Apologies for the delay in the 2025 Chicago Pen Show Recap - I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it justice by spending just a day on it before I had foot/ankle surgery last week. (It went well, minimal pain and swelling now, will be in a walking boot 24/7 for 4-6 weeks.) Anyhoo, it’s taken me a while to process everything from the show because it was nuts, in the (mostly) best way! The last time I did a report card for this show was three years ago, and since this year’s show was held at a new venue, I’m doing another one to see how it compares to past Chicago shows as well as to other shows.
Welcome to Chicago (O’Hare Airport)! The Cloud Gate, AKA The Bean, is worth a visit if you’ve never bean, I mean, been. (Zach, that’s for you! 🙂)
Welcome to the Chicago Pen Show (I’m gonna make “ChiPS” a thing, just you wait! 🙂)
As with many shows, I worked at the Franklin-Christoph table. This time it was just Audrey Matteson and me, so I had limited shopping/picture time. Despite that, I was still able to do some damage to the wallet.
I swear Audrey and I didn’t plan to wear the same shirt on the same day! I always have a great time at the F-C table!
Size: I don’t know how many tables they had last year, but in 2022, there were about 90 vendors, and it has grown steadily ever since. This year, there were around 120 vendors and 200 tables, spread out amongst the foyer, main ballroom, and the downstairs ballroom. After you pass the lobby, the show starts in the larger foyer area (30 vendors, or so). The registration table is also in the foyer, just steps from the main ballroom entrance (65 vendors). Behind the reg table, a large, open staircase led down to the lower level Essex Ballroom (25 vendors) as well as where classes were held. I heard many folks mentioning that they either didn’t realize there was a downstairs or that they kept forgetting to go down there. More on that later.
Check out the handy, interactive show map made by Alexander Kramer of Pen Show Maps for a better idea of the layout.
Entering the foyer from the lobby on Thursday morning before setup.
Same foyer, Friday morning.
Foyer from near the registration table.
Christine Wooten, wife of Roger Wooten (show owner/organizer), and a couple of the Wooten boys at the registration table selling tickets, answering questions, and selling show exclusive items.
Additional restaurant tables were placed in the foyer to accommodate the show.
Some of the vendors that were in the foyer:
Dan Keller of Good Made Better demonstrating a customizable, portable writing box.
Karas Kustoms had their machined pens as well as from their Everyday Karas line of products, which of course, I forgot to take pictures of, oops.
I love seeing vendors chatting it up like Shawn Newton of Newton Pens and Bart Conner of Zodiac Pen Co.
Jon Tello of Hello Tello was one of the many pen makers in the foyer.
Managed to snap a solo picture of Mikayla Jackson of White Bear Pens before the attendees huddled around her table.
So nice to see Kristen Brooks of Fountain Telling with proud papa Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Co!
I always end up buying a ton of stickers whenever I see Keith McCleary/RandomThinks (and Bella) at a show! Keith is also behind #KillWinterWithOrange during the month of February.
Inside the ballroom:
View of the left part of the main ballroom from the Franklin-Christoph table.
Middle of the ballroom.
Right side of the ballroom.
Erick Gama of Amarillo Stationery at his 4th ChiPS!
Erick also won a Pilot Ishime at Pilot USA’s raffle! Congrats, ya lucky bum!
Tori Woods of Stationery Universe looking particularly cute in pigtails, while showing off her new collabs with White Bear Pens and Rickshaw Bagworks.
It feels like ages since I last saw Link Tong of Roses Without Thorns! He makes the trek from Toronto, Canada to attend this show. His pop-up cards are the best!
Look at this cute lil Grogu book magnet that I HAD to buy from him for Star Wars Day, May the 4th!
Amy and Zach Skogsberg of Skogsy Pens - I was super happy to see Zach until he told me a groaner of a dad joke. I’m still scarred from the experience, lol.
Bart Conner from Zodiac Pens shared his table with fellow maker, Ben Stewart of Mayfair Pens.
There was a memorial table honoring Dan Reppert, who passed away in April 2025. Cards were provided for folks to write a note of their fondest memories of Dan. Condolences to his family and those who knew him.
The right side of the main ballroom was dominated by Atlas Stationers who packed 10!!! tables with pens, papers, ink and other accessories. They were right across from Luxury Brands of America, had representatives from Esterbrook, Kolo, Sailor, Nahvalur/OMAS, at their table, as well as Coles of London (Visconti, S.T. Dupont), Chartpak (Pelikan), and Pilot USA nearby.
Momma T (Therese Schmidt) of Atlas Stationers on the left, while son Brian (pink shirt) and Papa Don (black shirt) are behind the table in the background.
I may have surprised Gary Lange of Chartpak (distributor for Pelikan), but Brendan Schmidt is always ready for a photo op!
The Kolo Tino fountain pens are made in Austria & the Czech Republic of acrylic, brass, and aluminum.
Justin from Esterbrook/Kenro Industries with Frank Zhang Nahvalur/OMAS at the Atlas Stationers table - look at the various product displays behind and to the left of them!
Always a pleasure to see Casey, Aiki, and Bill from Pilot USA!
While there were definitely other vendors besides Atlas on the right side of the ballroom like Pen Realm, Schon Dsgn, Sey Pen, etc., most of the ballroom traffic was around the Atlas tables. It seemed like traffic never got as high on the middle/left side of the ballroom as it did on the right.
Atlas held a Bingo game where folks had to complete squares to win a gift card. This might have been part of the reason for the congestion around their tables.
Similarly, in the foyer, there were certain aisles that were always full of people, while others were mostly empty. I’m not sure how much of that is due to the location of the restrooms/ATM (away from a majority of the foyer) or if folks just wanted to get in/out of the ballroom quickly and bypass the other tables.
The stairs leading to the Essex ballroom and classrooms. It isn’t obvious that there is another ballroom down here. (This was early on Thursday so not everything was set up.)
Even though the stairs were in plain view, if you didn’t enter through the lobby, you might not notice the stairs or realize there was anything show-related downstairs.
Ink testing tables outside of the Essex ballroom.
A lot of folks had fun trying different inks during and after show hours.
Inside the Essex ballroom during Thursday setup. You can see that it is not a particularly large room.
Same Essex ballroom with ~25 vendors on Friday.
John Phelan (3rd from the left) of Lemur Ink, with his crew of helpers, had 4 tables in the Essex ballroom.
Jaclyn Myers and wife Laura Fogt of Kaleidocraft made a big splash at the show! Keep an eye out for their upcoming Etsy store!
Look at all this 3D printed cuteness!
Articulated animal magnets?! Dropped ice cream cone pen or ink vial holder?! Yes, please!
So hard to resist all the fun stickers/washi/stamps/lanyards/etc at Angela He’s InkyConverters table!
Leather and Lathe makes custom pens and hand-painted leather goods.
Penacea Pens had some great pen-inspired tote bags, stickers and more.
Members of the Chicago Calligraphy Collective writing people’s names in beautiful calligraphic styles!
It felt larger than prior Chicago shows and had a good variety of vendors as well. I would say that it is now one of the larger shows, similar in size to California and SF pen shows. With more pen-adjacent vendors than in the past, I would say that the breakdown of modern/vintage/other is around 40/35/25. Score - 9/10
Location: The new hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago - Oak Brook, is about 45 minutes west of downtown Chicago, 30 minutes south of the O’Hare Airport, and 35-40 minutes northwest of the Midway Airport. This is roughly the same distance to the airports and downtown as the prior location in Hoffman Estates. It cost me about $40-45 to get to/from O’Hare and the hotel. Chicago flights are pretty easy to find as O’Hare is a major hub for several airlines. There is a lot to do, eat, and see in Chicago, even if you’re not at a pen show. Score - 8/10
Hotel: The DoubleTree Oakbrook is a decent hotel, with an open dining area next to the large foyer. There were also several sitting spots in the lobby, a bar (which also served food from the restaurant) and a few small seating areas across from the bar where people could watch TV, or hang out and play with pens. The bar service wasn’t the best - they were understaffed most of the weekend, occasionally with just one person working double duty as bartender & waitstaff.
My room was alright, though slightly dated. The worst part of the hotel was the 3 very slow and very small elevators (max capacity was 5 people), and one of them worked part of the time. Elevator buttons on the outside didn’t always light up so you don’t know if you’re going to get an elevator or not. On Saturday after the show, I ended up hoofing it 5 flights of stairs because I didn’t want to wait in the 30+ people line. Lastly, the hotel was undergoing renovations, which meant that from 9-5pm on weekdays, there would be very loud drilling/sawing/construction noises that proved difficult to sleep through (my redeye’d self was not happy when I tried and failed to nap on Thursday). I wish I had known this before I paid extra to check in at 8am. I heard that the show is supposed to be held here again next year, so hopefully the construction will be completed by then (and maybe they’ll get new elevators too).
The show rate for the rooms was $139/night (before taxes/fees), which is a bit lower than average price for most pen show hotels, and parking was free. The show rate also included buffet breakfast for each day of your stay. I had the breakfast twice and it was pretty decent, but I would’ve skipped it if I had to pay $17 before taxes/tip.
The show hotel sold out of its rooms about 6 weeks before the show, so the organizers arranged for a roomblock at the Chicago Marriott Oak Brook, about 1/2 mile away, at $159/night and also included breakfast.
While the hotel did not have an airport shuttle, they did have one that operated within a 2-3 mile radius until about 10pm, which was very handy for going to/from dinner.
The Oak Brook Center (shopping mall) was located across the street, which made finding food very convenient. The hotel proximity to both food and shopping, plus the hangout-friendly spaces would normally warrant a higher score but the slow/small/inconsistent elevators, understaffed bar, as well as the construction noises made me take this down a notch. Score - 7/10
View from my room, where you can see a Shake Shack across the street.
Tickets: Full weekend registration costs $60 and includes early entry Thursday through Sunday, the pizza party on Thursday night, and Friday night auction. Saturday night’s whisk(e)y tasting event, hosted by Mario Campa of Toys from the Attic, cost $29 per adult, and included a tasting glass.
Friday’s public hours were 12pm-5:30pm and entry costs $26/25 (credit card/cash) for a half day, as well as access to the Friday night auction. Saturday and Sunday prices were inexpensive at $11/10, for 9-5:30pm and 9-4pm access, respectively. Children under 12 were free. Weekend passes could be purchased online up to a week before the show, while public admission was only available at the registration desk. Still, good prices for Sat/Sun general admission and a good price for the VIP pass since it included the pizza party. Score - 8/10
Classes/Seminars: It seemed like there were more classes and seminars this time around than in previous years. There were calligraphy classes from Master Penman, Michael Sull, and Laura Paolinetti, as well as art and journaling classes by Tom Forsythe of Sugar Turtle Studio, KC (DimeNovelRaven on IG), and a pop-up card workshop by Link Tong of Roses without Thorns. There were also free seminars on Pelikans, “vintage pen tasting”, vintage pen repairs, and more. I taught my handwriting class and the whole process was super smooth. Christine Wooten was great to work with; she was responsive and followed up on questions/requests. She also released the schedule of classes and seminars at least a month before, so people could sign up. This is in stark contrast to my experience at BWI show a couple months back. There were also different sized classrooms, fitting anywhere from 20-50 people. With more classrooms at this venue, there were more options for classes/seminars than before. Score - 10/10
Nib Worker Availability: In the past I have considered Chicago as a middle-sized show, but now I’d definitely classify it as a larger show. Compared to other shows this size, there weren’t as many nib workers as I would have expected but there were still 5 to choose from (in first name alphabetical order).
It’s not Anabelle if hands aren’t inky!
- Anabelle Hiller of Opus Cineris
- Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio - Unfortunately, they fell ill at the show and was unable to be at their table. Get well soon, Gena!
- Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
- Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance
- Matthew Chen of Matt’s Nibworks
Kirk Speer in his trusty cowboy hat.
Matthew is either pondering the meaning of life or going to pick his nose with a nib - you decide. 🙂
Not included are Audrey Matteson, who tunes and does nib work for Franklin-Christoph, or Les Sheely of Stylosuite who makes flex and other nib modifications in his studio post-show.
I think a show of this size could use at least one more nib worker as they were all pretty busy this weekend. Score - 8/10
Overall sense/vibe: Chicago has always been a great show for all types of pen enthusiasts, with a good venue for shopping as well as post-show hanging out, and this year was true at the new hotel too.
I don’t have numbers comparing year to year, but it felt like there were as many, if not more attendees this year than last. Friday had a decent crowd, and it was busier on Saturday (some vendors saw more business on Friday than Saturday, and it was the reverse for others). It was pretty slow for everyone on Sunday. The show ended at 4pm but a lot of vendors started packing up at 2pm (or earlier), which isn’t uncommon for this show (and others). Maybe a shorter Sunday might make sense for the future?
Vendors seemed to be generally pleased with their sales, and chalked up low sales to it being the first time at a new venue. Those in the Essex ballroom, in particular, were still pretty positive about the show overall despite their less-trafficked location. I think there are some opportunities to improve the attendee flow by reviewing the high/low trafficked areas and moving some vendors around.
Attendees had a good time, whether they were browsing, shopping, testing inks, taking classes, or chatting with pen friends. Attendees and vendors were excited about the show and a little nervous about the new location and gave the show some benefit of the doubt for any issues since it is the first year at this hotel.
This attendee, the one and only Drew Brown of Fahney’s Pens got a bit verklempt from a kid’s cute poem that he wrote using the letters of Drew’s name. Super sweet!
Esterbrook & Atlas Stationers hosted a Coffee & Community Event on Saturday morning (pre-registration, which sold out almost instantly, was required). It was nice to get a chance to chat with folks before the show began.
Justin is helping Brendan with his Esterbrook apron, while the paparazzi is making sure there is footage for social media.
Shannon with Esterbrook & Brendan Schmidt checking people in and handing out goody bags. You can see folks mingling in the background.
I’ll go into it in more detail below but the after hours scene continues to be off the hook. In fact, when I think of the Chicago show (at any hotel), it’s not so much the show itself that makes it great, it’s the socializing. Score - 8/10
Food: As I mentioned before, there is a hotel restaurant as well as a bar that serves food and the food was pretty good and the prices are what you’d expect at a hotel. Thursday’s pizza night for vendors and weekend pass holders was from Lou Molnati’s (I had more thick crust pizza than I care to admit). Took the shuttle across the way for Italian one night, to a steakhouse on Saturday night, and stayed at the hotel bar/restaurant on Sunday. You can get all sorts of food for all sorts of budgets in a very short walk/drive. Score - 9/10
After hours/socializing: The Thursday night pizza party room was overflowing so I sat at some tables in the hallway with friends (always a good time). The Saturday night whisk(e)y tasting looked to be a blast (I’m a wine and beer girl 🙂).
Mario Campa of Toys in the Attic explaining the nuances of different types of whisk(e)ys in one of the downstairs classrooms. This event sold out pretty quickly.
There were also two additional meetups/gatherings on Saturday night. One was put on by John Phelan of Lemur Ink, one of the show sponsors. The other was organized by KC, aka Dimenovelraven on IG, who reached out to the show to see if they could have space for a meetup. I love seeing the initiative from the community as well as the response from the organizer to make meetups happen.
Late night with friends old and new at the meetup hosted by John Phelan of Lemur Ink (standing on the left)!
The Ink Pony Club was out in force at KC’s Saturday night meetup!
Paper tasting - trying out all sorts of different papers.
Love seeing folks making new pen friends and playing with pens!
The bar before everyone got back from dinner.
Mark Dwight, aka “Not Rick”, of Rickshaw Bagworks sporting a Chicago-themed Musette and pen sleeve lanyard, with Momma T and Don Schmidt of Atlas Stationers.
Managed to snag a table with pen friends, Hailey, Lucas, and Tanya!
Inkdependence Mike, Eleanor, Simar, and others at one of the tall tables in the lobby.
Kirk Speer chillin’ with pals Lexi and Karyna in the lobby after a surprise birthday dinner - happy belated birthday, Kirk!
People are spread out across so many tables and seating areas, with binders and cases of their pens to show others, or to share what they picked up at the show. And because there are so many places to hang out, one can easily move around from place to place and meet lots of different people. Despite the lack of bar staff, this remains one of my favorite after hours shows. Score - 9/10
Other: The Chicago Pen Show is typically held around the last days of April into the first days of May, which is conveniently before Mother’s Day (I may have used that excuse to buy some stuff for myself). The weather can still be unpredictable this time of year. We went from overcast skies, to rain, to clear blue skies, and back to overcast, but it didn’t seem to affect attendance.
I appreciated that there was free coffee in the morning and water service throughout the day. It is so important to stay hydrated, especially for vendors who are talking to people all day. It also helps you stay cool, which was difficult in the ballroom because it was pretty toasty in there. But it was freezing downstairs, so another reminder to bring layers!
Lest you think that I only have positives to say about the show (except for the elevators, cough cough), one of the things that can be improved on is the flow of attendees, that is, how to ensure that folks can get through the aisles and all the rooms without having to think too much about it, and without skipping areas. Let’s start with the downstairs - the vendors I spoke with said they definitely did not have great traffic, though it occasionally picked up. So many people told me that they kept forgetting or didn’t know to go downstairs. I know that there were signs, the stairway is hard to miss if you go anywhere towards the lobby, and the ink testing tables as well as classes were downstairs, but anything that’s not on the main floor is likely to get missed.
Figuring out where to put vendors is difficult - do you put all the vendors of a certain type (like vintage, small makers, stationery, large/small vendors, etc.) together? Or do you try to mix them up? There are pros/cons to different approaches, and of course, the vendors also tell the organizers where they think they should be (which may or may not be the best location for that particular show).
Some vendors had a great show and did a lot of business, but a number of them (large and small, vintage and modern) told me that they had “ok” to “not great” shows, due in part to placement/flow, which is unfortunate. I hope that the organizers continue to work on improving the show’s flow and increasing attendance before they add more vendors.
Score - 7/10
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 2025 Chicago Pen Show scored 83/100, which feels about right. On the one hand, I had an absolute blast, ate too much and spent too much money so I sort of expected it to score a bit higher. Being across the mall with all the food options was convenient, but dealing with hotel elevators and construction, as well as traffic flow concerns, means that there is still room for improvement.
Overall, it was a great 45th anniversary Chicago Pen Show. I’m so glad (and relieved) to have had a great time at this show, even if the wallet always gets lighter, and it makes me happy to hear that people generally enjoyed themselves at this show and are planning to return next year.
Knowing that I would be a bit bed-bound, I went a little overboard at the show.
3D printed pen holders, Chicago charm, and fountain pen fidget (you can press the nib because there is a keycap inside - I can’t wait to annoy people with it!!) from Kaleidocraft.
Grogu book magnet from Roses without Thorns, patches from Amarillo Stationery, stickers from RandomThinks (I bought a stack of like 30 stickers from them for upcoming Pride Month.)
My goody bag, washi tape, and coffee cup/sleeve from the Esterbrook Coffee & Community Event - I’m surprised that the coffee cup survived the trip back in my carryon!
From the top: Pelikan Pina Colada, Style, Ineo (all from Pelikan/Chartpak), Fahrney’s-branded Pilot Varsity (from Drew), used Diplomat Magnum (from RandomThinks.)
Emii Creations plush keychains, Midori stamp, Robert Oster x Atlas Stationers Hollywood’s Mullet, Lennon Tool Bar Bitter Orange Tea and Sun Moon Lake Black Tea inks, and button-filler Estie Blue Moon - all from Atlas Stationers.
Three show inks from Anderillium Chicago River Green, Colorverse x Chicago Pen Show 45th Anniversary Windy City Blue, and Papier Plume Lake Michigan Springtime, bookmark by Laura Paolinetti of the Chicago Calligraphy Collective.
Not a haul per se, but some of the very kind gifts that I got from friends as well as someone I hadn’t met until the show (they gave me the awesome bracelet!). I also got stickers from various friends which I can’t seem to find for the life of me.
(Not pictured is the pen I had ground to an architect by Anabelle Hiller.)
Pen friends are the best part of pen shows!
They are the true haul!
Thank you to the Chicago Pen Show for a great time and thank you to Franklin-Christoph for the opportunity to represent the brand at the show.
As I always say, the time spent with pen friends is what keeps me coming back for more. My wallet may be empty but my heart is full. Until the next pen show (St. Louis), where I hope to be walking without crutches or knee scooter, stay safe and stay inky!
