The world’s first large gathering of Tandy Radio Shack
computer enthusiasts since the 1980s took place this past October 7th
and 8th in Chillicothe, Ohio, USA.
The event was by most measures a huge success. We had over 80 participants from around the
world, although most were from the US, as expected. The traveler with the longest trek to the
show was none other than Ian Mavric who flew in from Australia.
The show was conceived more than a year ago. It was formed from the convergence of several
different efforts aimed at creating a Tandy focused retro computing event. John Linville, Neil Blanchard and Mike Rowen
of the CoCo Crew Podcast were formulating the plan for creating an event. At the same time, I was in the early stages
of planning on starting a TRS-80 focused event.
We decided to join forces and create an all-encompassing Tandy focused
computer event. The rationale being that
by having a large umbrella that will cover many systems then that would
increase the likelihood of significant participation.
Chillicothe, Ohio was chosen as the venue for the event due
to its centralized location in the US and its affordable accommodations. We followed a tried and true formula for
events of this type by creating exhibitor space as well as a speaking
track. We eventually sold out on the
available exhibitor space and had significant attendee ticket pre-sales which
was an exciting indicator of interest in the event.
We had great exhibits spanning all of the Tandy line of
computers. From Model Is to pocket
computers. From the Color Computer to
the Tandy 1000. From Model 100 to Tandy
6000. And everything in between.
There was a Saturday night auction that went on for several
hours. I scored a CM-8 monitor for my
Coco 3 as well as a working Voice Synthesizer for my Model I! The funds raised by auctioning off the
donated items will help to pay for the event and will help to ensure successful
future events.
The speaker lineup was impressive. Don French, one of the fathers of the TRS-80,
opened up the show with a well-received Saturday morning keynote address. Legendary adventure game programmer Scott
Adams opened up the show on Sunday morning with his humble and inspirational
keynote address. Speaking luminaries
also included the famous TRS-80 programmer Lance Micklus and Color Computer
programmer Rick Adams. The speakers kept
rolling on for most of the day Saturday and Sunday morning. I even gave a presentation on the Model II
line of computers.
I was pleased to meet so many people that I only knew from
the online world. Enthusiasts such as
George Phillips, Malcom Ramey, Martin Lucas, Peter Bartlett, Kevin Adams…the
list goes on and on. Nothing beats
meeting someone in person to establish a true friendship. I hope to keep those friendships alive for a
long time. I’m disappointed that I did
not get to meet many other attendees, especially those in the Coco
community. I was so busy with my
exhibit, speaking slot and event functions that it was difficult to mingle and
just meet new people. I plan to rectify
that in future years.
Getting to meet Scott Adams was a real thrill for me. He was a very nice fellow and was so grateful
for the invitation to speak at the event. Scott’s computer games got me through
some tough times when I was a child. I
will always remember playing them well into the night to help escape some of my
life’s challenges at the time. His games
were a friend that was always there for me. Thank you, Scott!
Lance Micklus was another very gracious and generous person
to meet. He gave me his Model III that
was used to host his BBS back in the day.
He even autographed it for me. I
plan on including it in my future TRS-80 Museum.
Since the event was such a success, we are already planning
for Tandy Assembly 2018! Don’t miss the
next one. The first one was the highlight
of my vintage computing career and I think the next one could feel the same for
you as well.
