Operating Plan (for 2026)
This is a living document that will evolve as the Board, committees, and members shape the Society's direction.
A Fresh Reboot
Grow an active member community
- Define what it means to be a member in 2026, including clear participation pathways
- LinkedIn Group — public, and everyone welcome to announce their own projects
- Discord Server — internal member chats, organized by topics and Committees
- BlueSky — follow us here if you like (we plan to grow this)
- Instagram — follow us here if you like (we may cancel this)
- Mailing List — we are still considering if/when/whether to have a newsletter
- Create opportunities for members to contribute writing, research, moderation, and programming ideas
- Encourage members to identify unsung contributors and gaps in the historical record
- Bridge academic researchers with grassroots collectors and enthusiasts who have direct memories and artifacts
Host live discussions with pioneers and domain experts
- Produce a 2026 event series: Zoom panels (60-90 min) featuring prominent speakers discussing how ITHS should curate specific technology domains
- Confirmed speakers include Randy Katz (RAID co-inventor), George Dyson (historian, "Turing's Cathedral"), and Bob Frankston (co-inventor of spreadsheets)
- Record conversations and extract content (quotes, stills, clips) for ongoing use
- Develop member interaction spaces (Discord) for real-time community engagement
Build governance, committees, and sustainable funding
- Expand Board participation and member leadership opportunities
- Establish standing committees:
- Curation (Hardware, Software, Companies database)
- Editorial (publishing across platforms)
- Honor Roll (identifying and elevating unsung heroes)
- Events (producing and publicizing member activities)
- Membership (community growth and engagement)
- Development (fundraising, grants, donor stewardship)
- Infrastructure (websites, security, operations)
- Combine volunteer leadership with paid or fractional support where feasible
Improve the quality and usefulness of our data
- Shift from unbounded accumulation toward intentional human curation
- Form committees to review known database issues and recommend priorities
- Trace the genealogy of ideas: document where concepts came from, what influenced them, how they evolved
- Capture living memory into structured, searchable records before it is lost
- Expand well-loved curated collections selectively (Video Games, Mobile Phones)
- Explore connecting with corporate archivists to build company histories (Apple, Atari)
- Improve sourcing and rights management for biographical data and images
Publish ongoing, episodic content
- Launch a recurring newsletter (via Substack or equivalent)
- Share short-form announcements and highlights via LinkedIn and BlueSky
- Archive selected outputs on ithistory.org for long-term access
Strengthen partnerships and reduce duplication
- Maintain constructive, non-competitive relationships with peer institutions
- Coordinate where possible with corporate archivists and academic programs
- Highlight existing projects and collections rather than replicating them
What We Will Not Do
- We will not compete with individuals or institutions doing serious IT history work
- We will not rely on unrestricted public editing as a substitute for accountable curation
- We will not attempt to document everything without regard to historical significance
- We will not commit to major technical rebuilds without mission and resource alignment
