KansasFest 2016, the 28th annual Apple II convention, is scheduled for July 19 – 24 in Kansas City, Missouri. Mike Harvey, a business executive, salesperson, technologist, project manager, entrepreneur, programmer, and best known in the Apple community as the founder and publisher of Nibble magazine, will join us with a keynote presentation.
Harvey started his career as a salesperson for IBM and continued with various roles at other major technology companies, including marketing at Burroughs, planning and project management at Xerox, and executive positions with several others. In October 1979, he was between jobs and thought he would start an Apple II magazine, Nibble. The first four issues contained his own programs until he was able to attract free-lance authors. Over the next 12 ½ years, he published over 16,000 pages and inspired countless technology-related careers. At its pinnacle, Nibble earned about $5 million annually, had over 100,000 readers, and had the second highest circulation among Apple II magazines, all handled via an Apple II-based order and fulfillment system that he developed. The technical challenges were considerable – for example, figuring out how to sort and print 30,000 subscriber labels in ZIP code sequence on a network of Apple IIs. The success of Nibble contributed to Harvey’s publication of PC Hands On for IBM PC compatible systems and to four years of Nibble Mac. After Nibble shut down in 1992, Harvey returned to executive leadership in the mainframe industry. He retired in 2000 and now enjoys web development, photography, computer art, and travel. His breadth of industry experience and unique business perspective is certain to inspire and entertain KansasFest attendees.
KansasFest is an annual convention offering Apple II users and retrocomputing enthusiasts the opportunity to engage in beginner and technical sessions, programming contests, exhibition halls, and camaraderie. KansasFest was originally hosted by Resource Central and has been brought to you by the KFest committee since 1995. Any and all Apple II users, fans, and friends are invited to attend this year’s event. Registration details will be announced on the KansasFest Web site in February 2016. For photos, videos, and presentations from past KansasFests, please browse the “Sessions” and “Multimedia” sections of our site.