Posts filed under Pen Shows

Chicago Pen Show, 2022

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

It was so good to be back among my pen people. Like many of us, I've missed pen shows these past few years. While I'm lucky enough to have local pen folks I can nerd out with from time to time, there's something special about filling a ballroom with people who all love the same thing and watching them all share their interests and passion for the hobby.

There were a lot of absent faces, still--friends without whom a pen show hardly feels like a pen show--but there was something remarkable that made up for it. New faces! So many of them. It seems that people have flocked to the hobby in droves since the start of the panoramapanini. I left the show with a lot of new pen friends, and my prediction is that next year, when the missing faces return and the new faces come back for their second year...we're going to need a bigger boat. Because Saturday was nuts! You could hardly walk through the room, and getting up to a table, almost any table, meant a bit of a wait in line. This is, of course, excellent. And I hope the vendors did as well as the crowd implies. I certainly did my part.

I wasn't able to attend on Friday, but I drove down Saturday morning, arriving around 10am. Things were already bustling by then, and by the afternoon, the room was full. I made my rounds, saying hellos and catching up with old friends, taking photos and soaking in all the inky goodness.

I really did try and behave myself this year. I made a budget, looked over the vendors list, had a plan. But pen show deprivation is a thing, turns out. I kept to my budget Saturday, but the problem was, I went back Sunday, and then I oops. It was like my first pen show all over again.

The first thing I caved on was a notebook--a B6 size Rough NoteBook in the Botanical design. It's made in China, but is designed to replicate a vintage Parisian book, and it is lovely. The paper is kraft, but I was assured that it is fountain pen friendly. I was skeptical, but initial tests are positive! I also picked up some of the same brand in sticky notes. I'll be reviewing them both in the coming months.

Brian Gray Edison Pens — *Brian Grey, Edison Pens.*

Then I had to go take a closer look at the Edison Pens table, because I'd seen their Instagram video of their new model--the Comet--and I was intrigued. And sure enough, they had one so perfect it looked like it was made for me. It's made of Jonathan Brooks' Abalone resin material, which I have drooled over for years, and it has a smokey clear comet finial. It had to be mine! I got a broad nib on it, as the pen colors practically insist that it be filled with pale shell-colored inks.

Except, I didn't want to wait to get home to ink it, so then I went back into the fray to find some ink for my new treasure. The Atlas Stationers table had tons, and I found a bottle of Ferris Wheel Press ink in Madame Mulberry that looked perfect.

All good, right? A notebook, pen, and ink. Mission accomplished! But... while I was waiting my turn at the Atlas ink swab binder, I browsed the table behind me. It was Flyght of Fantasy Studio, a table of many temptations. I could not resist the glass pen rest shaped like a white kitten, so I got it even though I know my 7-year-old will eventually steal it from me.

Then I set out on a quest to find gifts for my artsy mother- and sister-in-law, who I'll be visiting next week. That meant browsing again, which meant another round of the room, more chatting, and yes, more buying. But not what I meant to buy.

Let me explain.

You know Sarj's table? The most dangerous corner in any pen show? I have successfully resisted the overwhelming temptation of that table for years, since 2016. But for the last few shows, I've been tempted by the same pen, and every year, I walk away thinking I'm safe. And every year it's still there. But it won't be there next year, because reader, it's mine now. A John Twiss vintage celluloid pen in black with lightning vines of bright green twisting around the material, with a silver green man roll-stop. It's so lovely. And it's my first celluloid pen. It also consumed the entire rest of my budget. I decided to end my day there, and I practically floated out of the ballroom.

After dinner with my family, who came with me just for the hotel pool, I set myself up in the bar, waiting for the pen show after dark. I got a bit nervous, because for quite a while, no one came. It wasn't until after 8pm that the tables started to fill and pen rolls and notebooks came out, and the best part of any pen show began. That was what my soul needed. We had a blast passing pens and trying funky nibs and swapping inks, getting to know each other. There was the traditional whisky and cheese tasting. And, thank goodness, no giant gummy worm this year. There was, however, a surprise birthday party for Ralph, including pen-themed cupcakes that dyed everyone's teeth and skin blue, as if we'd all been drinking the ink. Good times. I didn't get to bed until I started getting the "are you okay?" texts from the fam--a sure sign that I've properly exceeded curfew.

Sunday was much slower at the show. There was less crowd, which meant more time to chat with a few folks who had been too busy the day before. I was also determined to find the aforementioned gifts this time. I mentioned my quest to Hugh from Kanilea, and he walked me down to Michael Sull's table, where he and Al had tons of lovely paper. Michael even took the precious last few minutes of his time before a day of classes to write my mother-in-law's name and beautifully embellished it. She's going to love that. Then Al showed me all the papers, and I picked out some watercolor paper I know she'll love.

My sister-in-law, though, is a wild thing, so I needed to find something to suit her. I succeeded at Federalist Pens, where the bins of past Field Notes offered up some of the lovely letterpress editions.

And that was it! Success! All goals achieved, and budget mostly intact, all I had to do was get out of the ballroom, grab my family and some lunch, and hit the road.

Except.

Mullet — *Business in the front, party in the rear.*

They put Ian Schon's table right next to the door. It's a good spot, and we'd had plenty of opportunities to chat throughout the show, but you literally cannot walk past that table without slowing, I don't care how many times you've circled the room. If you haven't seen his Galaxy design pocket fountain pens, they're definitely worth a look--they're gorgeous. And a show exclusive design in cloudy orange and black with bright spots of metal that look like stars had been whispering my name every time I walked by. Knowing it was the last time I'd walk by, it started shouting. So I, um, adjusted the budget a little.

I made a quick escape after that, and hit the road back to Wisconsin. I spent the whole drive thinking about how wonderful it had been to see everyone and how cool pen people are. And how excited I am about my new pens. It was a good haul and I regret nothing.

Pen Shows After Dark — *Pen Show Water containers.*

I know the world is not yet out of the woods with the virus, that we still have a long road ahead of us. But this year it feels more like we're traveling that road together, and making decisions that keep us safe while allowing us to be a community. This pen show was by far the biggest crowd I've been around since pre-2020, and while I was nervous, I was also grateful. Pen people believe in taking care of each other, and there was a lot of love in that room.

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Posted on May 5, 2022 by Sarah Read and filed under Pen Shows.

2022 Atlanta 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 couldn’t believe that the last time there was an Atlanta Pen Show was in April of 2019. That’s THREE years ago! And it was a memorable one for me, not only because it was my first Atlanta show, but it was also the first time I had ever worked at a pen show. It was a bit of a blur and three years seems like an eternity ago so I was eager to see what this year’s show would be like. This also marks the first time a certain Pen Addict has been to a pen show in 2 years, so there was a great recap that’s already posted. I swear, I wrote this before listening to the episode, but it’s good to know the Bossman and I had similar thoughts about the show.

Size

It is difficult to figure out how big the show is because it is spread out over three ballrooms, of different sizes too, as well as a hallway. It felt like it was around the same size as the Baltimore Pen Show, maybe just a bit smaller in terms of number of vendors. The first room on the right as you enter is the “makers room” named for many of the makers inside like Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company as well as IronFeather Creative, River City Pens, Mythic Pens, Divine Pens, Hinze Pens, etc. In addition to those folks, Vanness Pens, Mark Bacas and Nik Pang were also in that very popular room.

Atlanta Pen Show — *The smallest of the 3 ballrooms was often packed with folks. I spy pen friends at Jonathon Brooks’ table!*

Ironfeather Creative — *The stunning engraving on this Schon Pocket 6 was done by Brian Weaver of* *IronFeather Creative!* *I was not fast enough to buy this pen but I know the lucky person who did!*

*River City Pens was one of several vendors who participated in a fundraiser for Ukraine. Love this!*

*Also love these adorable pen rests by Alex Sexton,* *The Crazy Dragon Lady* *which were also available for sale at the River City Pens table!!*

*Braxton Frankenbery of* *Divine Pens Plus* *had lots of colorful pens and pen rests at his tables.*

*Divine Turning Supply* *also had blanks available for purchase*

These gorgeous raden nib holders by Huy Hoang Dao were available at Nik Pang’s table. Stunning!

The room across the way was bigger and included some of the larger vendors like Total Office Products (show organizer Jimmy Dolive), Federalist Frank, Dromgooles and Franklin-Christoph (where yours truly was working for most of the show) as well as nib workers Pendleton Brown, Matthew Chen and Mike Masuyama.

*View from the corner of the ball room across the way. This was still early on Saturday morning so it was pretty quiet.*

*Show organizer Jimmy Dolive and daughter Suzanne were there to greet you at the Atlanta Pen Show.*

*While Brad was busy checking out the ebonite and acrylic pens at Stacy Robinson’s table, I was mesmerized by these metal beauties.*

*I was so lucky and honored to be working with these lovely ladies of Franklin-Christoph. L to R: Audrey, Mandy, me, and Rhonda holding down the fort!*

*My view for most of the weekend at the Franklin-Christoph table. You can see the wall of ink at the Dromgoole’s tables in the top right of the picture.*

Outside, Yafa lined the hallway with their tables chocked full of products by Conklin, Monteverde, Diplomat, Pineider and more. At the end of the hallway was the biggest of the 3 rooms and housed a variety of vendors from Lemur Ink, Kenro Industries, Pilot USA, and Crazy Alan’s Emporium to nib workers Kirk Speer of Pen Realm, Damien Alomar of All in the Nib, to smaller vendors like Hello Tello and Anderillium Inks. The Southeast Pen Collectors’ Club also had a table and their volunteers helped out at the show all weekend. Other than Stacy Robinson of Penz By Design and Ryan Krusac, I’m not sure there were any/many other local vendors.

*Yafa’s tables were stocked and ready to go!*

*John Phelan of* *Lemur Ink* *and helper Romy Garcia had lots of inks, Odyssey Notebooks and pens! I’m still deciding which Pilot Custom 74 to get - Merlot or Teal???*

*Karen Anderson of* *Anderillium Inks* *was there with their Cephalopod and Avian series of inks.*

*Jon Tello of* *Hello Tello Studio* *(and also of Tesori) was another pen maker who was part of the Ukraine pen fundraiser. His pens also have millefiori as the finial!*

*Ryan Krusac’s pens never cease to amaze me!*

*The friendly folks of the Southeast Pen Collectors’ Club volunteered all weekend to make sure the show was going smooth and that folks were having a good time.*

I know that Coles of London weren’t able to attend as the show snuck up on them pretty quickly after Baltimore (which was two weeks later than usual and just 2 weeks prior to this show) and they weren’t able to fit it in their schedule. Luxury Brands of America was also absent as were a few other vendors who typically attend. Still, It was a decent sized show with good variety as well, though I would’ve liked to see more vendors that don’t go to other shows. I think it skewed a bit more modern than vintage though that could just be my personal bias in terms of the tables I looked at. Score - 7/10

Location

The show is not close to the airport. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get away with a 30 minute drive. If you’re not, well, let’s just say it took me almost 45 minutes to get there and it cost me $48 (before tip). I’ve heard that it cost almost $100 for others depending on when they got to the airport. It was also a surprisingly expensive flight for me to get to, even on Delta, which has a hub in Atlanta. My flight ended up costing ~$650, which is several hundred dollars more than my flights to Newark, New Jersey. I’m sure Atlanta is lovely and all but it doesn’t really have the draw that some of the other cities do, and coupled with the distance from the airport, it was tough to get a good score. Score - 6/10

Hotel

The Sonesta Atlanta Northwest hotel is a decent hotel, with little seating areas in multiple areas of the lobby and bar. There is also a restaurant next to the bar which I didn’t eat at so I can’t comment on the quality or price of their food. There is also a small shop next to the registration desk for snacks and incidentals. The hotel bar staff was generally friendly, but they seemed a bit understaffed (as in one person behind the bar) and they frequently ran out of beer on multiple nights. The hotel really doesn’t like people hanging out very long after the bar is closed either. They did let us stay for a while and then would tell people to leave and then turn off the lights. The worst, however, was on Saturday night when we were all sitting around the various tables by the bar (the lights had already been turned off in the restaurant), pens and notebooks strewn about. Out of the blue, a security guard came out and said “time to go” and they didn’t even give us 10 seconds to leave before the lights went out. I had a friend turn on his phone flashlight so I could put my stuff away. That was … not great and not safe.

The show rate for the rooms was $122/night (before taxes/fees), which is about average price for most pen show hotels, and parking was free. A liquor store and a CVS being walking distance across the street was also convenient for last minute goods like drinks or toiletries, etc. Because of the distance from the airport and the less-than-friendly late night treatment, I gave this a lower score. Score - 6/10

*The Sonesta is conveniently located next to the Waffle House.*

*The lobby was nice and spacious but a bit spread out so not many people hung out here.*

*I took this picture while the bar was closed so it’s dark but you can see the tables behind and beyond the bar where people could congregate.*

Tickets

Tickets for general admission were $10/day and children under 12 are free. Those wanting the Weekend Pass, which included early admission, could get it for $50. Weekend Pass holders got to attend any Thursday afternoon trading (I didn’t see anything going on other than setup), 3 hours of early entrance on Friday (though many vendors were setting up during those hours) and 1 hour early entrance on Saturday and Sunday. They were also treated to a Friday night cookout by the pool (I snagged some food but stayed at the bar with newly made pen friends). Tickets were only available at the registration desk and could not be purchased ahead of time. Still, good prices for general admission and a decent price for the VIP pass. Score - 8/10

*Friday night’s cookut for weekend pass holders and vendors is always a hit! (PC: Brad “the Bossman” Dowdy)*

Classes/Seminars

There was a free Fountain Pens 101 seminar on Friday afternoon, led by Lisa Vanness. There were also two paid classes this weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Both were writing classes (cursive handwriting and Copperplate calligraphy). I would’ve liked to see more non-writing classes or seminars, but having any seminars/classes is better than none! Score - 7/10

Nib Worker Availability

Considering this wasn’t a huge show, there were still quite a few nib workers to work their magic on your pens. Need nib work done? Well, you came to the right place! There were 6 nib workers at this show (in first name alphabetical order) and that didn’t include those at Franklin-Christoph.

Damien Alomar of All in the Nib
Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
Mark Bacas of Nib Grinder
Matthew Chen of Matt’s Nib Works
Mike Masuyama of Mike It Work
Pendleton Brown of Pendleton’s Pens

The nib workers were spread out between the three ballrooms. I was particularly excited to see Mark Bacas, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, and to meet Pendleton Brown, whom I had heard about throughout the years. Score - 10/10

*Kirk Speer taking a closer look at a customer’s nib.*

*Mr. Mango Chutney himself, Mark Bacas the Nib Grinder.*

*Matthew Chen inspecting his work while sitting next to Mike Masuyama (I don’t know how I forgot to get a picture of Mike!)*

*Pendleton Brown is quite the character! He had pre-ground nibs available and also tuned/ground pens purchased from him.*

Overall sense/vibe

As I mentioned before, there are three different rooms for this pen show. The makers room is a small room and ends up being very crowded, especially with the ever-popular Vanness Pens table. The other two rooms weren’t as crowded but all the rooms had their HVAC challenges. Some rooms were stuffy and hot, while others were borderline freezing. It feels a little weird to have so many rooms to go through and I can imagine getting overwhelmed quickly, especially if the small room was the first room you went to. The large room felt very spacious and probably would’ve benefitted from having a few folks move over from the small room. The Southest Pen Collectors Club had friendly volunteers who checked in on vendors all weekend and were available to answer questions for attendees.

On the vendor side, while I don’t have sales numbers or anything, I think most vendors did a decent amount of sales, but it definitely felt much slower than the only other Atlanta show that I went to in 2019. Sunday was REALLY slow, with the show ending at 5pm but most vendors started packing up at 3:15. It was pretty much empty by 4:30 pm that day. Other than getting kicked out by security, the after hours vibe was strong. It probably helped that a certain OG Pen Addict was in attendance (his first show in 2 years!), but it was still going on the rest of the weekend after he left. Lots of pen people hanging out at the bar, on the couches, by the restaurant. People passing pens around and enjoying each other’s company. Good times indeed. I’m not sure it was anything the show did per se that made it such a fun and friendly vibe, but I had a great time seeing friends I hadn’t seen in 2 years (including the Bossmand himself) as well as finally meeting some Pen Addict Slack friends in real life.

*I love this picture of Not Brad (Mike Matterson) with Not Mike (Brad) who often get called the other person’s names.*

This one is tough to score because of the slightly odd 3 room layout, the inability to gather late into the night and the somewhat slower pace/lower attendance. But the fun times with new and old friends, that really made up for it. Score - 7/10

Food

As mentioned above, there is a restaurant and bar that serves food, though I didn’t have any meals here. I heard their pizza was pretty good and the food they made for the cookout was fine. The hotel is next door to a Waffle House, and there are a few food options nearby. Across the street, you could go to a Publix supermarket (where I got yummy sushi a couple times), sandwich shop and Japanese restaurant and on the other block, there was a good pizza/brewery where I ate dinner twice. And there was a Starbucks at the corner too, so my caffeine needs were met. Even though there weren’t that many options, it was nice being able to walk across the street to get something other than hotel food. Score - 7/10

After hours/socializing

I enjoyed my time hanging out at the bar, at the couches or at the tables near the restaurant. Aside from vendors (and I guess I count as one), I think most of the attendees were local-ish (as in within 1-3 hours driving distance), though there were some that drove 6-9 hours to go to the show. I’m not sure why there were so many people that traveled to this show – maybe it was the allure of seeing Mr. Pen Addict himself? Maybe it was the fact that this was the first Atlanta show in 3 years? I don’t know but it was a great group of people to hang out with after the show was done for the day. I didn’t care for how they kicked us out of the bar area, especially since this gal is used to being up til 2am at pen shows, but that’s about the only major ding on this score. Score - 8/10

*Brad (left) and his groupies on Friday night - where are all the pens?*

*Ah, that’s more like it! Some serious pennage going on, including some very fancy stir sticks!*

Other

The Atlanta Pen Show is typically held around the first weekend in April, which is often right around spring break as well as The Masters golf tournament. Meaning, flights to the show can be expensive and airport lines can be long (thank goodness for TSA Pre). The weather can also be unpredictable this time of year. In 2019, there was a crazy thunderstorm on Saturday night. This year, it was very windy on Thursday - my bumpy plane ride ended with some fishtailing upon landing and several friends who drove to the show mentioned that it was not a pleasant drive fighting the wind. With this past Sunday being Palm Sunday, the attendance was pretty slow all day so vendors packed up a couple hours early.

As far as I know, there weren’t any thefts at the show but I did hear of two folks who tried to steal some inks at the Vanness Pens table. Apparently, one of them was a known person who has stolen from vendors at this show in past years. As disgusting as I find this behavior in our community, it was nice to see vendors rapidly spreading the word to other vendors and keeping an eye out for each other.

There were no mask requirements for the show. I would say maybe ¼ of the folks (both vendor and attendee) wore masks during the show and even fewer during after hours. As the COVID pandemic continues to evolve in different ways in different places, I will continue to comment on my observations on masking, while not making any judgments or impacting scores unless it affects the show in some way. I still prefer to mask as much as I reasonably can, but my mask also came down a bit more when hanging out with people I knew. Just stay safe and do what works best for you, while respecting that others may not feel the same way you do. Alright, enough about that. 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 2022 Atlanta Pen Show scored 73/100, which sounds like it’s lower than all the raving I’ve been doing about the show. For me, a lot of it boiled down to the location which wasn’t a big destination, was expensive to travel to, and the hotel was not close to the airport. The hotel kicking folks out of the bar area by turning off the lights without warning was the other kicker. Despite that, I had a great time, met and hung out with a lot of people, and still managed to do some damage to my wallet. Still, it really was a great show and I can’t wait to come back next year.

Not gonna lie, I squealed when I heard his voice, then hugged the Bossman and told him how good it was to see him after 2 years, and thanked him again for taking a chance on me. Then I got some dust in my eyes and had to walk away cuz someone was cutting onions or something.

Pen Show Haul - Inks from Vanness Pens, Cheerio Waterbus Pennonia Ink from Inkdependence, Franklin-Christoph 46 and 46L, Carolina Pen Company Charleston, and two Narwhals (New York and the Pen Show Exclusive) from Dromgooles. Not pictured are the 6 pens I had ground by Mark Bacas, Matthew Chen and Mike Masuyama.

Also not pictured are the selfies with pen friends I hadn’t seen in two years as well as meeting several Pen Addict Slackers for the first time. All in all, a great weekend with pen friends old and new! My wallet may be empty but my heart is full. Until the next pen show (which would be Chicago next month for me), stay safe and stay inky!

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Pen Shows.

2022 Baltimore Pen Show Recap and Report Card

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.*

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.*

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.