MacVoices #15117: Barry Fulk and Mike Potter on The Midwest Mac BBQ and MacStock Conference & Expo

Barry Fulk, the host of the Midwest Mac BBQ, and Mike Potter, the organizer behind the MacStock Conference & Expo, both in Chicago, talk about the genesis of their events, why they decided to combine them, and what you can expect to see, hear and eat when you attend.

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Show Notes:

Chuck Joiner is the producer and host of MacVoices. You can catch up with what he’s doing on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net and LinkedIn.

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Guests:

Michael Potter is the Executive Producer of For Mac Eyes Only. Mike’s love-affair for all things Apple began in his Junior High’s Library playing Lemonade Stand on a pair of brand new Apple ][+ computers. His penchant for Apple gear continued to be nurtured by the public school system when, in High School, he was hired as a lab supervisor to help run the Apple ][e lab for his fellow students and their Print Shop needs. Then, further still, in college he often opted to help a friend with her Computer Graphics coursework instead of focusing on his own studies … but only because it helped get him closer to the Mac-lab.

The first Macintosh that Mike could truly call his own, was a sad little Mac Plus he picked up from a garage sale for $20 with the intention of turning it into a Macquarium. When he flipped the switch and found it still happily booted, he didn’t have the heart to gut it and, instead, nursed the little guy back to health by installing a new hard drive and upgraded SuperDrive. A similarly rescued Macintosh SE/30 soon followed.

Since that time, in addition to the two early Macintosh’s, Mike’s stable of Macs has grown to include: a PowerMac 7600; two early G3 iMacs (strawberry and dalmation); the G4 Cube with matching 17″ CRT; a 17″ G5 iMac; a PowerMac G5; a G4 Mac Mini; his daughter’s white MacBook; a 2006 17″ MacBook Pro; a 1st-Gen Mac Pro; a 2011 15″ MacBook Pro; a 2010 21.5″ iMac; a Late-2012 27″ iMac; and his wife’s 13″ MacBook Pro. And an iPad.

In the time since his weekly Mac podcast was first unleashed to a wary public in the Fall of 2006, over 290 episodes of For Mac Eyes Only, and more than 135 Quick Tips and other Special Segments have been produced to date. In 2013, For Mac Eyes Only launched a new Members Only portion of the site called FMEO Plus featuring exclusive video, audio, and more.

Through it all, Mike’s favorite part of producing the show continues to be the opportunity to make new friends within the ever-growing community of Apple fanatics.  

Barry Fulk  is the  Producer, Co-host & Roving Reporter at    For Mac Eyes Only.  Guy, husband, one kidlette, loves tech, travel, and photography (including in/outside of Apple stores). Tends to be CDO (which is OCD alphabetized). 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 mutt. Currently drinking as much Kool-Aid as possible.

Links:

Midwest Mac BBQ GoFundMe page