I hope everyone has settled into our new first Thursday of the month meeting date. If not, this is your reminder our meeting is this week.
With Tandy Assembly in the rear view mirror, the conferences are winding down for 2022. I hope everyone was able to physically or virtually attend one or more this year, and perhaps you bought an early Christmas present for the CoCo or MC-10 (or maybe the Alice!) But first, Thanksgiving will be upon us in a flash. I am thankful there are still strong physical and virtual communities for not just the CoCo, but all of the classic systems of the late 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s. I’ve mellowed over the years, no longer trying to play one-upmanship around which 8-bit machine is best. At this point, I am just thankful to both see what all we accomplished with our machines when they were new and the new accomplishments being made today and tomorrow.
Please join us this Thursday We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces.
Just a quick note to welcome Brian Wieseler as the 2022-23 GCCC Secretary, alongside myself, John Mark Mobley, and Eric Canales returning in our respective positions. Thanks for everyone who has attended our meetings, enjoyed CoCoFEST!, and/or participated in our Facebook discussion. With a new venue for our 2023 CoCoFEST!, hopes are high for an excellent upcoming year of CoCo!
As noted in our August meeting, to accommodate more of our members, we’re moving our meeting date from the third Thursday of the month to the first Thursday. If you’ve been unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts and this eases them, I hope you can join us.
For myself and no doubt others in our community, September passed by in a blur. Along with other classic computers, the CoCo was well represented at the Vintage Computer Festival Midwest in Chicago, and both our club and the CoCo made appearances at the recent Tandy Assembly in Springfield, OH. Though for some, the travel is a bit onerous, meeting familiar faces and sharing time together at these shows is a welcome respite from the tedium of life. That said, as I sit here after having just spent the last few hours unpacking from the Tandy Assembly trip, the after trip unpacking blues are real :-). (and I didn’t take that much to either show…)
All that said, I apologize that the rush of events delayed my sharing the results of our September officer nominations and explaining the lack of a voting period this month. For our 2022-23 officers, I was nominated as President, and I want to congratulate John Mark Mobley on his nomination for 2022-23 Vice President and Eric Canales on his nomination for Treasurer. Nominations for those 3 offices were closed during the meeting, and since there was only 1 nominee for each office, no voting was required. For Secretary, no nomination was made, so the nominations were left open. I’ll once again ask for nominations for this position at the October meeting, and I believe we have one interested member to nominate. If you are also interested in the position, there’s still time to be nominated. I don’t know how often Glenside’s had no contested office positions in the past, but I can confirm the frustrating rumor I heard at Tandy Assembly that no one ran for any of the offices this year is untrue. As always, if you have concerns about the process, please reach out to either an officer or board member.
With the CoCoFEST! venue change and pricing increases, CoCoFEST! coordinator Grant Leighty will share more details this month on table fees, admission fee considerations, and other income source discussions. The hotel room block is already open for room reservations, and I know Grant and Randy Weaver are hoping to have table reservations available in November.
For those in the Chicago area, we’ll also discuss dinner/get together interest and dates, if desired. The increasingly spread out nature of the club poses logistics challenges for face-to-face events, but where there’s interest, there’s solutions!
We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces.
As noted in our August meeting, to accommodate more of our members, we’re moving our meeting date from the third Thursday of the month to the first Thursday. This month, that means we’re meeting on the first day of September! If you’ve been unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts and this eases them, I hope you can join us.
September also marks Glenside Color Computer Club officer nominations time. If you would like to provide leadership guidance for our activities and operations, please consider running for one of our 4 offices (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer). I know it may sound odd to suggest others campaign for the position I am currently holding, but I think it’s most important that the club be introduced to new ideas and new ways of impacting the community, and new leadership can often do just that. Regardless, I’d ask that members attend and nominate key individuals to help strengthen the club in 2023! Note that only GCCC members can nominate, and only GCCC members can be nominated. If you’re not currently a due paying member, contact treasurer Eric Canales prior to Thursday to ensure your membership is in good standing.
Immediately following nominations, we will be publicizing the nominees and calling for online voting. As in the past, we will use tandylist.com to record the voting from now until our October meeting (which is also scheduled on the first Thursday of October, 10/6/2022). Your vote is important, and I hope you will help us place strong leaders into office.
We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces.
I hope everyone continues to enjoy their Summer. It’s coming to a close, as I am sitting here away from our home helping my daughter (whom some of you know as the “The Cookie Lady” from recent fests) move into her college dorm to start Fall classes. I hope you wring as much as you can from these last few weeks, but save a bit of time to enjoy your CoCo and drop by our monthly meeting to catch up on club efforts.
This month, Grant Leighty will provide an update on planning for the 2023 CoCoFEST!. As shared previously, we’ve switched to a new venue, and the 2023 contract has been signed with confirmed dates. The room block should be open soon, for those who like to get things done early!
At our recent Board of Directors, we discussed moving our monthly meeting date to the first Thursday of the month. A number of folks have conflicts with the third Thursday, and this may alleviate the issue. I’m aware there’s no perfect date, and we’re interested in comments from those who might have issues with the first Thursday of every month.
Finally, I wanted to note that September is the time we open the floor for nominations for club officers (President/Vice President/Secretary/Treasurer). We will then vote after nominations and announce the 2022-23 officer slate in October 2022.
We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces. John Mark Mobley will open the time with information on nanoscale vacuum-channel transistors for those who are interested.
With many thanks to all who provided feedback on our recent CoCoFEST! and Grant Leighty for working tirelessly on initial 2023 CoCoFEST! planning; Grant and I, on behalf of the GCCC board of directors, are pleased to confirm the location and date for the 2023 31st Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST! The event will be held, as previously noted, on April 22nd and 23rd, 2023 at the Holiday Inn & Suites Carol Stream. Grant and I apologize for the delay in confirming the dates, though it was necessary since we will be hosting at a new venue.
Though many event logistics details will continue unchanged (Friday evening vendor/exhibit setup, event start/end times, etc.), we’ll share more details as we continue to plan out the event over the next 4 months. For those wondering, the venue has an on-site restaurant and we are planning to continue our on-site Saturday evening catered meal. As with previous shows, there will be a block of King and DOuble Queen rooms for $119/night available for purchase withing the 140 total hotel rooms available.
The recent global situation as well as inflationary pressures have increased venue pricing in general, and our 2023 event costs as well. As such, we’d appreciate hearing from past attendees, presenters, exhibitors, and vendors on creative ways to fund the 2023 event.
Outsiders may sniff that spending time in a group such as ours is a waste of time, but beyond the community and technical aspects of belonging to this organization, I am so thankful for the opportunity to plan events like this. It has given me a new appreciation for both the costs needed to successfully hold such an event, how venue operators financially view such functions, and the sheer amount of planning necessary prior to the event date.
Of course, the event does not thrive without vendors, exhibitors, presenters, and attendees. We have 8 months until the 2023 show, so I will make the initial call for new and revised exhibits, interesting presentations, and interesting and economical products.
All 4 3000 sq ft sections of the Clarion Inn Venue (12000 sq ft)
As most of you are aware, our 2022 CoCoFEST! utilized the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village location. Fewer may also be aware that the venue changed ownership a mere 2 weeks before our May event. As is normal, we paid our 2022 venue rental bill at the end of the show and sat down to sign the 2023 rental agreement. However, the venue stated they wanted to wait a few weeks as they were in the process of validating pricing and such. Grant Leighty, CoCoFEST! coordinator, and I, agreed, but I stipulated we needed to lock in our April 22/23 dates so we did not lose them in the meantime. The venue agreed.
A few weeks later, we received the updated rental contract from the venue and were shocked that the 2023 rates were considerably more than in the past. After Grant verified the pricing was not a clerical mistake, we discussed options. We knew rental rates would be climbing given all of the changes happening, but we felt the new pricing was unrealistic, so we started checking pricing at other venues to better manage expectations. To put things in perspective, we paid approximately $0.38/sq ft while while in Lombard (Heron Point), and that number moved to $0.53/sq ft while at Elk Grove Village (Holiday Inn). For 2023, we would be asked to pay approximately $4.50/sq ft for the same amenities.
After checking a number of venues in the approximate area, we firmly believe the Elk Grove Village rates are unrealistic. That said, it’s also probably unrealistic of the club to expect pre-COVID pricing to continue. To use the same comparison, other venues in the area are quoting rates from $0.80/sq ft to over $1.62/sq ft, and those quotes don’t include all costs, like tax, service fees, beverage costs, etc. Therefore, we do need to adjust what we consider normal in 2023 and beyond.
Another concern is venue size and location. Taking size first, we’ve outgrown the 2100 sq ft main hall of Heron Point, while we don’t quite fill the Holiday Inn’s 4559 sq ft main hall (but there’s room to grow). Ideally, we need about 3-4K sq ft for the main exhibit hall, and 600-1200 sq ft for the presentation/auction room. Grant looked at a number of venues, and the locations mostly seem to be much smaller (Heron Point size) or much larger (Clarion Inn size, where VCF-Midwest is held).
Consider Clarion Inn, for example. Tony Podraza, Grant, and I chatted with the venue coordinator in person last weekend, and here’s some things he wanted us to consider:
The main venue hall is 4 3000 sq ft sections, for 12000 sq ft in total (not including the huge foyer and the massive side hallway.
The venue really doesn’t have a way to sub-divide the 3000 sq ft sections into smaller chunks. He suggested a pole and a curtain, but that’s not sound dampening.
3000 sq ft is a bit tight for our main venue needs (as noted above, it’d be OK for now, but offers little room for incremental show growth)
To organize the show at this location, we’d need 2 of the 4 3000sq ft sections (one for exhibit and one for presentations)
On principle, the venue does not rent to dissimilar groups on a given weekend. So, even though we don’t need the entire venue, they would not consider renting the remaining space out to someone else unless that other group is very similar to ours (another computer club or a game club, etc.)
They have a minimum charge out rate for the entire space for the weekend.
So, though we only need 4-5K of space, we’d need to pay the minimum full venue rate for the weekend, and that rate changes depending on the date. The coordinator noted that during the wedding season, he doesn’t rent out the facility for less than $30K/weekend (which gives you an idea of wedding costs). Mind you, the rate quoted to us was much lower, but we’d need to steer clear of wedding season. Guess where the normal CoCoFEST! dates are located?
On the other hand, Grant found a few venues that were eager to work with us, but they only have 2000 sq ft of conference room space. We simply can no longer fit into that small a venue. It’s a shame, too, as the coordinators seem very flexible and ready to customize things to fit our budget and needs.
Location is another concern. Besides the obvious location concerns (a preference for locations near O’Hare and not in high crime areas), some of the venue were just hard to get to. One sits at the corner of two main freeways, and just driving to the venue required extreme diligence to not miss the turn or be in the wrong lane. For years, we’ve enjoyed easy access to the venue. Heron Point was at the corner of 355 and North Avenue, but about the only tricky part was getting to the parking lot from the East on off North Avenue, and most folks figure out the shortcut by cutting through the Heron Point parking lot from the East entrance. Elk Grove Village was likewise pretty easy to navigate.
I don’t want to discount other considerations, like quality, cleanliness, and number of hotel rooms, venue loading/unloading options, on site food, etc. But, the size concern alone shortened the list considerably.
Easy loading and unloading option through double doors right outside main hall
Additional rooms available for breakouts or other uses (for additional fees, of course)
Our preferred April 22/23 2023 dates are available, and no premium rates to leverage them
Recently renovated
Main HallwayMain Ballroom (set up for wedding)Side conference roomRestaurantRestaurantRestaurantSide conference room
As noted, Grant is discussing venue costs with the location. The initial quote is much more reasonable than the Elk Grove Village option, but still strains the fest budget. We’re hoping to negotiate a bit more favorable terms.
Another option to consider is the Clarion Inn venue (VCF-Midwest). To do so, we’d need to make two changes. The first is absolute:
We’d need to move the fest up into March (off season). They’d be willing to give us a late March date (maybe even March 31/April 1), but no later.
The next option concerns cost. For off-season, there’s a minimum charge rate, regardless of sq ft usage. We have a couple ways we could meet the minimum charge:
We could increase fees and such to cover the cost ourselves. Since this venue’s cost is 3X our previous venues, covering all of that cost with fee increases might be unrealistic.
We can spread the cost into other areas. If we advertise a slightly more expensive room rate (think $130 versus $110), the difference per night can be used to meet the venue charge rate. I’m sure folks have opinions on this, but it is an option to consider.
Either instead of the above or in addition to it, we could guarantee room rental nights or food intake at the on-site cafe. Unlike room rate alterations, these would be guarantees (we’d be responsible for the difference if the minimums are not met). Again, I’m sure folks have opinions on this.
We could find a “partner” group wanting to host a similarly sized event at the same venue on the same weekend. There’s some value in partnering with another group (more cross traffic, etc.), but I’m not sure at this time who we would approach
The first change is not that hard to make. Choosing which direction to pursue for the second change is harder. Each option poses concerns, and it may be unrealistic to find a suitable hosting partner, but there are upsides. The venue needs to charge out a minimum rate but wants to work with us. Obviously, this venue offers plenty of room for growth. In addition to the 12000 sq ft in the ballroom, there’s probably 9000 sq ft in the foyer area and another 2000 sq ft in the side hallway that could be used to support additional smaller groups or special presentations or exhibits now and in the future.
~ 4500 sq ft of the Marriott Shaumburg ballroom (half of it)
I’m awaiting better pricing on a third option (Marriott Schaumburg). Like Clarion Inn, the venue is too large for our needs (~9000 sq ft), and the initial quote was the same as Clarion (given the same cost, we’d probably prefer the Clarion Inn location), but there may be opportunities to lower the price. Unlike the Clarion Inn location, the Marriott Ballroom has two 2340 sq ft middle sections and then 8 (4 per side) 490 sq ft sections on the sides that can be individually configured. Like the Carol Stream hotel, this one is renovated ($22M), offers easy access, provides easy loading options, and remains close to restaurants (Portillo’s is about 5 mile away :-)).
Initially, I thought we’d gather some additional quotes to help with negotiation at the Elk Grove location. But, based on feedback Grant has received from other organizations previously using the Elk Grove Village Holiday Inn location, it appears everyone has seen the same rate hikes. Unfortunately, no one has seen much success negotiating lower rates. While I know there were no major issues with the venue during the most recent fest, I do know the hotel portion suffered some complaints. Those attendees will most likely not shed a tear if we pick a new location for the 2023 show.
Tangentially related, Grant found some nice venues that are simply too small to hold CoCoFEST! Two such venues were Holiday Inn O’Hare and Holiday Inn Hoffman Estates. The O’Hare location was bigger (3100 sq ft ballroom), but it is the one situated at a busy corner of two main highways. The other was smaller (2000 sq ft), but also sports easy access and the venue coordinator is extremely interested in working with groups like GCCC to rent the venue. While neither will work for CoCoFEST!, I have long personally thought a “retro hackathon” weekend would be nice to organize in the Chicago area, and such an event could be more easily fit into a smaller venue like this. I’ve not even inquired on GCCC’s position concerning such an event, but the eagerness of the venue coordinator at Hoffman Estates creates even more personal interest to consider something like this. If others are interested in this or something else that can utilize these venues, feel free to reach out with ideas.
As always, we welcome feedback and are happy to answer questions on this topic. Feel free to contact us via email, Facebook, or the CoCo mailing list.
Our 2021-22 Glenside Secretary Brian Goers has requested to step down from this position due to other commitments. We thank Brian for his help as previous Treasurer and now Secretary and pledge to find someone to fill the remainder of Brian’s officer term. If you or someone you know can assist the club in noting meeting minutes, please reach out to any of the club officers.
Like CoCo clockwork (note to self, need to see if there’s a giant clock program for the CoCo…), our meeting time approaches. I was so busy enjoying the recent Southern Fried Gaming Expo in Atlanta, GA, I am late getting this note out. But, I trust everyone already knew. Regardless, though it’s the slow season for us, we’re always happy to come together and talk CoCo.
We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces.
I would like to once again thank all of the attendees (physical and virtual), exhibitors, vendors, presenters, and staff who helped make the 2022 Glenside “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST! a success. I heard some folks exclaim it was the most fun fest they’ve attended in a long time, which is heartening. I’d also like to give a shot out to Jason Timmons, our auctioneer (and VFC-Midwest organizer) as well as Michael Lee (VCF-Midwest organizer), who both graciously allowed the use of VCF-Midwest items like power strips and audio video equipment to help put on our show.
Even though it is still early, there’s no better time to start planning the 2023 event. Especially right now, when memories are still fresh, we’d love to take some time before, during or after our June business meeting to gather both comments and concerns in order to bring everyone improvements next year.
We’ve heard mainly room concerns (one time and re-occurring security key system issues, as well as A/C issues), with more praise given to the conference venue (dance floor issues notwithstanding). As some are aware, the hotel management changed a mere 2 weeks prior to our event, which no doubt played a role. In any event, we can’t fix what we don’t know about, and we can’t ensure the positives are kept unless folks let us know. So, please feel free to send any of the officers your thoughts, come to this month’s discussion and offer your perspective, or catch one of us after the meeting.
I know Summer is imminent, which means potentially less time to enjoy your classic computing hobby. Still, while you grab some sun and/or travel this season, I hope you stay plugged in and up to date on the hobby as well as find a few minutes to play a new game or two (Paul Shoemaker just released “Ghost Rush” in the past few days, to get you started, and I know Nick Marentes has just finished a few.)
We will open the call early at 6:30PM as in previous months, for some time to catch up and say hello to new faces.
