TCnj gears up to host 31st annual Trenton Computer festival

The world’s oldest and largest personal computer show will once again take place this spring at The College of New Jersey. Local and international fans alike will gather for this highly anticipated yearly event.

Trenton Computer Festival (TCF), now in its 31st year, is slated for the weekend of April 22-23. Created in 1976 by Sol Libes of the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey and Allen Katz, professor of engineering science at the College, the current festival has stayed true to its origins as an annual educational event. Personal computing fans can be sure to find plenty of bargains on new and used hardware and software, numerous talks, forums, tutorials, user group sessions, national exhibitors demonstrating their newest products, and much more.

This year's keynote speaker is Gregory Olson, the world’s third “space tourist.” On September 30, 2005, Olson successfully launched into space aboard a Soyuz spacecraft on a 10-day trip to the International Space Station. Olson is the founder and head of Sensors Unlimited, Inc. in Princeton. Another featured speaker this year is Alfred Poor, who will present his informational talk titled, “Will Your Next Computer be an HDTV?” Poor is an expert in HDTVs, with several published books on the subject.

“The major change this year is the emphasis on consumer electronics,” said Al Katz.   “We have two talk tracks that just deal with digital photography and video. We also have information on I-tunes and several speakers on the revolution in personal broadcasting called Podcasting and Vidcasting.”

The Trenton Computer Festival functions as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit educational corporation, operated by volunteers from The College of New Jersey and the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey, along with several other organizations: The New York Amateur Computer Club, The Computer Education Society of Philadelphia, and the Princeton/Central Jersey section of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.).

Show hours on Saturday, April 22 are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The flea market will open at 9 a.m. both days and will be a "rain or shine" event. Indoor exhibits will be held in the Student Recreation Center and speaker sessions will be held in campus classrooms and in the Brower Student Center. A two-day admission pass is $12.50 if purchased in advance, but will be available at the door for $17. Passes for Sunday only are available for $12 at the door.

For advance tickets or additional information, please call the Trenton Computer Festival show management office at 201.825.2229 or visit www.tcf-nj.org for more information.