  Don't get me wrong: everyone is reasonably friendly
and accomodating.  But I still feel more like a visitor.  I suppose
it doesn't help that I don't play medieval music and that I don't
attend Bro. J's Sunday service... ;-)  I'm not sure how to fix this.

What was missing for me this year was the flea market aspect.
There just wasn't anyone w/ a big pile of interesting old stuff
for sale.  Even the auction was a bit barren -- the most interesting
thing on Saturday was something I had donated.  I didn't even stay
for Sunday's auction, as it didn't look to have any better prospects.

I suppose this is because everyone that still comes already has most
of the stuff that was ever available.  Again, I don't know how to
fix this.  Anyone who flies would have trouble bringing anything
or taking it home.  Still, this is part of the enjoyment for me.
There is always UPS to get stuff home... :-)

I sense I'm in the minority for wanting cool stuff in the auction.
There is an undercurrent of contempt for anyone who bids too high
to get something.  (As if we should just give anything cool to
the Illuminati of the community!)  I have often heard "under the
breath" complaints about certain people who "just buy everything"
at the auction.  At least high bidders are helping the club pay for
the room...

I agree w/ Nick M. in that the best moments I've had at fests
(other than winning the bidding for something cool) have been the
demonstrations (especially the laser light shows) and the NitrOS-9
"seminar" Curtis Boyle gave in Pittsburgh.

I think a cool idea would be to have something akin to a "talent show",
where people could demonstrate whatever they are doing w/ the CoCo
(simple robotics, electronic experimenting, LOGO programming, writing
BASIC programs, etc).  Even a cool video game or flight simulator
setup would be cool and worth showing.  That might even help to break
the ice between old/new members as well as active/passive members of
the community.

Anyway, I hope this insight is helpful.  I'm going to stop now before
I get negative... :-)

John
-- 
John W. Linville
linville at tuxdriver.com