Slopfest #52 · 1978 · Vienna
Unsolicited, Since 1978
The first spam reached a few hundred inboxes. Our invitations reached every letterbox in Vienna, 11 times.
Museum status: Rejected by three major museums. Framed anyway.
- Venue
- Karlsplatz, in the first year of the U1
- Attendance
- 393
- Fun fact
- 11 copies per household, 393 guests, 1 still subscribed
What happened
To honor the first spam email, the committee sent an invitation to every name in the Vienna phone book, and a printing error sent it 11 times. Only 393 people came, roughly the number who got the original email. The committee now claims every spam message ever sent as a festival invitation, and is still receiving RSVPs.
Elsewhere in 1978
Gary Thuerk of DEC sends the first mass unsolicited email, a product announcement, to several hundred ARPANET users.
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