Posts filed under Pen Shows

2022 Baltimore Pen Show Recap and Report Card

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I have always had a great time at the Baltimore Pen Show in years past and was eagerly looking forward to this one, especially with Omicron numbers on the decline. Would it measure up to past experiences? Let’s find out!

Size

Prior to the pandemic, the Baltimore Pen Show (BWIPS) would be considered a medium-sized show, not too big, not too small. It has a wide variety of vendors including plenty of vintage and modern dealers as well as a wide assortment of local vendors too. While there were several absences due to the timing of this show, which was about 2 weeks later than usual, there were folks I hadn’t seen in a long time including Coles of London and Dromgooles and also folks who made their debut at BWI.

*The Coles of London crew (Mark (not Coles), Michael and John) showed me some beautiful pens including this one that just came out…*

*Oiran is the latest addition to the Visconti Van Gogh series and would’ve come home with me but they aren’t quite available yet. Soon though…*

Dromgooles — It was great to see Michael (left) and Larry (right) after not seeing them for quite a few months. For good reason too since Michael recently became a dad to a beautiful little girl and Larry is now a grandpa! Congrats!

Leonardo Pens — *Finally got to see the Leonardo Mosaicos in person at the Dromgoole’s table - I still can’t pick!*

*Marty and Kimberly Henderson had an irresistible display of Retro 51s that they were selling on behalf of the Dromgooles. This was only half of the pens!*

*Trenche Designs* *came all the way from Puerto Rico to make their pen show debut!*

*The big buzz had to be at the* *Magna Carta* *table where they debuted their steel Bock 8-compatible nibs with ebonite feeds. Should be interesting to hear how they perform since a lot of people were buying them.*

You know I love all the pens and stuff but I also love accessories and there were plenty of accessories and other goodies to be found at the show. Leather accessories, pen holders, and yes, even chocolate!

*New York-based* *Garny & Co.* *makes both leather and wood products including wallets, notebook covers and pen holders.*

Writers Shoppe — *Shawna Kissell (and Kurist, not pictured) of* *WritersShoppe* *came all the way from Idaho and brought their cool ink swatch books.*

*Scott B Jones drew every day for 365 days and* *published them in 3 volumes*.

Jingi — *One of my absolute favorite, must-stop spots is Baltimore-based* *Pure Chocolate by Jinji. Jinji makes the most amazing chocolate (the chocolate covered medjool dates are heaven) and Guy Fraser (Jinji’s dad) is the sweetest gentleman you’ll ever find.*

Kanilea Pen Co. — *Speaking of locals,* *Kanilea Pen Co* *was back with their beautiful pens (silly me, always staring at the pens and forgetting to take pictures of the people like Hugh and Karol!)*

*And you can’t say Baltimore without thinking of Evan and Julian Rosenberg of* *Penquisition* *with their cool 3D-printed pen accessories, pen cases from Rickshaw and their exclusive Retro 51 Susan pens.*

For a show of this size, there really was a good variety of everyone. And for folks like me who are fortunate enough to go to several shows a year, I always like seeing vendors that don’t usually go to other shows. Score - 7/10

Location

The show is very easy to get to from the BWI airport and train station. It’s approximately a 10 minute drive from the airport and train station. I haven’t done a lot of sightseeing in the area, so it’s tough for me to call it a “destination”, but it isn’t far from the famous National Aquarium and Washington DC is about an hour away. Score - 7/10

Hotel

The BWI Airport Marriott hotel is a decent hotel, with little seating areas in multiple areas of the lobby and bar. There is also a restaurant across from the bar. I discovered that there is a small shop next to the registration desk for snacks and incidentals. The hotel bar and restaurant staff were generally friendly and the food was good and at typical hotel prices. I appreciated that they did not kick us out when the bar was closed. I didn’t make it to the gym this time but I heard it was decent though a bit stuffy. Parking was more difficult on Friday and Saturday as Amazon had a hiring event as well. The show rate for the rooms was $109/night (before taxes/fees), which is on the lower end compared to most pen show hotels. They sold out of the room block at least three times (so book early next year!) but Bert was able to get refundable rooms adjusted to the room block rate if you contacted him ahead of time. The show isn’t close to a lot of food options if you don’t have a car but there are some decent options a short Lyft ride away (I quite enjoyed a Sunday meal at the Guiness Brewery about 10 minutes away). For the airport proximity, after-hours hangout spaces and low rates, I gave this a higher score. Score - 8/10

Hotel Bar — *This little corner was easy to miss as it was behind the bar. The Pen Shows After Dark event was held back here.*

Tickets

Tickets for general admission (GA) were $10 for 1 day, $15 for 2 days or $20 for 3 day weekend pass with no early hours. They also offered a limited number (75, I believe) of special VIP Passes for $50 which includes the weekend pass and early bird access on all three days (getting in an hour earlier), custom name badge & lanyard, t-shirt, bottle of ink and a guaranteed spot in all free events. I liked that you can buy tickets online ahead of time and pick them up at the registration desk. Really good prices for both general admission and VIP pass. Score - 10/10

Classes/Seminars

There were quite a few free and paid classes and seminars ranging from a free session on A Beginner’s Guide to Fountain Pens and a seminar on Pelikan limited editions to paid classes on Italic Calligraphy, American Cursive and Zentangle and even a nib tuning class with Richard Binder. I’m glad things are in a better situation where classes can be held again. Score - 8/10

*Jessica Davies is a certified Zentangle teacher - I took her class in 2019 and loved it!*

Nib Worker Availability

Need nib work done? Well, you came to the right place! There were no less than 8 nib workers that I knew of at this show (in first name alphabetical order) and that didn’t include those at Franklin-Christoph who also tune and offer in-house ground nibs.

Damien Alomar of All in the Nib
Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio
Jack Hairston (working for Bertram’s Inkwell) who also does vintage restorations
JC Ament of The Nib Tailor
Joshua Lax of JJ Lax Pen Co
Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance
Richard Binder

The nib workers were spread out between the front entryway and the ball room. This is an insanely high number for a show of any size and I know most of them were busy all weekend. Score - 10/10

All in the Nib — *Damien working on a customer’s troublesome nib.*

Custom Nib Studio — *Gena was busy all weekend long.*

*JC Ament of The Nib Tailor working on a grind.*

Indy Pen Dance — *Mike and Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance.*

Overall sense/vibe

The bulk of the show is in one large ballroom, with some vendors and nib grinders outside and along the hall to the ballroom entrance. The aisles were fairly wide. Overall tables and aisles were well-spaced out. There were several tables and chairs set aside in the ballroom to allow people to rest or play with pens. The county had dropped their mask mandates approximately two weeks prior so there were no mask requirements for the show. I would say at least half of the folks (both vendor and attendee) wore masks during the weekend.

You can tell Bert Oser, the show organizer, really cares about this show from making sure folks get the discounted room rate (as mentioned above) to organizing a Pen Shows After Dark Event with Cary Yeager, to gathering volunteers from the DC Metro Pen Crew to make the show run smoothly and offer help to anyone who needs it. It really makes it feel more friendly and approachable. In addition, there was a Share the Wealth table, where folks can donate their pens, papers, inks and things in hopes that they find new homes; it was so good to see this generosity from the pen community.

*Friendly faces in bright yellow shirts were available all weekend throughout the show - ready and willing to answer questions and make sure you’re having a great time.*

*Eric Aycock* *and others from the DC Metro Pen Crew staffed the “Share the Wealth” table all weekend.*

*I love seeing small makers like Brian Weaver of* *Ironfeather Creative*.

Carolina Pen Co. — *And of course, Jonathan Brooks of* *Carolina Pen Company* *sporting his new colorful hairdo to match his colorful pens!*

Stylosuite — *Les of* *StyloSuite* *is a must-see if you want to try modern flex pens.*

Vintage Pencils — *Vintage pencils, anyone? If so,* *Jonathan Veley* *is your guy!*

This is a great show for both beginner and seasoned pen fanatics alike. It’s not too big nor too small and really has something for everyone. All of these things put together really make it an all-around great show. Score - 9/10

Food

As mentioned above, there is a restaurant and bar that serves food for lunch and dinner. The food was pretty good and is what you expect to pay at a hotel restaurant. I went out for Mexican food one night - I think it was less than a 10 minute drive and as I mentioned before, to the Guinness Brewery and restaurant on Sunday night. While not as plentiful as some other shows nor many within walking distance, having a restaurant in the hotel as well as other options not too far means you’re likely not going to go hungry. Score - 7/10

After hours/socializing

This is one of my favorite shows/locations for after hours penabling and socializing. As I mentioned above, there are lots of tables and chairs and couches for gathering and pen play. People were really excited to hang out with each other after a 2 year hiatus for this show. And the Pen Shows After Dark event brought out a lot of folks who were eager to win pens and things that were donated from several of the vendors. Score - 9/10

*Bert Oser thanks the crowd for attending the show and the Pen Shows After Dark event Saturday night.*

Pen Shows After Dark — *One of the highlights of the weekend for me was hanging out with friends during Pen Shows after dark and playing with all the pens.*

Other

BWI is typically held during the last weekend of Feb/first weekend of March and this was two weeks later than usual, but that didn’t stop the weather from having an impact on the show. A big wind and snow storm was slated to pound the East Coast on Saturday, so attendance on Saturday, especially in the afternoon, was low. The weather cleared up on Sunday, making for a slightly more crowded Sunday than usual, which was great, since Sundays can often feel like a long drag, especially for vendors. We saw a steady trickling of traffic all day on Sunday, with folks still coming up as we were packing.

As I mentioned, there was no mask requirement so I was nervous heading into the show, but made the decision to keep my mask on during and after show hours. For the most part, people respected each others’ masking decisions.

Unlike Philly and LA before this, I did not hear of any thefts at the show (or if there were, it was certainly not to the degree as those shows), which is good to hear. In fact, all I heard throughout the weekend was how good it felt to be back, what a great show Bert was running, and how “almost normal” it felt. For me, it was the first time behind a busy table since SF 2021, and it really was good to see so many people at a show again. I’m not sure if it was as well-attended as BWI 2020, but I don’t think it was too far off. There were some lulls on Saturday which gave me some time to wander around the show.

I also loved that people brought their children to the show and that we were able to give them some extra attention. Score - 8/10

Report Card

0-50 Oof, do not attend

51-70 Show is alright

70-80 Show is solid

80-90 Show is pretty darned good!

91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed

The 2022 Baltimore Pen Show scored 83/100, which sounds like it’s lower than all the raving I’ve been doing about the show. It comes down to the location, which is convenient for travel, but not really a destination, and the lack of nearby food options. Due to scheduling conflicts, several vendors weren’t able to make it and that combined with weather this year also affected some of the rush and energy. Still, it really was a great show and I can’t wait to come back next year.

*Pen Show Haul - Got the Colorverse Lucky Star II ink from Lauren of* *Lucky Star Pens, Montblanc Purdey Single Malt ink from Dromgooles, two Pocket 6s from Ian of* *Schon DSGN, a 45 and 20 from* *Franklin-Christoph, a second hand Sailor PGS from the 2019 SF Pen Show and a* *ST Dupont* *Initial D in their brand new orange color.*

*Baltimore, I had a blast! Thank you to Franklin-Christoph for another opportunity to work at your table. And thank you, Bert Oser, for putting on a wonderful show!*

Not pictured are the memories of a wonderful weekend with pen friends old and new! Until the next pen show, stay safe and stay inky!

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Pen Shows.

LA Pen Show - Recap and Report Card

I attended the 2022 Los Angeles Pen Show this past weekend and wow, what a whirlwind.

As you may recall, I recently came up with a Report Card for Pen Shows to make it easier for me AND you to compare pen shows against each other. I created 10 categories, each worth 10 points each, for a total possible score of 100. Keep in mind that some criteria may be more important to you than others. Who’s ready to see how the LA Pen Show does?

Size

When I first went to the LA Show in Feb 2018, it was one of the largest US shows, possibly second only to DC. It feels smaller in recent years, though it’s unclear whether it is due to the insanity of the crowds in 2019 where the show was relegated to the lower level, in a smaller ballroom with pillars throughout the whole room. I have a 1 minutes video from that show where you can see how far I was able to move on Sunday (spoiler: it was maybe 30 feet). In 2020, the show moved to the current hotel which has a big, open ballroom. Still, some vendors had already decided not to come, and this was pre-Covid. And now, we’re still in a pandemic and it feels like there were even fewer vendors than before. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the European vendors decided to come (in some cases, for the first time since the start of the pandemic). I was happy to see the return of Sarj Minhas, Ray Walters, Valerie Wallace of Flyght of Fantasy and others who came from the other side of the pond. Typically, you might also see folks from the Pacific side too, but not since the pandemic.

I can think of at least 5 vendors who did not go this year and it’s unclear to me whether it is due to the pandemic or something else. I think the show is now around “mid-size”, maybe a bit bigger and while it’s no longer one of the biggest US shows, there is still a good variety of vendors. Score - 7/10

*Sarj Minhas, AKA “The One Man Pen Show”, always brings along so much eye candy!*

*Don’t let the serious face fool you, Ray Walters does a mean salsa and swing and when he’s not dancing, you can find his impressive collection of Omas, Pelikans, Montblancs and other fine pens.*

*Valerie Wallace of Flyght of Fantasy with her amazing handmade notebooks as well as Pennonia Inks and other goodies.*

There is still a really good variety of both vintage and modern vendors, as well as representation from locals like Stacy Hills Paper Wants a Pen and his wife, Jill and daughter, Faith and nib workers Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio, Matthew Chen, and Mike Masuyama.

*Stacy Hills and family with their pens, pen wraps and other goodies like.*

*STICKERS!!! Faith designs some awesome stickers - which are your faves?*

*Frank Zhang (center) and his partners from Narwhal Pens.*

*Special pen show edition Narwhal Nautilus!*

*Snagged a picture of Ian Schon and his helper Yahaira Ferreira before the feeding frenzy!*

*These new colors and finishes were released just for the LA pen show! Some even have a textured feel to the color swirls!*

*Sam Fiorella of Pendemonium always has a great assortment of inks, pens and vintage goods.*

*The Pleasure of Writing, formerly known as Bittner Pens, brings some amazing pens to the show!*

*Dale Beebe of Pentooling is your best bet for finding parts for all your pen repair needs!*

*Bill, Casey and Sean from* *Pilot USA* *brought their pens so you can try the various models and nib sizes, and check out their 3 new Iroshizuku inks (should be available very soon!)*

Location

The show is pretty easy to get to as it is about a 30 minute drive from the LAX airport (don’t even bother with public transit, you’ll never make it anywhere). The hotel is right across from the Del Amo mall (random trivia, it was once one of the largest malls in the US until the Mall of America was built), so there are a lot of food options at the mall, as well as within a 10 minute walk. It is also a 10 minute drive from the Redondo Beach Pier for those of you needing some sun and surf time. And yes, it’s always warm enough to surf in Southern California, even in February. Score - 8/10

Hotel

The Torrance Marriott hotel is a fairly modern hotel, with a nice lobby area that has a few tables and seats for after hours meetups. There is also a roomy restaurant/bar, and when the weather is nice (as it was most of the days of this show), they open up their sliding glass doors to make it a very open space. There is also plenty of outdoor restaurant seating (with heaters). The hotel has a Starbucks which closes at 2pm (it came in handy to get the afternoon jolt of energy) - the Starbucks seating area remains open after that, as it is a way to get to the other fire pit and outdoor seating area. I liked their gym which was pretty decently sized and had a good variety of workout equipment. I ran on the treadmill for 2 of the 3 days (and got my 100th mile in February on Saturday night!). There is a paid parking lot for folks staying at the hotel, though most folks who only attend the show will often park at the mall. The show rate for the rooms was $163/night, which is on the higher end compared to most pen show hotels, which is the only reason for the score not being higher. Overall, it is a good hotel close to food and has a lot of indoor and outdoor seating options for after hour hangouts. Score - 7/10

*Comfy couches, chairs and tables in the spacious lobby area all meant for hanging out or waiting for friends.*

*Open seating at the restaurant and bar with lots of windows for sunlight.*

*Just past the Starbucks exit is this roomy seating area with a great fire pit. I spent a good part of Saturday night here.*

Tickets

Tickets for general admission (GA) as well as Trader or Exhibitor Registration could only be purchased in the mail, via check (really? Check? What decade are we in again?). GA tickets were $9 and only included Sunday admission from 10am-5pm (and Saturday seminars, but not Saturday show admission). So what is “Trader’s Registration”? For the price of $55 before Jan 15, or $65 after, you get one pass that allows you access to all show activities, including during show setup and early hours. You are also able to use ½ a table (not reserved), if you want to sell some stuff or meet up with potential buyers/sellers. (I will be using the terms “weekend pass” and “trader pass” interchangeably throughout this recap) As weekend passes go, the price is on the higher side, but on par with bigger shows like DC and SF. The GA ticket price is reasonable but again, only Sunday. If you are unable to attend on Sunday and could only go on Saturday, for example, you would have to pay $55/65 for one day - ouch. I’ll talk more about this later. So while the GA ticket price is inexpensive and the weekend pass price is also not too bad, the fact that there is only one public day makes this score go down a lot. Score - 4/10

Classes/Seminars

No classes were offered but a few seminars were offered on Saturday. Score - 6/10

Nib Worker Availability

There were 4 nib workers at the show - the aforementioned Gena, Matthew and Mike and also Kirk Speer of Pen Realm. This is a good number for a show of this size and I think maybe another 1-2 for Sunday might have worked out, but they probably wouldn’t have been very busy on the other days. Even Masuyama had a half empty signup sheet on Saturday and that’s unheard of! Score - 10/10

*Gena working their nib magic on my Scribo which was just too broad for me.*

*Kirk Speer of Pen Realm working on a customer’s nib.*

*Matthew Chen (left) and Mike Masuyama (right) were both busy when I came by, glad I snagged a spot with Mike!*

Overall sense/vibe

The show is in one large ballroom and the aisles were fairly wide. It did feel a bit crowded on Sunday. Overall tables and aisles were well-spaced out. Mask adherence was generally high, probably 85-90% all weekend, though I did not see anyone asking attendees or vendors to put their masks on if they were removed once inside the ballroom.

I was working at the Lemur Ink table on Friday. It was one of the first tables you see upon entry, so I got a good view of the flow of attendees. Since it was not a public day, there were no massive throngs to deal with, making set-up fairly low key for us and for most of the other folks setting up. So while yes, the show technically starts at 7am, the doors didn’t actually open until 8am and a majority of attendees didn’t come in until 9-10am. It was similar in energy to most pen show Fridays (except maybe DC and SF, which tend to be pretty busy).

*Lots of room, decent amount of people doing their shopping too.*

Saturday was a totally different story. At most shows, Saturday is the busiest day, but since Saturday was not a public day, it ends up being a really quiet day. It was easy to get spots on Masuyama’s (usually very full) waiting list on Friday and Saturday - at most shows, the nib grinders’ tables are the first ones I hit so I can get on their list. The Saturday folks were often some of the Friday folks whose wallets weren’t empty yet, lol, plus a few “Saturday-only” folks who had to pay full price to enter just for the day, minus the Friday folks who did their shopping the day before, or decided to do spend the day doing other things (like sightseeing), or were waiting for Sunday to see who else showed up.

At most pen shows, Sundays are usually the quietest day of the pen show weekend and many vendors start packing up early Sunday afternoon. Not the LA show, where Sunday ends up being a madhouse. Some vendors, like Yafa, who was also a show sponsor, only show up on Saturday to set up. Other vendors like Flax Pen to Paper or ITOYA of America (US distributor for Sailor, Penlux, etc.) arrived early on Sunday to set up just for the one day.

*The line just before 10am on Sunday, the start of the public hours on the show’s only public day.*

*This is about ⅓ of the line. The other ⅔ of the line is behind me and around the corner all the way to the lobby.*

*Show Sponsor, Yafa, has an impressive number of tables, but they sat empty until Saturday afternoon.*

*David Oscarson always has an impressive display of stunning pens.*

*Local vendor Flax Pen to Paper just finished their setup.*

*An inkophile’s paradise! Sailor, Kobe and Bungubox inks galore!*

*Sunday crowd, though it is still less crowded than it was pre-pandemic in 2020.*

If this is the only show you’ve ever attended, you may not even realize this is kind of weird. If you have, whether as an attendee or vendor, it just feels bizarre. If you don’t like crowds or want to be able to take your time to look at stuff and not feel rushed, Sunday is not the day to go to the LA show. Sunday is the reason the score is as low as it is. More on this below. Score - 6/10

Food

As mentioned above, there is a restaurant and bar that serves food for lunch and dinner. The food was pretty good and is what you expect to pay at a California hotel restaurant (not cheap but not too outrageously priced either). Thursday, I had a late lunch at the Din Tai Fung at the mall across the street (soup dumplings, please?!?!) and Friday night, a bunch of pen friends walked a few blocks to nearby Urban Plates. I had ramen at the Mitsuwa Japanese Market on the far side of the mall on Sunday and then had dinner at the hotel with friends on Sunday night after a tiring workout. All in all, whether you only have time or budget for the food court or something nicer, this location has a lot to choose from. Score - 8/10

After hours/socializing

There are lots of places to hang out at the hotel and plenty of people chitchatting after hours. The outside fire pits were a hit as were the comfy chairs in the lobby. The hotel bar/restaurant staff were friendly and served food until pretty late while the bar stayed open even later. Unlike at other shows, vendors didn’t stay up too late on Saturday night as Sunday was their big day, since it is the only public day. Score - 8/10

Other

Southern California in the middle of February typically has great weather and this year was no exception. Many vendors flock to the show to get a respite from their winter weather. Trust me, this California girl is happy not to have to worry about ice or snow at a February pen show.

Los Angeles County had a vaccination/negative test requirement as well as an indoor mask mandate but the show’s Instagram said they “hope they will expire before the start of the show”, which was disappointing to read and didn’t give me any warm fuzzies. That said, most vendors and attendees wore masks throughout the show and our vaccination cards were checked when picking up the passes. I was only there for a short time on Sunday morning, but it also looked like mask adherence was fairly high.

I didn’t make it to the show floor on Thursday but had heard that significant theft had already hit two vendors. One vendor had a tray stolen during this time, while another had a whole rollaboard suitcase of pens stolen!! I don’t believe this happened during late evening hours but in the afternoon. This is not the first time that theft has struck at the LA Pen Show, either. If memory serves me, theft has happened on the first day of this particular show the past 3 times (maybe longer since I’m still a relative pen show newbie). Another tray of pens was stolen from another vendor on Sunday. There is no overnight security and on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, there were security guards in the ballroom primarily checking for lanyards/name tags; it would be difficult for a couple of security guards to see anything happening at a table. This is not an easy problem to solve for LA or any show, so I wish all of the show organizers and vendors the best of luck as they unfortunately have to worry more and more about theft.

I spoke with several vendors who had not attended the LA Show before and they all asked me if it was normal for it to be so slow on a Saturday. I explained to them that since Sunday is the only public day, unless you already had a weekend/trader pass, very few people want to pay $65 at the door just to go on Saturday. They collectively gave me an “Ahh…” followed by “Wait, why is there only one public day”? I wish I could answer that question cuz it doesn’t make sense to me either. I’ve heard the argument that adding a public day on Saturday would reduce the number of hotel room nights that are booked through the show, or that it would reduce admission income too much. I would argue that there would be more paid admissions on Saturday and Sunday, than if they only offered one public day. In addition, it would likely cover the gap for folks who are forced to pay for a weekend pass. Though I think that gap can easily be filled if they charged $10-15 for public days instead of $9. More people, spread out over two days means a better experience for vendors AND attendees alike.

On top of all this, there’s even more madness that affects both attendees and vendors on Thursday - Saturday. As I mentioned earlier, if you got a weekend/trader pass, you are entitled to ½ of a table to sell your wares on Thursday - Saturday, which sounds all fine and good. Except those spots aren’t reserved and are first-come, first-served, which might also sound fine, except you may be in Spot 1 on Thursday afternoon, Spot 8 on Friday, and Spot 36 on Saturday - all depending on what tables are available when you come downstairs that morning and who you want or don’t want to be close to. Which is annoying as an attendee - if you were eyeing a pen from a vendor on Thursday, you’d have to go roaming the ballroom to figure out where they are on Friday and again on Saturday. And if you are a vendor, you don’t get to stay in your assigned spot the whole weekend. Yeah, that’s right, even if you paid $225 (per table), you have to pack up your stuff at the end of every day and unpack the next day, at a different spot. Sounds like fun, right? NOT!

Let’s couple that experience with the show schedule. The hours are Thursday 2pm-11pm (wait, what? 11pm? Yup, keep reading), Friday 7am-11pm, Saturday 7am-8pm, Sunday 7am-5pm. Is the show REALLY open til 11pm? No, not really, but the ballroom is. It’s open so folks can have a space to do off-hour trades. This meant that folks especially vintage dealers or those specializing in second-hand items can do their wheeling and dealing with each other when they aren’t busy selling to pen show attendees during “regular” hours. Oh and remember that part I said about no security until Sunday? It means, if you started setting up stuff for any of the days, not only do you have to pack it all up because your spot isn’t guaranteed the whole weekend, there’s no security and the ballroom doors aren’t locked until 11pm!!!

As I mentioned earlier, I worked for John Phelan of LemurInk on Friday and at the end of the day, we had to pack up the goods because of all that weird schedule and table stuff I just talked about. On Saturday, they announced over the ballroom speaker that they wanted vendors to start cleaning up by 6pm but that the doors wouldn’t be locked until 8pm. Thus advertising to everyone in the ballroom that vendors would be leaving around 6pm but the ballroom would be unlocked until 8pm. If that doesn’t give you as a vendor a warm and fuzzy feeling of security about your stuff, I don’t know what does (yes, that was sarcasm in action). If you were lucky and the stars aligned, you might find out where your Sunday tables would be and maybe even allowed to stay there the whole weekend. John lucked out and negotiated with the show organizer to stay at his location for the whole weekend. If you were most everyone else, you were told you’d find out Sunday and you had to move around all weekend.

Because the show advertises these hours, some people think they can actually show up after 6pm and expect to find a room full of vendors, when in reality, what greets them is a largely empty ballroom since most of them have already packed up and left for the day. This actually happened to John on Friday. Also, I want to add that I have John’s permission to share his experiences from this show because he wants people to know just how oddly run this show is.

It’s hard not mentioning the Sunday only public day thing again because it is really what makes this show kind of insane. One public day = big crowds. Adding onto this, many vendors had to re-setup for Sunday because they likely weren’t in their permanent spots all weekend, and add all of the Sunday-only vendors that also need to set up and you can see why it is quite the cluster on Sunday, especially in the morning. Score - 4/10

Report Card 0-50 Oof, do not attend

51-70 Show is alright

70-80 Show is solid

80-90 Show is pretty darned good!

91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed

The LA Pen Show scored 68/100, which sounds about right to me. It is not a bad show, in fact, it wouldn’t take much for it to be a solid show (like adding classes) or a pretty darned good one (more than one public day, vendors staying in place, etc.).

So why do vendors and attendees keep coming back to this show? Well, there are a lot of folks who have traditionally made a lot of money at this show, or spent a lot of money, or both. And you’re probably wondering if I would come back to this show and the answer is yes. There are a lot of great vendors who go to very few shows, and this is one of them. LA is a great destination in the middle of winter. It is the only other west coast pen show (the other one being SF at the end of August) and there are a lot of pen people in the LA area (some of whom I only get to see at this show). And I never leave empty handed.

Pen Show Haul - I got the newest TWSBI Swipe from LemurInk, the Esterbrook JR Fantasia, a pin from Stacy Hills, 4 pens worked on by Gena Salorino and Mike Masuyama, a Sherpa Sharpie holder, stickers from Faith Hills and a bottle of the 2022 Sailor Pen Show Ink.

As I said before and hope I can stop saying soon, the pandemic is still out there and continues to affect pen shows differently. All I know is that, pandemic aside, this show has some work cut out for them if they want to become one of the pre-eminent pen shows again, but I think they can do it. Until the next pen show, stay safe and stay inky!

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Posted on February 25, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Pen Shows.

2022 Philadelphia Pen Show Trip Report

The 2022 Philadelphia Pen Show just happened this past weekend (January 14-16, 2022) and I am left with so many feelings. After the Chicago show last year, I was unable to attend the Ohio show due to a scheduling conflict, so I was really looking forward to the Philly Pen Show. Until news of Omicron raging through the states started popping up during, and after, the holidays. Not gonna lie, I had a heart-to-heart talk with my husband about whether it was a good idea to go to the show. But being vaccinated and boosted (as well as my kid being vaccinated late last fall) as well as the show and the city of Philadelphia requiring masks and proof of vaccination, we felt it was an acceptable risk for me to take. Before I go any further, I will say that all of this is a personal decision and I don’t begrudge those who aren’t ready to go to shows (whether via plane travel or not) or those who choose to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, get vaccinated, boosted, wear a mask, stay safe. Alright, I’m done. So how was the show???

The Philly Pen Show is not a large show, with vendors in two adjacent ballrooms. This year, with some vendors bowing out and expected lower turnout due to Covid/Omicron, there was a lot of room for spread out, which made it very comfortable to roam the aisles.

During the early weekend pass holder hours of Friday morning, crime struck. Luxury Brands of America (distributor of many stationery brands including Colorverse, Benu, etc.) had 4 folios of Waldmanns and Platinums stolen from behind their table. This happened while they were setting up and it made many of the vendors nervous. This is not something you want to hear happening at any pen show, let alone such a big brazen theft. See their IG post for details. If you hear of these pens being sold, please let them know.

It left everyone with a lot of unanswered questions like who would do such a thing, how did they do it, are they pen people, etc. I don’t have answers to any of that, just more questions. It was a weird vibe after that but neither LBA nor any of the other vendors or customers let this deter them from moving forward and making the best of the show.

*These gorgeous Waldmanns and Platinum Izumos were on display while folios of them were stolen from behind the table.*

Heading into the show, I knew that I wouldn’t be working behind the Franklin-Christoph table (no, I’m not on the sh*tlist, lol) so I decided to share a table with my good friends Mike and Tami! Yep, I was my own vendor this time! I have never had a table before, so it was difficult picking pens to sell and figuring out what to bring, but the great thing about sharing a table is that you can watch each other’s stuff (and we had prices for stuff in case people came by). This also meant none of us were stuck at the table the whole weekend, so I was able to walk around the show and do some shopping too!

Besties — *Two of my favorite pen people that I got to hang out with all weekend! And sell some pens to boot; not nearly as many as I bought, but who’s counting?!?!*

I was in the same room as Franklin-Christoph (who is not only a sponsor of this show but Scott Franklin co-owns the Philly show with Eric Orozco), which is always dangerous for my wallet. Just look at some of these gorgeous pens!

Franklin-Christoph launched new notebooks with the same sugarcane paper as past products. These will allow folks to use notebook covers as well as having a spiral-bound instead of staple bound option. Loose leaf will continue to be available. These should be on the website soon, along with any remaining Philly 2022 items.

Franklin-Christoph Paper — *The new notebooks/notepads are available in blank, dot, lined and graph and come in various sizes. (PC:TiffanyT55)*

They weren’t the first to get my money though! That honor went to Ian Schon of Schon Dsgn who debuted “The brand new yet to be named full sized fountain pen wow” (yes, that was really on his paper! And don’t worry, a proper name is coming soon, lol) which is a full-size version of the anodized aluminum Pocket 6.

Galen Leather came all the way from Istanbul, Turkey to be at the Philly Pen Show! What a treat to see them with all their beautifully-crafted goods. And don’t forget to snag a bit of Turkish Delight when you see them!

Galen Leather Pens — *Oh my, these stunning Franklin-Christoph 02 in Brooks’ Golden Rule, Narwhal and Gioia too.*

Narwhal Prototype — *Look at this stunning raden & urushi prototype from Narwhal Pens!*

Mad Mercantile — *Myk Daigle of MaD Mercantile had some lovely vintage pens including some with factory stubs and flex too!*

Grand Poobah — *Paul Erano always has a sizeable spread of primarily vintage pens, but always take a closer look because he gets modern pens from trades too.*

*Lisa went light this year, opting for one table and no staff, but she was definitely busy selling Ferris Wheel Press, Vinta and Waterman inks as well as a fun assortment of pens.*

*ystudio Brassing, Resin and Classic pens and accessories.*

*Look at these stunning works of urushi and maki-e art from Taccia!*

I always enjoy seeing local vendors at pen shows like Les Sheely of Stylosuite and Pleasant Valley Textiles. I know there were others, like River City Pen Company, for example, but I kept getting distracted and didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I did, lol.

*Les Sheely of Stylosuite is a local favorite and makes flex nibs for modern pens from brands like Leonardo and Opus 88.*

There were four nib workers at the show, including Damien Alomar, Gena Salorino, JC Ament and Kirk Speer. Having nib workers at a show is great for tuning any pens you might have just bought, fixing existing pens/nibs, or getting a fun nib grind like a cursive italic or architect..

Nib Tailor — *JC has a stash of pre-ground nibs for purchase and also does nib work on the spot.*

Even though there were fewer vendors and attendees at the show this year, it was a well-organized show. Vaccination cards were checked, wristbands handed out (and checked), aisles were never too crowded. Even the fire alarm on Saturday that forced everyone to leave the ballroom didn’t faze Eric, who handled the show’s logistics leading up to and throughout the weekend. With the theft that occurred on Friday, he and others stayed in the ballroom during the alarm to make sure all doors were shut and nothing happened to the vendors’ goods. Apparently there was a leak in one of the pipes that caused the fire alarm to keep going off (yes, it went off again Sunday night and again at 5:15 am on Monday … that one was extra brutal).

I would have loved to see more vendors and more pen friends, but sadly that’s the way things are going right now until Covid numbers go down and become less pervasive and dangerous. Am I still glad I went? Absolutely. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I sold some pens, yay, turned around and spent that money (and then some), also yay, but most of all, I got to hang out with pen friends and make new ones and that’s the best part about pen shows! Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay inky!

Philly Pen Show Haul — *My Philly Pen Show haul - yes, that is my first Benu!*

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Posted on January 21, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Pen Shows.

2022 Baltimore Pen Show Recap and Report Card

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LA Pen Show - Recap and Report Card

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2022 Philadelphia Pen Show Trip Report

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