Digital Den hosted its first computer history exhibit at the Middlesex Lounge on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge last Sunday evening. More than thirty supporters and key representatives of local computing organizations attended the event to experience exhibits that ranged in age from a functioning PDP 8/L to an Oculus Rift.

See press release about event…
See more photos of event…

The exhibits were provided by a number of partners that, in addition to Digital Den, included the Rhode Island Computer Museum, the Mac Museum, the computer game store Replay’d and other private consultants and collectors. This event was the culmination our six month old initiative to re-establish a computer museum in the Boston/Cambridge area, and this was the first foray into exhibits and events that more closely resemble those of a traditional museum.

A highlight of the event was when Digital Den’s founder Dr. Mary E. Hopper announced that NEW Computer Museum will be the name of the non-profit organization that she plans to found with the cooperation of a coalition of partners that include the organizations and individuals represented at the event along with numerous other partners. She pointed out that NEW stands for “New England Wide” in both name and spirit, and this was symbolized by the cooperation of partners from Rhode Island and New Hampshire in providing the exhibits for the event on Sunday evening.

Digital Den has been sponsoring a small public computer hardware and software archive in the Metropolitan Storage building on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge since July, and regular public hours were held over the summer and early fall. The initial funding and collection for the archive was provided by Dr. Hopper with the help of a small group of friends and an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign.

The event on Sunday evening marked a transition in the evolution of the initiative to found a new computer museum from a small computer archive sponsored solely by Digital Den towards a concerted effort by a coalition of partners that collectively hold thousands of computers of a staggering range of models and vintages.

The next phase of the initiative will include a search for a larger location and more the funding to support a more traditional non-profit organization. One potential location for the NEW Computer Museum is the iconic Foundry Building in East Cambridge. Dr. Hopper will attend the tours of the Foundry Building during the day and informational discussion that will be held at Police Headquarters at 6:30 pm by the City of Cambridge next Wednesday, October 30th.

She strongly encourages supporters of the initiative to create a NEW Computer Museum who reside in Cambridge to attend the events and voice their support for keeping the building and allowing non-profit organizations to reside there as tenants.

Information about Community Meeting on Foundry Building, Oct. 30, 2013
http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/News/2013/10/foundrybuildingcommunitymeeting.aspx

Hello Everyone!

First, invitations to the launch exhibit and party have gone out through evite.com.
Please be sure to check the email address you used when contributing to the campaign for the e-invitation, and then please be sure to RSVP ASAP! The space is kind of small, the guest list is fairly large, a wait-list might be on the horizon, so we need an accurate head-count for planning purposes. You can also email me directly with your response (mehopper@mehopper.net).

Second, bigger news! Digital-Den has been included in a Computer World article
“9 museums that want your legacy tech” — ok, technically it is a “slide show” :-)
http://www.computerworld.com/slideshow/detail/121888
A link to it’s on SlashDot, and it made it all the way to the top page today!
http://slashdot.org/submission/3019987/finding-a-tech-museum-for-your-beloved-reti$
Of course, the story could always use as big boost as possible… (hint, hint!)

Thanks again for your support!
Mary

As September comes to a close and October dawns a lot is happening at Digital Den!

There will still be some limited public hours scheduled at the archive from time to time.
Check the front page of the web site for the next hours. Appointments are welcome too.
http://www.digital-den.org

However, the main focus of activity has shifted from setting up and showing the archive to creating the exhibits for the Computer Arcade and preparing for the Launch Party on October 20th. The guest list for the First Exhibit and Launch Party is complete and invitations will go out via email in the coming week. If you are not already on the list, let us know if you want to attend, and we will put you on the waiting list. According to response, there could be a few more spots left later in October.

Mary Hopper will also head north to present at a conference on Sunday, Oct. 13th:
SIGCIS Workshop: Recomputing the History of Information Technology (Portland, ME)
http://www.sigcis.org/workshop13

If you happen to be in that area, let her know and perhaps it will be possible to meet there.

Thanks for your ongoing support!
Mary

Well, the time has arrived.

This weekend is the final weekend of the Indiegogo campaign.

We are still a long, long way from the goal. On the bright side, we are hovering only a few spots away from the top page of the “Final Countdown” in the “Technology” category on the Indiegogo site.

A bit more activity in the next 24 hours could potentially move us to the top page of the Technology section for the weekend. If that happened, we might also be bumped up to showing up on the top of the site.

If you, or anyone you know, has not contributed yet, this would be a *really* great time.

The campaign ends on Monday at midnight!

A lot is going on as Digital Den enters the final week of the fundraising campaign!

First, it was a beautiful day at SwapFest on September 15th where a lot of people stopped by to express their interest and support for the idea of a new computer museum in the area… and yes, that really was a Gemini Capsule for sale in the space next to ours!

The Indiegogo campaign also debuted on Page 2 of the Final Countdown in Technology!
Check it out & notice a new Sponsor Special of $500 has been added :-)
http://igg.me/at/Digital-Den

We’ve also had some great media coverage…
Digital Den: Cambridge museum preserves tech history (Erin Baldassari, Cambridge Chronicle, Sep 06, 2013)

A passion to preserve the digital past (Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe, Aug. 31, 2013)
Cambridge museum aims to preserve digital history (Video, Aug. 30, 2013)

Apple II Bits: A computer history museum returns to Boston (Ken Gagne, Sept. 2, 2013)

Finally, mark your calendars…
Digital-Den’s Next Public Hours will be Sat., Sept. 21st, noon – 2 pm at Met. Storage

Best of all, there will be two great events back to back Sun., Oct. 20th!
Computer Arcade Exhibits Demo, 5 pm – 7 pm ($25)
Launch Party with Special Guests & Announcement, 7 pm – 9 pm ($50)
Full details will only be sent via email to contributors through the Indiegogo campaign site.
Adult beverages will be served. Space is limited and there will be no admission at the door.
These events are going to be great fun, so reserve your place today!
http://igg.me/at/Digital-Den

Ok, great news — the date and time for the 1st Exhibit and Launch Party are here!

Both events will be held on the evening of Sunday, October 20th in Cambridge, MA.
The 1st Exhibit will be held from 5-7 pm while the Launch Party will follow from 7-9 pm.

The events will be held in the same space, but they will be quite different.
The 1st Exhibit will be a fun demonstration of the Computer Arcade concept.
Meanwhile, there will be a special announcement made during the Launch Party!
Adult beverages will be available during both events.

Space is LIMITED and there will be NO admission at the door.

The exact location and schedule will be sent in invitations via email to those who have contributed to the Indiegogo campaign (invitations will go out sometime after Sept. 23rd).

An invitation to the 1st Exhibit can be obtained through a $25 contribution.
An invitation to the Launch Party can be obtained through a $50 contribution.
An invitation to both events can be obtained through a $100 contribution.

Reserve your place at the events today and share the news!
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/digital-den-org