2022 Pen Show Recap & What’s Next for 2023

(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 was fortunate enough to attend 10 pen shows in 2022 and thought I’d try to distill 10 recaps’ into a single TLDR article (yeah, I’m skeptical about the length too, lol). As you may recall, I decided to make a “report card” for the 2022 pen shows so I could more easily compare them which helps you make informed decisions about future shows you may want to attend.

As a reminder, the 10 categories are Size, Location, Hotel, Tickets, Classes, Nib Workers, Overall Vibe, Food, After Hours, and Other. If you want more info on the individual shows, you can search for 2022 show recaps. I’ll go through each category, pick my favorites and any notable mentions and in the end, I will crown my top 3 shows.

Size

I’ve said it before that Size is a bit of an unfair category since larger doesn’t always mean bigger and smaller doesn’t mean bad. That being said, if you’re looking for a lot of vendors and attendees in a big venue, then DC and SF are your two biggest shows. But if you want a less intimidating experience, I highly recommend Philly, Colorado and Baltimore.

Bigger: DC and SF Smaller: Philly, Baltimore, Colorado

Just a small part of the madness that is DC.

Toyooka Craft was a huge draw at the SF Show.

So good to see Lisa Vanness at the Philly Pen Show.

Location

Another highly subjective category is location, since a city may be more interesting to me but less interesting to you, or easier to travel to, etc. For me, #1 is a no-brainer with the SF Pen Show. Yes, it’s my home show so it’s easy to travel to, but there are so many things to do/eat/see in the Bay Area that it’s tough to compete. #2 would be DC for similar reasons.

1. SF
2. DC

Honorable Mentions: LA, Chicago

Hotel

I mostly ignore actual hotel rooms and instead focus on the hotel’s proximity to airports, common areas, layout for the show as well as cost.

1. SF - fairly close to the airport, lots of vendor areas and classrooms as well
2. CHI - Cool atrium area for post-show hangouts, too bad it’s a bit far from airports and Chicago itself

Honorable Mentions: BWI and Dallas had good space at good rates (though others did too)

Dishonorable Mention: DC - Take this with a grain of salt since they had major renovations at the hotel this year, resulting in a disjointed experience for after hours, not to mention, a small area for food/bar, reception and also not the best location for vendors who were situated downstairs.

Tickets

Prices ranged from $5 per person to as much as $65 for a one day, but overall, prices were around $20-25/day, and weekend passes were an added value too. Some shows added a VIP package which included other bonuses like special lanyard, extra shopping time, etc.

1. Colorado
2. STL

Honorable Mentions: Dallas, BWI

Dishonorable Mention: LA If you could only go to LA for one day but not on the one public day (Sunday), you’d have to fork over a whopping $65. BUT, their rate for Sunday is a very reasonable $10.

Lots of vendors at the STL Show!

Classes

I love the number and variety of classes offered at both SF and STL this year and wished show organizers would arrange more classes and seminars.

1. SF
2. STL

Honorable Mentions: BWI, CHI

Nib Workers

All the shows I attended had at least 1 nib worker and one show had as many as 9?! There was definitely demand for nib workers in 2022 as the pandemic had people piling up their pens waiting for grinds and tunes.

1. DC (9)
2. BWI (8) - though I could argue that 8 may have been too many given the size of the show
3. SF (7)

Anabelle Hiller of Appelboom Pens is checking her nibs at the DC Pen Show.

Overall Vibe

Crowded? Chill? Frantic? Shopper’s paradise? Friendly? Every show has a different feel to it and there are days where I’m all about the madness and shopping and other times when I want a more relaxed experience so I have time to talk to vendors and friends.

1. SF - Not a surprise that this show is often called “The Fun Pen Show” and I definitely have a lot of fun here, whether it’s shopping or hanging out with friends during after hours.
2. BWI - A well-run, medium-sized show that has a little bit of everything including a “share the wealth” table and a fun after-hours scene.

Honorable Mention - CO - This may be a small show but it is easy to feel the sense of community here!

Stationery meetup before the SF Show.

Food

Closely tied with hotel location, food is high on my list of priorities for pen shows! Hard to beat Chicago and LA with its variety of options within a short walk across the way!

1. Chicago, LA (tie)
2. SF and Philly (tie)

Soup Dumplings at Din Tai Fung across from the LA Pen Show is a must!

After Hours

By far my favorite part of pen shows, the After Hours scene is not to be missed at some of these shows! If you were there, you know how much fun was had!

1. SF - I rarely “close down” a late night hang, let alone two nights in a row. Gotta train more for this year’s show!
2. BWI - Lots of fun with friends, lots of places to hang out.

Honorable Mentions: STL and CO

Dishonorable Mention: ATL - Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast hanging out with friends in Atlanta. I did not, however, have a blast getting the lights turned out with 15 seconds of notice before midnight and nowhere to go afterwards.

Me and the Bossman having a grand ol’ time at the SF Pen Show!

Lots of pens and inks and drinks at one of the tall tables at BWI.

Atlanta After Dark with the Bossman and friends was great, until they literally made it dark!

Other

I don’t even know how to compare this one because “Other” means different things for different shows! No surprise, I had a blast at SF because of all the vendors, attendees, activities before, during and after show hours. But did any other show besides Colorado, have a falconer and Owlfred Hitchcock?!? And what other show has a whisk(e)y tasting? Or does any other show have just ONE public day and make their vendors move every day?

1. SF (you know I was gonna say this)
2. Chicago - I don’t like whisk(e)y but it’s always a blast to watch and folks are sharing snacks too! And the Thursday night pizza party is always fun!

Honorable mention - CO - Great show for lots of reasons but Owlfred takes the cake!

Dishonorable mention - LA - Please don’t make me rehash why.

Whisk(e)y tasting led by Mario Campa at the Chicago Pen Show.

Owlfred Hitchcock was amazing at the CO Show!

As a reminder, here’s the final report card for my 2022 pen shows:

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

Do the scores accurately depict my favorites? For the most part, yes, but as I’ve said many times before, the scores are very subjective and some “low” scores are due to smaller size which does not mean it’s a bad show. I have thought about what it would take for a show to get a score of 100 and it is pretty darn impossible for any of these shows to get there without a significant change like different hotel or location or size. That said, most of the shows out there are solid shows and I will always say that a “not great show” is still better than “no show”.

So what were my top 3 shows?

1. SF - No surprise to anyone, SF was my favorite show. So much so that I’ve already decided not to work that show so I can enjoy it even more.
2. BWI - Really tough call but I always have such a fun time at this show! It’s a great size, a lot of my friends go to this show due to its proximity to DC, and it’s really conducive to quality time during and after show hours.
3. CHI/PHI/DC - To be honest, I’m not sure how to pick #3 since so many shows are within mere points of each other, so I picked the shows that I had the most fun at.

Honorable Mentions: CO and STL

Even though LA was a standout disappointment for me in 2022, I still had a great time and found a lot of cool pens and products. I am VERY curious to see how it will play out in 2023 as the LA Show organizer was unable to secure a hotel and different organizers have stepped in to produce the California Pen Show in its place for 2023. It will be interesting to see how the show does in 2023 and what will happen to either/both shows in 2024.

For 2023, I will continue to do pen show recaps but will not be using the report card system unless it is a show I did not review in 2022 or if there was something significantly different that changes what I said about it last year. Hope you’ve enjoyed my recaps and report cards last year and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store! I hope to see you at a pen show this year! Until then, stay inky, my friends!

2022 Colorado Pen Show - Recap

(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 just came back from what is likely my last show of this year and I’m glad I spent it at the Colorado Pen Show. Every show has a vibe which I try to capture through pictures and lots of words and this show is no different. While it is difficult to capture a show’s vibe in just one word, it’s easier for some - fun, overwhelming, busy, chill, big, etc. What’s the word that describes the Colorado Pen Show? Read on to find out.

This was the first time I spent time working with John and Carol Gillett from Luxury Brands of America (LBA). They are the distributors behind brands like BENU, Platinum, Waldmann, Dee Charles, ColorVerse, Girologio and more. I was only supposed to help out with setup and tear down but I ended up helping out most of the weekend.

Size

The Colorado Pen Show is a small show with ~24 vendors. I heard from folks that it was smaller than their last show, which was 2019. They had a virtual show in 2020 and had to cancel the 2021 show at the last minute due to hotel issues. For context, the most recent Dallas show had 58 vendors and I considered that somewhere between small and midsize. But smaller doesn’t mean there wasn’t good shopping to be done! Once again, Dromgoole’s came with a good variety of pens, paper and inks. LBA and Kenro Industries were there representing their brands and the rest of the folks were a mix of vendors like Ryan Krusac, Joel Hamilton, Nik Pang, Grifos Pens, Colorado’s own Kirk Speer of Pen Realm, and more.

Welcome to the Colorado Pen Show!

Always good to see Ryan Krusac, one of the show sponsors, and his beautiful pens.

Brian Weaver of Ironfeather Creative showing off his beautiful creations.

Dan Keller of Good Made Better with Quinn while Graham was doing the scavenger hunt.

Dan demonstrating how he likes to use his new lap desk.

The Karas Kustoms team with their goods including…

This pen show exclusive Vertex, cleverly named the Colorado Pen Show Vertex.

The show is open on Friday from 4pm - 8pm, Saturday from 9am - 5pm and Sunday from 10am - 3pm. This is one of the few shows where Friday morning to early afternoon is devoted to classes, allowing vendors to take their time setting up (or even arriving on Friday morning) and not have to worry about classes competing with sales. As I mentioned above, I helped LBA with their setup but I was done by 2pm so I was able to do most of my shopping before the show opened.

First time that Luxury Brands of America brought their ink testing station since the pandemic started!

Larry Dromgoole with his wife Christine (to his left) and local ink slinger Jesi Coles (in the back) were busy all weekend.

Cary Yeager of Kenro Industries had several new pens to show off including the recently released Esterbrook Estie Maui…

And this Estie Oktoberfest (great, now I want a pen AND a beer!)

I love these amazing popup cards from Roses without Thorns!

Colorado is the smallest show I’ve attended (though there are a bunch that I haven’t been to), so it’s going to get a lower score than the larger ones. I hate giving it such a low score but that’s the only way for me to differentiate it from larger shows. Score: 5/10

Location

The Colorado Pen show is 16 miles (20-30 minutes) west of the Denver International (DEN) and about 10 miles (15-25 minutes) northeast of downtown Denver. DEN is a hub for United and I believe for Southwest as well, so it’s fairly easy to get to.

I’m in Colorado several times a year because my in-laws live up in the mountains of Summit County (about 80 miles and 1.5 hours west), so I can attest to how great it is for outdoor activities year round. In Denver, there are also several major sports teams including the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rockies (despite my best efforts, my son is a Rockies fan and not a Giants fan) and the recent Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche. The weather this past weekend was pleasant and warm, though it did start to cool down a bit on Sunday (with frost expected Sunday night). Score: 7/10

Hotel

This is the first time the Colorado Pen Show was held at the Embassy Suites Denver Central Park (don’t let the name fool you, there is no park here, lol). The pen show was located in primarily one ballroom with the registration table and Joel Hamilton’s tables just outside the ballroom. There was also a small ballroom that was used for classes.

Pen Posse folks at the registration table with Joel’s tables in the back.

The ballroom during setup hours.

As with many of the Embassy Suites, the rooms are all along the perimeter of the hotel, so the middle is open from floor to roof. The central downstairs atrium houses the restaurant/dining area. The hotel included breakfast (which I heard was pretty good, but as usual, I ate oatmeal in my room) and a late afternoon happy hour. There were lots of places to sit near the bar, though the staff was slammed all weekend. They had us move out of the area immediately next to the bar ~10pm, though they still served alcohol . The central atrium wasn’t very well lit and it also had a big light which changed colors so we needed to bust out our phones to look at pens and inks up close.

You can see that the atrium was dimly lit, except for that one huge color-changing light.

As the name implies, all of the rooms are suites, which were nice and roomy, albeit a bit dated. I definitely needed it for all the stuff I brought and would buy. It was also convenient for making oatmeal in the morning as well as sitting down on the couch to relax in the evenings. There is free daytime parking at the hotel and $9 overnight parking, which is very reasonable. The room rate was $129/night which is about average for pen show hotels. Score: 8/10

Tickets

Tickets were $5 per person, free for kids, which is one of the lowest prices for pen show tickets. There are no weekend passes, nor early access. As mentioned above, the show hours were Friday 4pm - 8pm, Saturday 9am - 5pm and Sunday 10am-3pm. Score: 10/10

There was a line of 30+ folks waiting to get in on Friday!

Classes

There were 4 classes on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. In addition to handwriting/calligraphy classes, I really liked that they also had a fountain pen-friendly paper class and a pocket journal making class. Considering a show of this size, I think this was a good amount of classes. I think a Fountain Pens 101 or Pen Shows 101 seminar would be a nice addition early Friday afternoon before the show starts. Score: 7/10

Michael Sull taught Spencerian and Flourishing classes and also spent the weekend writing people’s names on cardstock. So mesmerizing to watch!

Nib Workers

There weren’t a lot of nib workers at this show; in fact, there was just one - Kirk Speer of Pen Realm, the local favorite. I know Kirk was busy all weekend long as his signups were full at least a week before the show and he tried to squeeze in walk-ups.

Kirk was swamped all weekend grinding and fixing nibs.

The Speer family were all there helping out this weekend.

Pen Realm had an impressive display of pens and also bargain ink bins (Jesi and I may or may not have elbowed each other to get to the inks, lol.)

Given that there hasn’t been a show here in 3 years, a lot of people had pens that needed work, not to mention wanting grinds and tunes for new purchases. I think the show would benefit from having at least one more nib worker since there was definitely demand for nib work. Score: 6/10

Overall Vibe

You know how I said some shows are fun (maybe you think of SF and Baltimore) or overwhelming (DC) or large (SF, DC) or confusing (LA), etc? Well, the word that stood out to me for the Colorado Pen Show isn’t “small”, even though it is a small show. It’s “community” - no doubt about it, the feeling of community starts from the very beginning to the very end. Show organizer Ed Capizzi is always at the ready with answers, solutions, open arms and receptive ears. When they ran out of rooms in the show block, Ed not only put me in touch with the hotel agent’s direct line, he also followed up with me several times to make sure I was taken care of. When he realized I was helping out LBA, he came by to check if he needed to get an extra lunch plate (and no, not because I eat a lot, lol). Ed also did his fair share of Pen Show Uber and helped make sure people got rides to/from the airport - he even volunteered to wake up stupid early on Sunday to take Cary to the airport (I’m definitely not that nice). In addition to Ed’s tireless efforts, there is also the Colorado Pen Posse who was supporting the show all weekend. Other shows also have pen groups that help out at their shows but the turquoise-shirted posse peeps were everywhere! They routinely roamed the room to check with vendors to see if they needed a break, water (which is critical when you’re at mile high elevation), or someone to help out at the table when they were swamped.

I managed to snap a picture of Joel just after Ed got the whole ballroom to sing Happy Birthday to him! He looks great for 72, doesn’t he?!

The show also had door prizes donated by various vendors and also quickly put together a scavenger hunt for kids - their prize was a Platinum Preppy of their choice - I think we gave out at least 20 Preppies! It’s a great way to get kids into pens and also to distract them from all the shopping their parents are doing! Score - 8/10

Kids loved roaming the show to check off all the items!

Ed announcing the winner for stuff donated by Goods Made Better (Quinn drew the tickets!)

This lucky winner won a beautiful pen from Ryan Krusac!

Food

As I mentioned above, the hotel has breakfast included and also has a hosted happy hour (and a half). There was a decent amount of variety and the food was pretty good at typical hotel prices. I had the pulled pork and apple pie for lunch at the show and they were tasty – especially the dessert. If you didn’t want to eat at the hotel, then you needed a car (or a Lyft) because there isn’t anything within walking distance, unless the House of Dankness across the street counts (which it doesn’t, cuz their products will just make you hungrier, lol).

There are a lot of options within a few mile radius and more if you drive 20 minutes to downtown Denver, there is a whole plethora of food to choose from. Nearby, I went to Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria for delicious Cuban food which was not too far from Target and another night I went to a great Mexican restaurant as well. I would’ve liked more options closer to the hotel, but it’s just hard to find a place to eat if you’re not local to the area. Score - 7/10

These tacos from Cuba Cuba were so tasty!

After Hours

The hotel has happy hour from 5pm-6:30pm and everyone is ready to kick off the socializing! Even on Friday, when the show ended at 8pm, most folks stuck around the hotel to eat and got to listen to Michelle Malizaki do some standup comedy! Afterwards, folks moved to the area next to the bar, which was the only place that had decent lighting. Unfortunately they kicked us out of that area around 10pm, but folks moved into the tables in the atrium and moved tables and chairs so folks could chat and play with pens. The bartender and server were friendly but they were definitely swamped all weekend.

Michelle Malizaki works for Maruman by day and is a standup comic by night!

After-hours wound down before midnight, probably because a lot of folks had to drive home each night. I’m using to hanging out until stupid hours of the night but it was also nice to get a decent amount of sleep for a change. As always, I had the best of intentions for taking pictures during the hangouts but I was too busy enjoying hangout time to do so. Fortunately, Sue Beck (who also worked at the Pen Realm table this weekend) didn’t forget to take video of after hours pen fun! Score - 8/10

It was great hanging out in the brightly lit area near the bar. In the IG reel, you can see how much darker it is in the atrium.

The atrium was a decent place to hang out until the sun went down - it’s still lit pretty well in the late afternoon.

Other

Even though it is a small show, the Colorado Pen Show had a steady flow on Friday and Saturday and even a decent flow of people on Sunday. As I said before, a lot of people have missed going to a pen show since the last Colorado show was 3 years ago and I think a lot of people made the time to get to the show, even if they couldn’t stay the whole weekend. Sometimes “small shows” can mean “low sales” but many of the folks told me they had good sales this weekend and that is always good to hear.

Something did happen on Friday that put a damper on things though – a few vendors noticed that one or more pens had disappeared from their tables. After we found out about the theft, I hung around the LBA table for the rest of the weekend so I could help keep an eye on things too. One of the vendors decided to set up their camera phone on Saturday and the thief was bold (and crazy) enough to come back and take some more pens! When the vendor noticed a pen was missing, they watched the video and told other vendors to keep an eye on the guy while he called 9-1-1. Several vendors confronted the guy as he headed to the parking lot while a bunch of pen posse folks surrounded him until the cops showed up. They watched the video footage, took statements from the affected vendors, cuffed the guy and took him away. Some of the pens that were taken on Friday were still on him, as well as pens that were taken on Saturday. Thankfully those items were returned to their rightful sellers but a few items weren’t recovered. (Note: because the case is still under investigation, I am not naming names.)

While I absolutely hate that this happened, I and everyone there were glad and relieved that he was caught. It was heartening to see vendors coming together to keep an eye on each other. And the pen posse stepped up their efforts to help keep an eye on things - in several cases, if tables got busy or if a vendor needed to look for inventory, a pen posse member would stop by, without even being asked.

And for a complete change of topic, tell me what other pen show has a falconer?!?! Yes, that’s right, the Colorado Pen Posse has a member who is a trained falconer (who handles more than just falcons) and introduced us to Owlfred Hitchcock, an awesome name for this Great Horned Owl! Debbie gave a quick talk about owls, falconry in general, and even how some of the English colloquialisms came from falconry (did you know that “being fed up” came from birds not being as easily trained once they are full, i.e. are fed up?). Definitely a highlight of the show!

Debbie and Owlfred Hitchcock.

Owlfred’s feathers are so soft!

I talked about Ed a bit earlier but one thing I really appreciated and loved is that he and his wife Leslie hung out with folks every night. And not just a little bit, but for many hours after the show. In fact, he was one of the folks I was with til the very end on Sunday night. Being a show organizer is a tough job but he kept repeating how much he loves it because it’s all about sitting around and enjoying the people, the community. The Colorado Pen Show was all about community and it shows. Score - 9/10

So lucky to spend time with pen friends, old and new!

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 Colorado Pen Show scored 75/100, which is largely due to it being a small show. I had a good time all weekend, even if late nights weren’t as late as at other shows. Another nib worker or two, maybe one or two more classes/seminars, and some closer food options (or a list of nearby options) would’ve boosted the show to the next level.

My not-so-modest haul included a Parker Duofold Centennial, Rotring Lava Mechanical Pencil, Sheaffer Desk set, the set of Platinum Preppy Wa series 2, Esterbrooke JR Pumpkin, Colorverse Country Roads, Space Needle, Long Trail, 3 inks from the Kingdom Series, Krishna Jungle Volcano/J Herbin Orange Soleil/Pelikan Edelstein Golden Beryl from Kirk Speer’s bargain inks bins and Colorverse Butterfly Nebula.

I’ve waited 2+ years to finally take a selfie with my 3 John’s from Colorado Pen Posse! So happy to finally get this shot!

Colorado was my 10th pen show of this year. I left with a much emptier wallet but a much fuller heart. I’ve gotten plenty of pens and inks from shows this year and I’m ready to hunker down until 2023 pen show season! Until then, stay safe and stay inky!

2022 Dallas Pen Show Recap

(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 feel like I keep saying every show was a whirlwind, but this one really was a whirlwind! Why? Because not only is the Dallas Pen Show a 2-day show (most shows are 3 days, occasionally 4), but that first day is a doozy. Read on to see what I’m talking about.

Like other shows, I worked behind the Franklin-Christoph table. Both days were fairly busy with Saturday traffic a bit lighter so I was able to walk around a little bit.

Size

I would classify the Dallas Pen Show as somewhere between a small to medium-sized show. With 58 vendors listed on their website, it is similar in size to this year’s Atlanta and Philly shows, but smaller than medium-sized shows like Chicago. Contrast that with shows like SF and DC which had 100 and 170 vendors, respectively, and it is definitely on the small side. But smaller doesn’t mean there wasn’t a good variety of vendors though! There were both modern and vintage vendors, large and small vendors alike. No surprise to anyone, Dromgoole’s (from Houston, TX) had an impressive spread of tables, which rivaled that of small brick-and-mortar stores and Retro 51 (from nearby Richardson, TX) drew a lot of customers as well. Many of the distributors were on hand as well - Coles of London, Kenro, Luxury Brands, Pilot, Taccia.

The last time I attended this show was in 2019 and while there were a good number of attendees both days, it felt like there were more people in 2019. As I mentioned above, the show is only open for two days, Friday and Saturday. Friday hours were from 10am-8pm. Yeah, you read that right, that’s a 10 hour day, not including setup time prior to opening. Saturday hours were 9am - 5pm. The show is not open Sunday, which is a good thing for vendors because the very long Friday definitely takes its toll. Thankfully, it never felt swamped for too long so I was able to check out some of the other tables during the show.

A quick peek at the main ballroom.

This Montegrappa Bijo-To-Yaju is definitely not something you get to see everyday, let alone up close and personal like you can at a pen show!

Turn around after looking at that Montegrappa and you’ll see the stunning Space Odyssey set from S.T. Dupont!

Monopoly, anyone?

Need your knives sharpened? Stephen Howell of The Sharpest Edge had all the gear to sharpen your knives and he also does engraving too!

A tray of beautiful Nahvalur Pens (formerly Narwhal), including the new Tiger Nautilus.

Dromgoole’s newly released Retro 51 Unity & Promise collectors set.

Nice to see folks from Meteksan and Scrikss who traveled all the way from Turkey.

Don’t stare at these sapphire eyes too long or you’ll be hypnotized into buying this Montblanc Agatha Christie from Jimmy Dolive!

These are some neat metal pens from Only Made Once.

Dallas is one of the smaller shows and as such, it’s going to get a lower score than the larger ones. But don’t let the lower score fool you, there was still plenty here to see, try and buy. Score: 7/10

Location

One of the few shows located in the city for which it is named, the Dallas Pen show is 15 miles (20-30 minutes) east of the Dallas/Fort Worth airport (DFW) and about 10 miles (15-25 minutes) north of Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL).

I didn’t do a lot of sightseeing this time, but I did get a chance to check out Retro 51’s HQ and visit Tactile Turn also. I don’t know much about Dallas other than their sports teams (Sorry Cowboys and Rangers, I’m a 9ers and Giants fan), and I know there’s lots of other stuff to do and see, like a Six Flags Theme Park at nearby Arlington. But Dallas just doesn’t have a lot of draw for me personally, aside from the pen show (and nearby pen friends). That said, the show is close to two major airports and it is in a major city in Texas, so it’s easy to get to. Score: 7/10

Hotel

The Dallas Pen Show was held at the DoubleTree Hotel Dallas, Galleria. The pen show was located in two adjoining ballrooms, with the silent auction, Pen World and show registration desk outside. The first and smaller ballroom houses about 15 vendors, including Franklin-Christoph, Pendemonium, Shawn Newton Pens, and Toys from the Attic. From there, after going through a short hallway, you’re in the larger room where all of the other vendors were located. The larger vendors and distributors were along the walls with a variety of vendors filling up the middle aisles. The main room was oddly shaped, not one big square or rectangle but more of an L-shaped room.

The lovely ladies from Pen World Magazine are always so friendly whether you going in or out of the ballroom.

This is the small ballroom which greets you as you enter the show. I spent most of the weekend in that back left corner at the Franklin-Christoph table.

As you enter the main ballroom, this is your view if you look left.

And if you go down the aisle and turn left, you’ll see where Dromgoole’s occupied the whole corner of that ballroom. This was one of the rare moments when the corner wasn’t completely packed with people.

Next to Dromgooles were Mac, Adam, Richard, Jennifer, Alana and Jeff from Retro 51 .

There was a downstairs area where breakfast was served (I ate my oatmeal in my room though) but I don’t believe they served other meals down there when there weren’t catered events. The lobby is open and airy with high ceilings and there were lots of places to sit near the bar, though the staff was slammed all weekend.

I love the tall ceilings in this hotel which makes this seating area very open and relaxing.

The rooms are comfy and spacious. There is free parking at the hotel which is nice. The room rate was $95/night which was a great rate. It is one of the lowest rates for pen shows, which you don’t usually see for a big city like Dallas.

One of the other cool things about this hotel is that it is dog-friendly. It was awesome seeing dogs during the show! Score: 8/10

One of my “must-do” items for Dallas was meeting Kirby and get lots of kisses! She is such a sweetheart! I was happy to see Arielle/ToastyTreat too!

Tickets

Tickets were $5 per family, which I am pretty sure is the lowest price for pen show tickets. There are no weekend passes, nor early access. As mentioned above, the show hours were Friday 10am - 8pm and Saturday 9am - 5pm. Score: 10/10

Classes

There were four seminars, all held on Saturday - Tangles and Doodles with a Fountain Pen, Sketching with Fountain Pens, Basic Vintage Fountain Pen Repairs and Adding Flourishes to Handwriting. I think there is room for some more classes or seminars on Sunday as well, but 4 classes is pretty good for a small show like this one. Score: 7/10

Nib Workers

There weren’t a lot of nib workers at this show. There were 2 who could do nib grinds and a 3rd who tunes nibs but not grinds. Not included were Audrey Matteson and Mandy Reed from Franklin-Christoph who also tune and offer in-house ground nibs.

1. Danny Fudge of The Write Pen
2. Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
3. Matthew Chen of Matthew’s Nibworks

Matthew Chen was busy grinding and fixing nibs all weekend.

Matthew Chen was in the front ballroom and Danny Fudge and Kirk Speer were in the main ballroom. As far as I can tell most, if not all, of them were busy all weekend. Danny is known more for his vintage restoration work and does not list nib grinds as one of his services, though he does offer nib tuning. Given how many people were at the show buying pens, I think they could use at least another nib worker or two. Score: 7/10

Overall Vibe

As with all shows, there is the excitement and buzz heading into the show, but with Dallas it’s a bit different. The vibe for both vendors and attendees felt more like endurance and surviving the long first day. People wanted to conserve their energy because they knew there were many hours ahead, and then another day after that. So in the mornings and rush, there was the usual excitement from folks on both sides of the table, but whenever there was a lull, you can just tell that people were tired and resting before the next wave of customers.

Everyone was smiling and people were exuding that southern hospitality all weekend, even if they weren’t from the South. It was a combination of pen show buzz and chill so you could make it through the two days. Score - 8/10

One of the sweetest moments of the show was watching Audrey Matteson of Franklin-Christoph working on and explaining nib tuning to this little girl, whose dad just bought her a yellow Model 65. (I got his permission to take and share the photo)

Always good to see Shawn Newton having a good time (he told me I had to post this!)

Folks from the local calligraphy guild, Kaligrafos were writing people’s names in beautiful script.

They were also selling items made by their guild members.

A local pen friend dropped these off at the F-C table because when in Texas, you gotta make sure people eat! How’s that for southern hospitality!

Food

The hotel says that they have an on-site restaurant but I don’t think they were seating people downstairs for non-breakfast meals, but I’m not sure. They did serve food at the bar which was pretty good but maybe a bit more expensive than typical hotel food prices (like an average of $17 for a glass of wine). They had a small cafe that was open in the mornings and some snack items available for purchase behind the reception desk (in addition to the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie when checking in).

There were a few options near the hotel within walking distance including Taco Bell & Wendy’s across one parking lot and the Salt Grass Steak House on another side. Beyond that, you can find a lot of food options within a 15 minute drive. I had some amazing BBQ at Ten50, a tasty steak and “adult” mac and cheese at Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill (“adult” because this isn’t your kid’s blue box mac and cheese) and Korean rice bowls too. Score - 8/10

After Hours

Despite the long Friday show day, or maybe because of it, folks were ready to enjoy their Friday night. If you were there at closing, it was a scramble to go get dinner because everyone was tired and hungry. Then they were refreshed from dinner and hung out some more. I was at the bar until almost 2 am. I know I just said I wouldn’t do this again but I finally met an online friend for the first time in 4 years and hung out with others that I hadn’t seen in ages! Everyone was ready to enjoy their Saturday night, knowing that the show was over, so the bar was pretty happening. Leddy was the only bartender that night due to another event but she was great and took care of everyone as quickly as she could. The long Friday combined with the short show duration made any organized post-show gatherings difficult, but people still got together and had a good time.

The bar is like an oval shaped island that you could sit around and there were also tables and chairs all around. And beyond that, there were even more tables and chairs for more casual lounging/hanging out. There wasn’t any place inside the two ballrooms for people to hang out or try pens/inks, so having a lot of space in the lobby/bar made that a good place to take a break mid-show. Score - 7/10

The bar was busy both nights, especially on Saturday when there was another event at the hotel. Still lots of places to sit near by.

Other

I know I’ve said it a few times so what’s one more time - the long Friday show day is really, REALLY long. I get it, they’re trying to make up for it only being a two day show (I understand that adding Sunday is not an option, which is totally fine), but 10-8pm is absolutely brutal. While there were some attendees in the late afternoon and evening, many of us had time to walk around and check out other tables and socialize with other vendors who were also not busy. It may not seem like much, but ending it one hour earlier at 7pm would’ve felt a lot better and folks wouldn’t be so hungry/tired. The aisles between the tables had a decent amount of space but behind the tables was another story. It was barely more than the width of a chair, so maneuvering around behind the table, especially if you had table mates or inventory or both, was difficult. So a long day plus feeling cramped behind tables and it’s no wonder that vendors are exhausted at the end of Friday.

Saturday felt almost like a cakewalk by comparison because it ended at 5pm and most folks were done with their packing by 6pm, which left plenty of time (and energy) to enjoy dinner and the rest of the evening. Crowdwise, I would say both days were fairly similar; usually Saturdays are busier because people don’t have to take the day off work to attend. I talked to a fair number of folks who made a special trip since this is the only pen show in all of Texas.

I liked that this show had a silent auction just outside the entrance to the show. People were able to check out and bid on items at their leisure (the shows that have auctions are usually in-person, live auctions). Both the registration desk and the silent auction were staffed by the Dallas Pen Club - I love when the show works with their local pen club put on their show (and no, not all shows do this). Score - 8/10

Outside the ballrooms were tables set up for the silent auction.

I wonder how much this Retro 51 ended up going for? I didn’t bid on it but I bet you thought I did!

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 Dallas Pen Show scored 77/100, which was about what I expected. The ridiculously cheap tickets definitely helped the score, but even aside from that, it is a solid show. I had a good time, as did many of the vendors and attendees that I talked with. A few folks liked the longer but fewer days, but most of the vendors would’ve preferred three shorter days, or at a minimum, knock off an hour earlier on Friday. I’m sure the attendees didn’t really notice or mind the long Friday, but it may have impacted their after-hours experience. Still, I enjoyed the show from both sides of the table and definitely enjoyed meeting folks I had only known online.

My modest haul included the new blotter paper from Esterbrook, Robert Oster Campfire (second hand), the cutest little Delta Dolce Vita, an irresistible purple Franklin-Christoph 02, and Dromgoole’s Exclusive Retro 51s (Nine-Banded Dillo, Unity & Promise.)

Now that I’m caught up on sleep, it’s time to pay attention to some pens and relax a bit before heading to Colorado! Until then, stay safe and stay inky!