Other News and Promotions in 2020
To Understand the Present, You Have to Know the Past
A filmmaking crew is creating a documentary that explores questions such as: Has personal computing lived up to its promise? Has this ever-present technology increased our potential as human beings? The film will provide a unique perspective gathered from interviews with the pioneers who helped to invent personal computing and the role of computers in society like Diana Merry-Shapiro, a programmer and member of the legendary Learning Research Group (LRG) at Xerox PARC.
In September, we began promoting this film, purely on social media and in the monthly edition of the Cincom Smalltalk Digest. After several conversations with the film crew, the Cincom Smalltalk group sponsored the project at the Credited Producer level, which gives Cincom Smalltalk prominent positioning in the credits of the film. Additionally, as the film crew uncovers archived video clips of Alan Kay and other pioneers of Smalltalk, they will be sharing that media with the Cincom Smalltalk team to use for marketing and promotion.
When we first began promoting the film in September, the crew had reached just a little over half of their goal of $25,000. Once our team became a Credited Producer, we started our social media and web hype train and was able to help the film exceed its kick-starter goal before its deadline. We are very thankful to report that at the close of the kick-start, 180 backers pledged $27,001 to help bring this project to life, because marketing matters!
Other Random Thoughts
Throughout the year, we also posted some additional fun and thought-provoking articles geared toward getting the Smalltalk community engaging with us.