Another cool aspect of a VCF is that people don't just show up, do one lap of the exhibits, and leave. People tend to do several laps, listen to a few lectures, spend lots of time mingling and chatting with their fellow collectors, and maybe even win a prize. Sure, AHM is doing Atari computer, but he's interested in plenty of other topics from slots cars to Linux. So you'd start talking with him about Atari computers and the next thing you know, you're making a connection with his friend's cousin's roommate about some technology of greater interest to you.
In other words, the most exciting thing about a VCF is the people, not the computers! East 3.0 will be my fourth one and each time my favorite part is just hanging out with the collectors that we know from sites like this one and classiccmp, and also meeting new collectors. At my first one in 2003, as soon as I was there fore 10 minutes, I was thinking, "Wow, this is great! A whole show of just collectors. Where have these people been all my life?" ... okay maybe that's a slight embellishment but you get the idea.
VCFs also usually have special events such as the Nerd Trivia Challenge or the Retro Coding Contest. We're not doing those events at East 3.0 because of resources, however, this is the first time a VCF is being held at a historic venue. So if there's enough interest then we will run some tours of the venue itself.
(Well, maybe except for the Colt)