Trenton Computer Festival

Last updated

The Trenton Computer Festival (also called TCF), founded in 1976, is the oldest personal computer show in the world. [1] [2] It is considered to be the first major fair for personal computer hobbyists. [3] [4]

It was founded 1976 at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) by Sol Libes and Allen Katz with the assistance of the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey (ACGNJ). [5] [6] The initial event drew a crowd of approximately 1,500, and featured lectures, vendor tables, and an outdoor computer market, all aimed at the amateur computer hobbyist. [7]

By 1992, it had moved to the Mercer County Community College, [8] and by 1999 it had moved to the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey. [9] Attendance peaked at approximately 30,000 attendees per weekend around 1988, but by 2003, was down to approximately 10,000 attendees across the entire weekend. [10] In 2005, TCF returned to The College of New Jersey to celebrate its 30th anniversary. [11] In 2015, the event marked its 40th anniversary. [2] In 2020, the festival was cancelled as a result of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey. [12] The 2021 and 2022 events were held virtually. [13]

Related Research Articles

The College of New Jersey Public university in Ewing, New Jersey, United States

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855, as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or teaching college, in the state of New Jersey and the fifth in the United States. Originally located in Trenton proper, the college was moved to its present location in adjacent Ewing Township during the early to mid-1930s. Since its inception, TCNJ has undergone several name changes, the most recent being the 1996 change from Trenton State College to its current name.

New Jersey Athletic Conference

The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its full members are public universities in New Jersey. Affiliate members are located in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Taste of the Danforth Yearly festival held in Toronto, Canada

Taste of the Danforth is a yearly festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the Greektown area along Danforth Avenue for a period of three days in August, spawned from the Taste of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is currently Canada's largest street festival. It started in 1993, and in 2013 completed its 20th year of this event which celebrates Greek food and culture. The owner of Papas Grill, a Greek cuisine on the Danforth stated Taste of the Danforth has "grown exponentially and we are still experiencing growth 20 years to the day"

Hamfest Convention of amateur radio enthusiasts

A Hamfest is a convention of amateur radio enthusiasts, often combining a trade show, flea market, and various other activities of interest to amateur radio operators (hams). In the United Kingdom the term rally is more commonly used for amateur radio conventions. "Hamfests" were noted as early as 1924 in the U.S.

CURE Insurance Arena Arena in New Jersey, United States

The CURE Insurance Arena is a multipurpose arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It hosts events including shows, sporting events and concerts.

Winter Music Conference

The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings together professionals such as artists, DJs, record label representatives (A&R), producers, promoters, radio and the media for seminars and panel discussions. Thousands of attendees attend the WMC each year from around the world.

The Country Stampede Music Festival is an outdoor country music and camping festival held at Heartland Motorsports Park, south of Topeka, Kansas. The festival has been held annually since 1996, historically on the last weekend in June.

Electric Daisy Carnival Electronic dance music festival organized by Insomniac

Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is currently the largest electronic dance music festival in North America.

Cass Lewart is an author, electrical engineer and Polish Holocaust survivor. He has written extensively on computer and data communication, as well as non-fiction articles on his life experiences. He is also a speaker on computer related topic and an award-winning computer hobbyist.

Phoenix Fan Fusion Speculative function

Phoenix Fan Fusion is a speculative fiction entertainment and comic book convention held annually in Phoenix, Arizona. It was founded as the Phoenix Cactus Comicon in June 2002, and originally consisted of a one-day six-hour event held in Ahwatukee, Arizona. The convention plays host to comic related panels, programming events, art contests, and autograph signings for all ages. It is a four-day event (Thursday-Sunday) held during the summer at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. On Thursday evening prior to the official opening of the event, there is a preview for professionals, exhibitors, and select guests pre-registered for all four days.

Joseph P. Merlino was an American Democratic Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1981.

Nashville Pride Annual LGBT event in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville Pride is a non-profit based in Nashville, Tennessee that produces a yearly LGBT Pride Festival. Its goal is to celebrate the existence and identity of the LGBT community and "connect people with the services and resources that they need in order to thrive" according to Nashville Pride's Community Affairs Director Phil Cobucci. It is the largest LGBT event based in Tennessee.

AVCon, abbreviated from Adelaide's Anime and Video Games Festival, is an Australian anime and video games festival held in Adelaide, South Australia and organised by the registered charity Team AVCon Inc. The festival is traditionally held annually in July, spanning three days, first at the University of Adelaide, then at the Adelaide Convention Centre until 2019. The festival was not held between 2020 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Team AVCon issued a statement on their social media and official website stating that the AVCon festival will not be going ahead in 2022 as a large event. Instead, Team AVCon will run mini-events and focus on reconnecting with the regional and metropolitan communities.

Nudes-A-Poppin' is an annual pageant in the United States for nude women and men competing in erotic dance. It is the best-known nude event in Indiana, and has been held annually since 1975, except when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Eric Hamilton is a retired American football coach. Hamilton was head football coach at The College of New Jersey from 1977 through 2012. He ended his career with a record of 212–144–6.

Electric Zoo Electronic music festival in Randalls Island, New York City

Electric Zoo is an annual electronic music festival held over Labor Day weekend in New York City on Randall's Island. The festival represents all genres of electronic music, bringing top international DJs and live acts from multiple countries to four stages.

TCNJ Lions

The TCNJ Lions are the athletic teams representing The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). They are a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and compete within Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Montclair Film Nonprofit organization well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival

Montclair Film is a nonprofit most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works from American and international filmmakers, and has year-round events. The festival features a program of films in the Fiction, Non-Fiction, World Cinema, Short, and Student Filmmaking categories.

Colonial States College Hockey Conference

The Colonial States College Hockey Conference (CSCHC) is a college ice hockey league based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The conference is part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 and is made up of eleven teams from colleges and universities based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Wasteland Weekend

Wasteland Weekend is an annual festival held in Edwards, California. The event is listed as a full immersion event, with all participants required to adhere to the set theme. It has since been annually held in September since 2010, except for 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the 10th-anniversary edition of Wasteland Weekend was held from September 25 to September 29.

References

  1. ↑ Soll, David F. "TCF Professional Conference". princetonacm.acm.org. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  2. 1 2 "Trenton Computer Festival in its 40th year". The Signal. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  3. ↑ Pitre, Boisy G.; Loguidice, Bill (2013-12-10). CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer. CRC Press. p. 10. ISBN   9781466592476.
  4. ↑ Loguidice, Bill; Barton, Matt (2014-02-24). Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time. CRC Press. ISBN   9781135006501.
  5. ↑ Gewirtz, David. "Trenton Computer Festival, the early days of computing, and me | ZDNet". ZDNet. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  6. ↑ "Trenton Computer Festival - Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia". www.pcmag.com. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  7. ↑ Rensberger, Boyce (1976-05-04). "Low-Cost Computers Beginning to Move Into the Home" . The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  8. ↑ CQ: The Radio Amateurs' Journal. CQ Publishing. 1992.
  9. ↑ Amateur Radio. CQ Publishing. 1999.
  10. ↑ Bendheim, Anne (4 May 2003). "Gaggle of computer geeks flocks to high-tech festival". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 19. Retrieved 2019-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "TCF". www.tcnj.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  12. ↑ @TCFfestival (March 14, 2020). "Breaking News: We regret to announce that TCF2020 has been cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak in accordance with TCNJ guidelines" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Hastings, Sara. "Trenton Computer Festival Goes Virtual". Community News. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.