How many FP converts have you gained? How far have you gone to get someone to convert to FP?

In my case i let my friends try my pens while telling them how much more sophisticated and confident they will seem if they use FPs. Yes, i have stooped to that low, messing with their self esteem to get them to switch

I hope I don't go to FP hell for that

Oh no! There's a fountain pen Hell?

I'm so screwed.

Will

I take the "dealer" approach.. I give away Pilot Varsity pens. Let them get the feel for it, then they're "hooked."

Dad and I converted my boyfriend, I've converted one in my dorm. I'm converting another one for her birthday. And I'm doing a surprise conversion on my roommate when we come back from Spring Break. She's fascinated by my pens to the point where she'll get up and come over and watch me clean them. It's time for me to start her on her own collection.

I converted one of the guys I work with. I gave him an inexpensive pen I got off eBay. It was a huge thing; but, he was looking for a large pen. Then, I took in a copy of Stylus for him to peruse. He has visited a couple of the web sites from there. Now, he's talking about getting an international airline pilot friend of his to pick up some Chinese or Japanese pens for us the next time he flies to that part of the world. Conversion complete.

During the last LA show, two of my friends decided to come with my on Sunday because they were "bored". I spent about 3 hours giving them a tour and explaining as much about vintage and modern pens and their heads could hold, encouraging them to try pens and instructing them on how to use pens with respect. Neither would touch a pen during our tour as they were afraid they would damage something. At the end of the 3 hours, I had a previous engagement and had to leave the show but encouraged them to look around and ask ask ask questions.

The last time I saw them was in front of Kevin's table... everyone was happy, or so I thought...

3 more hours passed and I receive a voice mail from each of them. They both stated that I was an evil person and suggested I might "burn somewhere" in an afterlife... Come to find out, they had EACH purchased an urushi DaniTrio from Kevin... AS THEIR FIRST PEN !!!

Flash forward 3 weeks... each has now used their pen every work day, they are now into purchasing ink... and now one of them is looking at a second urushi pen.....

MHAHAHAHAHAHHA

Our postmistress has to wear braces on her wrists for repetitive stress problems. I noticed she was having trouble writing with the standard issue BP. I smoothed up a couple of fountain pens for her: one F and one M nib. She is not allowed to accept gifts from the public, so she got them at a rock bottom flea market price. Says they help a lot.

Paddler

Never really tried to 'convert' someone. I figure that trying to lead someone is going to be a lesser path than them finding FPs themselves. Not to say that I haven't given some people pens and shown them my collection but that's as far as it has ever gone.

Kurt

I'm working on a few people at work. I gave two ladies in my office inexpensive Hero pens with the funky curved nibs. Mixed them up some purple ink (I would never use it, but they love it). So far, so good. Next up is a fellow who's doing great work for me on a creative project. I figure to reward him with beer and maybe a Pilot 78G.

I won't consider this a true success until they buy their own pens and ink. Still, it's a start.

Eb

In my case (total newbie to FPs and to FPN) it's who converted me! My lifelong best friend (50 years this year) took a calligraphy class when we were just out of college. She's had a simple Platignum beginner's pen since then (c. 1965) that she uses with Pelikan 4001 black ink. The ink is a big deal to her and she has discussed it with me a number of times.

In 1999, with her encouragement, I decided I could "teach myself" some calligraphy. I bought an inexpensive set of Sheaffer's pens, nibs, and ink cartridges. I actually bought several sets over time and have those ink cartridges out the wazoo. I got some books, seals, sealing wax (had used it years ago), and a light tray-type box which I used to address the envelopes for my wedding invitations.

I kind of put everything away in a box for a long time, but recently decided I want to do something more with the calligraphy. The Sheaffer calligraphy sets have a fine nib, but it's not fine enough for my handwriting. So I started hunting around on the internet and voila! I found FPN! I just wanted to lurk, but right away needed to do some searches and couldn't do them without "joining." That was about 5 days ago and, uh oh, I am thoroughly HOOKED now.

This is going to be big trouble. I right away went down to a local pen store, just to look, and came out with a too-cool blue Lamy Pico pen for my purse (I can’t stand signing credit card slips with “public” pens). Now I've developed a wish list which includes a Binderized Pelikan M200 in blue marble, Lamy Al-Star in the new raspberry color coming out this summer, Waterman Ici et La, and two Caran d'Ache numbers - the Dunas in blue and the Ecridor XS Chevron. I do realize it's the nibs that "make" calligraphy, at least I think that's correct based on my FPN reading, but right now I just want beautiful and fun pens for regular writing, with fine or extra fine nibs.

The irony is - my friend is now more interested than ever in pens and is asking my advice on what to get next. Talk about the blind leading the blind...

One. I'll go so far as to give someone a Varsity. If I'm feeling generous and like the person, maybe a Pelikano.

Give the candidate a FP and a pad of nice paper to try it on. If she is taken with the experience then let her keep the pen. Otherwise, forget it. I don't think there's any point in trying to persuade people.

I thought that I had converted my niece. At first she really took to the Pilot Petit1 pens I'd gotten her. But somehow she eventually lost track of them. I'm thinking I need to get her a more serious pen that she'll take better care of (the clear plastic of the Petit1's almost makes them look disposable).

I've tried unsuccessfully to convert a few adults. What seems to put them off is the fact that a fountain pen needs attention--you can't just leave it for a few months with ink in it and expect that it'll just start writing. There's that "labor of love" that needs to be had... cleaning the nib, flushing the feed, refilling the ink... you can't feel like it is a burden if you want to embrace using fountain pens.

Still spinning my wheels on the home front

Last night, I asked my husband what he thought about fountain pens (since he has yet to buy me one he chose himself and my birthday is coming up... ). He replied that although his favourite pen is his late grandfather's black Parker 51, it's "just a pen"....