The United States is currently entering a three-day weekend. When it emerges, there will be only one day left in the month of May. That day is also your last chance to qualify for Early Bird registration for KansasFest 2011!

Sign up for KansasFest 2011 on or before Tuesday, May 31, to ensure the lowest prices and to order your t-shirt. On June 1, registration prices go up by a minimum of $55, and t-shirt orders close. (Registration for Vince Briel's optional workshop will remain open.)

Register with PayPal or a credit card using our online registration form. If you're paying by check or money order, please print and mail our offline registration form. As long as it's postmarked by May 31, we'll honor it! Otherwise, you have until July 10 to register at the standard, non-Early Bird rate.

However you register, what matters is that you register at all, as the greatest contribution you can make to the event is your presence! KansasFest is all about the community, so come be a part of ours this summer, July 19–24 in Kansas City, MO.

Before Apple II user and KansasFest alumnus Ryan Suenaga's passing, he expressed the wish to establish a scholarship for students who wanted to follow in his footsteps by studying social work. Now, thanks to some dedicated volunteers, that scholarship has become a reality, helping students of the Kapiolani Community College. KCC is part of the University of Hawai'i system, which includes Ryan's alma mater, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Anyone who wants to donate to the @rsuenaga Scholarship Fund may do so online with a credit card. Alternatively, checks may be made out to the University of Hawaii Foundation, with "@rsuenaga" noted in the memo field, and mailed to

University of Hawaii Foundation
P.O. Box 11270
Honolulu, HI 96828-0270

If you are an Apple II user attending KansasFest 2011, you will also have the opportunity to donate by cash or check on the night of Thursday, July 21, when we host the Ryan Suenaga Memorial Krispy Kreme Night. Come enjoy some warm donuts and cold milk, as Ryan would've wanted. A donation jar will be available, with 100% of the proceeds going toward his scholarship fund.

More details about this scholarship will be shared as they become available.

When registering for KansasFest, you can add our official t-shirt to your order, letting you wear your team colors throughout the year and around the globe.

But what if you want to sport the KansasFest brand in other ways? Maybe you want to check the time on your KansasFest clock, wake up with coffee in your KansasFest mug, or snuggle up at night with a KansasFest teddy bear. Now you can, thanks to a variety of merchandise available at CafePress.

Although there's still only one place to get the official KansasFest shirts, these other products make great complements. Please check out the full catalog of merchandise sporting the colorful KansasFest 2011 logo.

Please note that purchase of products from CafePress does not financially support KansasFest. To keep the CafePress products as affordable as possible, we have added no markup, and thus receive no profit from their sales. This service is offered as an option to our community, not as a fundraiser for the event.

Every KansasFest attendee leaves a mark on the event and the Apple II community, but few have attended for as long or have achieved the legacy of Ryan Suenaga.

Ryan attended his first KansasFest in 1996, making the trip from his native Hawai'i at the age of 29. He quickly became known for his trademark apparel, leading him to claim the motto, "Speak softly and wear loud shorts." A few years later, he accepted the gauntlet Sheppy tossed down: "If you're a programmer and you don't have something to show at KansasFest, you suck." He and the rest of the programming community rose to that challenge, ensuring a steady stream of announcements, surprises, and products for KansasFests to come. Even at KansasFest 2010, the first KansasFest that Ryan had missed since 1995, he submitted a recorded presentation to be played in his absence, announcing the pending release of an email client for the Apple IIGS.

Ryan enriched KansasFest through these and other traditions, both during and after his time on the event's planning committee. With few opportunities to enjoy Krispy Kreme donuts in Hawai'i, Ryan fell in love with the treat while on the mainland, sharing his passion for the fattening delicacy by buying multiple boxes for his fellow attendees. Even in 2010, he sent funds dedicated to ensuring the tradition continued. Ryan constantly bemoaned his seemingly eternal role as Kirk Mitchell's roommate, making for an odd couple indeed. Finally, Ryan was an occasional contestant or judge in HackFest, which he one year spun off into his own competition for hardware innovators: CansasFest, challenging attendees to construct their own Wi-Fi antenna.

Sadly, the KansasFest community is left to carry on these many traditions without the man who gave them to us. On Sunday, April 24, 2011, Ryan was hiking Hawai'i's Olomana Trail with his friends when he suffered a fatal fall. He was 44.

Responses to the news on the KansasFest email list were many and immediate:

"I only got to meet Ryan one time, at my only KansasFest trek, and I thought he was an absolute delight." –Carrington Vanston

"He was a social worker, kind man and one of those special people that made KFest the place to be." –Sandra Warnken

"This breaks my heart … Even though we only met once a year at KFest, that was  enough to get me through the rest of the year.  You couldn't ask for a better KFest roomie and friend." –Kirk Mitchell

"This is like a bolt out of the blue. I have such fond memories of his sense of humour, and kindness, and all that he did for our close community. He will be sorely missed, and leave a large gap in our lives." –Ewen Wannop

"Ryan has obviously been an important part of the KansasFest community.  He died much too soon. About the only good thing you can say is that he died with his boots on." –Bruce Baker

"Ryan's life was helpful to all in the Apple II and KFest communities. He was especially resourceful and generous to the old beginners, like me. I remember him and will miss him." –Jack Hays

"I've never met a more honest or less selfish individual than Ryan. The Apple II community and the world lost an amazing individual." –Dain Neater

Ryan was a dedicated writer, programmer, podcaster, social worker, uncle, and friend. He attended his last KansasFest in 2009 and intended to return in 2011, albeit embarrassed by failing to live up to his own standards: in an email dated April 5, he wrote, "Been so busy here, not only am I behind on email and taxes and blogging and working out … I can barely do anything Apple II right now. Looks like no project for KansasFest this year."

In reality, nothing will suck more than knowing Ryan, a member of our community for decades, will not attend another KansasFest. His absence in Kansas City and in our lives will be felt for a long time, and his life and memory celebrated at KansasFest 2011.

In the meantime, we offer this gallery of 96 photos of Ryan from Ken Gagne's albums, from 2002 through 2009, in roughly chronological order. We hope they inspire your own memories of Ryan when he was among the people he loved most, doing what he loved best: being a geek.

Read the rest of this entry »

When you register for KansasFest, almost your entire experience is paid for, from when you check in Tuesday afternoon to when you check out on Sunday. When it comes to dining, the only exceptions are dinner on Tuesday and Saturday nights. These two evenings are opportunities for attendees to explore the many fine dining options of Kansas City. There have been many traditions and venues over the years, and in 2011, we'll again be trying something new.

On Tuesday, the first night of the event, KFesters will carpool and caravan to the freight house location of Jack Stack Barbecue, a restaurant that specializes in the BBQ that is a Kansas City hallmark. Jack Stack was the site of our Saturday night dinner in 2009, and our attendees' accolades have us going back, but on a night that will be more accommodating to a party of our size. Departure from Rockhurst will begin around 5:30 PM CDT, so if you are arriving that day, please plan accordingly.

On Saturday night, we'll return to Lidia's, an Italian restaurant that also hosted us in 2010. A variety of dishes, a flexible staff, and an elegant atmosphere will ensure the perfect finalé to a week of KansasFest.

It can be challenging to find just the right restaurants that will accommodate a large group of geeks and a diverse palette. We're confident that this year's combination, which was a popular choice in last year's KansasFest alumni survey, will host the Apple II community to its satisfaction — and if not, we'll listen to your feedback and adjust accordingly for 2012.

As KansasFest attendee Dean Nichols commented on our mailing list, "[It doesn't matter to me] where we go to eat; it is the opportunity to break bread with friends that I value." Regardless of the menu, you won't find fellow diners like this anywhere else!

KansasFest and the Apple II both have plenty of history behind them: the computer is 34 years old, and its annual convention is 22. That may seem intimidating, but in reality, the success of every KansasFest is based as much on the attendance of first-time attendees as it is the one person who's attended all twenty-two years: both contribute to the experience just through their presence, and both go home knowing they'll never miss another KansasFest.

Whether you've been coming for years or decades or have never come at all, we want you to help make KansasFest 2011 the best yet! We invite our esteemed alumni to share this experience with their friends, so here's the deal: if a KansasFest veteran brings a first-time attendee, each will receive a $25 on-site referral rebate. Just mention your friend's name in the "Special requests" field of the registration form.

Don't let your friends miss out on the opportunity to join our community!

A mainstay of KansasFest is the vendor fair, in which members of the Apple II community buy, sell, swap, and trade hardware, software, and publications. Despite its name, you don't need to be a vendor to participate: many attendees come bearing monitors, floppy disks, and magazines looking for a good home. Whether you're intending to be profitable or altruistic, the vendor fair has a spot for you.

This year, the appeal of the vendor fair will be expanded even further by including an exhibit hall. This is the chance for you to bring out the hardware that's been sitting in your dorm room all week and give other attendees a look at what you have under the hood. Whether it's an Apple III, a HackFest entry, or an AppleCrate, all attendees are invited to show off their newest, rarest, or coolest hardware or software and let other Apple II users play with your setup.

Want to participate in the fair or exhibit hall? Indicate your interest when registering, or drop us a line! The event is held Saturday afternoon and is open to the public for viewing and purchasing.

Here's another great reason to attend this year's KansasFest: Vince Briel of Apple-1 replica fame will conduct a workshop in which you build his latest creation, the A2MP3 card.

With this expansion card for the Apple II, you can plug in a USB memory stick loaded with MP3 files and play them on your Apple II. As an extra bonus, the cards will have 'KansasFest' silk-screened onto the card. These uniquely branded cards won't be offered anywhere else!

The workshop costs $99 and includes both the parts required to build the kit and Vince's tutelage to help you put it all together. Some soldering will be necessary, but beginners are welcome! To reserve your spot, add the workshop to your shopping cart when you register for KansasFest.