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last updated 10 Feb 2025
The original ACGNJ page acgnj.org has been corrupted.
About

This is a collection of information from Sol Libe's ACGNJ Founders History | Newsletters and acgnj.org

Contents: History | Past Presidents | Officers 2011, 2025 | SIGS 1990, 2010, 2015, 2025 | 2006 Guru Corner | Presentations | Links | Newsletters | Resources | In Memoriam

History: 1975-1983
ACGNJ - The Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey Established in 1977 by Sol Libes at Union County College, the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey (ACGNJ) is the oldest continuously running computer club in the United States. In the early days they were one of the largest computer groups in the country.

In 1976 we created one of the first on-line Bulletin Board Systems with free access that anyone could log into.
In 1977 hey created the first on-line software library, the SIG/M Software Library.from which users could download software. The system also had chat rooms, and a crude e-mail facility.
The club had over 1,600 members SIGs (Special Interest Groups) for CP/M, Apple II, Radio Shack, Atari, Midrosoft Windows, Macintosh and other computer types.Meetings typically had attendance of 200-300 at meetings in large cafeterias, or auditoriums, at Union County College, Middlesex County College, and Rutgers University. In 1981, the club had over 1,600 members.
In 1983 they created the PC/Blue Software Library and distributed over 200 different public domain IBM-PC compatible software disks and shipped thousands of disks to hundreds of clubs around the world.
They had a sizable budget with paid staff.
They had Special Interest Groups (SIGs)for CP/M, Apple II, Radio Shack, Atari, IBM PC/DOS, and other computer types. Meetings typically had attendance of 200-300 at main meetings in large cafeterias, or auditoriums, at Union County College, Middlesex County College, and Rutgers University.

In April 1976, Sol Libes and Allen Katz organized the Trenton Computer Festival...the first Personal Computer show ever. It was a function of the ACGNJ and was held on the campus of Trenton State College (later renamed to The College of New Jersey). The first TCF had about a dozen exhibitors, an outdoor flea market, some exhibits, and a few talks. A few hundred people attended, many coming from as far away as California, Florida, and Canada. Over a thousand people attended the second annual festival and there was a substantial increase in exhibitors, the size of the flea market, exhibits, and talks. I also invited several other clubs to join in with us to run the event. Within a few years attendance rose to almost 20,000 and the size of the show also grew proportionately. It took several hundred club members to run the annual event Every spring, ACGNJ sponsors the annual Trenton Computer Festival (TCF), an all-day Saturday event consisting of a vendors, seminars, and workshops. The flea market there used to fill up a parking lot with people selling computer components and other electronic hobbyist parts.
See complete Sol Libe's ACGNJ History.

History 1989
In 1989 Bill Gates gave the keynote at TCF.
In 1990 the system was linked to the Internet. Microsoft Windows and Macintosh (Special Interest Groups (SIGs) were added.
1990 SIGS for CP/M, Apple II, Radio Shack, Atari, Midrosoft Windows, Macintosh and other computer types.
Meetings were still filling auditoriums, and large classrooms at Union County College, Middlesex County College, and Rutgers University.

History 2000
In the late 1990's ACGNJ was much smaller but still active meeting at the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad.
2006 Guru Corner March 2006 Newsletter
Jo-Anne Head (tinarock@aol.com) If you need help with any of the technologies listed below, you can call on the person listed. Please be considerate and call before 10 PM. 
Hardware
Scott Vincent
Software
HTML Jo-Anne Head 
Mike Redlich 
CSS Jo-Anne Head 
Frank Warren 
ColdFusion Jo-Anne Head 
Java Mike Redlich 
C++ Bruce Arnold 
Mike Redlich 
ASP Mike Redlich 
Perl John Raff 
Frank Warren 

XML Mike Redlich 
e-Commerce Rick Elbanna 
Genealogy Frank Warren 
Networking 
Home Automation Charlie Huffsmith
Frank Warren 
Operating Systems
WindowsNT 
Windows95 Rick Elbanna 
Windows98 Rick Elbanna 
Windows3.1 Ted Martin 
Charlie Huffsmith
Macintosh Keith Sproul
Biographies of Members who passed
Others

2010 SIGS
SIGs Leader New location
C/C++ Users Group Bruce ArnoldDiscontinued
Java SIG Mike RedlichGarden State Java User Group
(GSJUG)
WebDev Evan WilliamsDiscontinued
Lunics/UNIX Andy Meyer
Tech Talk/Window Pains 7PM 3rd Friday - Webinar John Raff
Macintosh Users Keith SproulDiscontinued
NJ Gamers Gregg McCarthy
Investment SIG Jim CooperStockTrader-SIG | groups.io
Mobile Devices 7PM 2nd Wednesday - Webinar Brenda Bell
Web Browser Activity 8PM 3rd Monday - Webinar Dave McRitchie
Genealogy Frank WarrenDiscontinued
Hardware Mike Reagan
Layman's Forum Matthew Skoda
2011
The most recent past history when the ACGNJ was in full swing is from newsletters which which were only available thru 2011.

Officers, Directors and Leaders Feb 2011 Newsletter
Officers 2011:
President Paul Syers
Vice President Evan Williams
Treasurer Malthi Masurekar
Secretary Seery Syers
Past President Mike Redlich
Board of Directors
Director Emeritus Sol Libes
Through 2012 Brenda Bell
Simon Grindlinger
Don McBride
David McRitchie
Through 2011 Gregg McCarthy
Arnold Milstein
John Raff
Bob Hawes
Standing Committees
APCUG Rep Frank Warren
Facilities John Raff
Financial Evan Williams
Historian Lenny Thomas
Membership open
Newsletter Bob Hawes
Publicity Gregg McCarthy
Trenton ComputerFest Mike Redlich
Vendor Liaison Arnold Milstein
Webmaster John Raff
Main Meeting 8PM (EST) First Friday - Webinar

Special Interest Groups (SIGS) about 2011
Current Calendar

2015 SIGS
There were 5 or 6 SIGs left.
There were C/C++, Java, Browser, Gamers, Mobile Device and Investing SIGS.
During the COVID pandemic, 2020-,they transitioned to virtual meetings. 
Past Presidents	
Sol Libes 1977-82
Frank Anderson 1982
Scott Vincent ?
Frank Warren  2005
Evan Williams 2006
Mike Redlich 2007-2008 2013-2014, 
Paul Syers 2010-2011
Norm Wiss  2013 ?
Wendy Bell 2024-25
Current: Jan 2025
See acgnj.org/index.html 
Officers
President  Wendy Bell
Secretary  Benda Bell
Treasurer  Malthi Masurekar
Directors
           Frank Warren
           David McRichie
2025 Meetings/SIGS
Meetings are online using Jitsi Meet a free video conferencing application.

Main Meeting -  First Friday - Frank Warren, Jr
https://meet.jit.si/ACGNJ-MainMeeting

Mobile Devices - Second Wednesday - Brenda Bell
 https://meet.jit.si/ACGNJ-MobileDevices

Traders  Second Thursday -	Jim Cooper

Web Browsers   Third Monday David McRitchie
https://meet.jit.si/ACGNJ-WebBrowsers

Tech Talk  - Third Friday - Frank Warren, Jr
https://meet.jit.si/ACGNJ-TechTalk
See www.acgnj.org/index.html
and ACGNJ History
Newsletters:
A note says MidAtlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH ) has every issue of the ACGNJ Newsletter from 1975-1983, but all I could find online at ACGNJ Newsletters was links for 2006-2015, but 2012-2015 did not seem to be scanned as of January 2025.
Some were in the Web Archives.
I talked to them and they said they thought they had most in an environmentally controlled room.
See ACGNJ Newsletters
ACGNJ is a 501(c)(3) (nonprofit)
Presentations:
Links:
History 1975-1983 Sol Libes - Founder
acgnj.org
Newsletters

History of Computing
Mini and Personal Computing Timeline
History of Computing
Vintage Computer Federation (VCF) Museum @ InfoAge Science Center
Jeffrey Brace .
2201 Marconi Rd., Wall NJ 07719
Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH) Vintage Computer Museum

The MidAtlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists (MARCH ) YouTube videos:
  We attend the Vintage Computer Festival (VCF East 2024) YouTube
  VCF East: MARCH, The Mid-Atlantic Retro Computer Hobbyists

Trenton Computer Festival