Impressions Of The San Francisco 2015 Pen Show

[piblondin]

I consider myself a fountain pen novice, and maybe that puts me in the minority here. I got my first few fountain pens in 1999, but it wasn't until the past few years that I've made fountain pens my primary writing instruments. I use them, primarily a Lamy 2000, for everything, and so does my fiancée, to whom I gave a Safari a couple years ago as an introduction and a Rotring 600 and a Pilot Vanishing Point more recently. I love the experience of writing with my 2000 and when appropriate, I evangelize about it and the joys of writing with fountain pens. With that said, I don't consider myself a collector or an enthusiast. I use fountain pens because I like using them and because I like having and using things that I consider well-made and aesthetically pleasing and modern. I like the many different inks available and the subtle differences between them when they hit paper. I like knowing the history of the different pens that I use. I like different notebooks and papers.

 

For the past two years I've attended the San Francisco Pen Show, put it on my calendar and looked forward to it for months. I did not like it, and I do not think I will attend it again. Unfortunately, I don't think it's for me, and I wish there was something that involved pens and paper and pencils that was. Each year, I've gone to the show with expectations of discovering some new pens or vendors that appeal to me, finding good deals, getting some pens adjusted, and learning some new things. The results on these have been quite mixed.

 

I had been interested in Franklin Christoph's pens for the past couple months--particularly the Model 20. I was glad to have a chance to try the different nibs in person and to handle their different pen bodies. Unfortunately, I did not find the nibs or the pens to be to my taste. At least, I now get to stop thinking about or considering their pens. I had also been hoping to see a Lamy Persona in person. Fortunately for my wallet, I didn't like it either. However, there are other pens I was hoping to see and didn't find: Diplomats, Lamy Dialogs, Rotrings, Pilot Fermos, and the Hermes Nautilus. (That last one is my holy grail pen, which I don't think I'll ever get because its price is just insane. Its twist mechanism and design are incredible, though.) For the most part, I find the pens sold at this show to be incredibly ugly. Where are the modern, sleek designs? Why does Lamy have such a small presence there? What about Rotring?

 

We brought a few pens that we wanted examined and adjusted. Unfortunately, it seemed like Mike Masuyama was the only person actively working on pens at the show, and by the time we arrived at 11 am, he was already booked for the weekend. Fortunately, Joel, from Ink Pen was extremely nice and helped my fiancée with some flow problems in her pen and adjusted the tines on my Dialog 3. It would have been great to have had easier access to someone who could grind/sand nibs, though.

 

The ink testing stations were great. 500 inks to sample in one place?! That was pretty awesome. I didn't take much advantage of it because I'm pretty stuck on Visconti Blue, Aurora Black, and Asa-Gao at the moment, but I really appreciated it and wish I could spend more time testing that many inks in the future.

 

The customer service from various vendors was uneven. As I mentioned, Joel from Ink Pen spent some time advising us on pen issues, and that was great. But others weren't as helpful. I asked one vendor if he had any Diplomat pens, and he said no. I then asked him if he knew anyone on the floor who might; he said, "No," and turned away from me. Another vendor who was only selling ink didn't have an answer when we asked if she had the Iroshizuku blue-gray ink. I figure, if all you're selling is ink, maybe you should know your colors. She clearly didn't and similarly ended our conversation abruptly. I mean, it would have taken her 30 seconds to look up the blue gray ink on Google, but she didn't and lost a sale. We asked another vendor who was selling loupes if she had a sample we could see, and she said she didn't. Sorry, but she was selling $5 loupes and had several. Why not open one to use as a sample?

 

I do wish that there was a greater emphasis on paper goods at the show. I think it could draw a nice mix of vendors. Instead, there were only a couple vendors selling the standard Rhodia fare for prices that were slightly above market rates. In general, I just didn't think the deals available at the show compared favorably with the market. E.g. the one person I found selling Lamy 2000s was asking $160. Iroshizuku bottles were going for $28 and $13 for the small ones. The Lamy Persona I found was $200. All of those prices are pretty easy to beat both online and at my local paper store.

 

Finally, I found the general tone of the show to be earnest and frumpy. There was nothing chic about the attendees, the room, the show's branding, the goods for sale, or the overall experience. (Seriously, the free giveaway was a fanny pack?!) That was disappointing because I think this subject actually could be cool. See, for example, http://magazine-b.com/en/lamy-2/ The current format is really insular and tough for people like me get excited about. I hope the show improves next year, but, I'm not sure how realistic that is, given my criteria. Did anyone else see the show as a missed opportunity?

Edited August 31, 2015 by piblondin

[lsmith42]

So, I know about shows like BaselWorld, which are very slick since the manufacturers with major marketing dollars work to get corporate buyers.

 

Joel and his sister are great, I agree.

 

Since I think you sound like you have some experience with this, what would you have done differently?

 

That's an honest question, since I'm a big fan of doing what can be done for the hobby as well.

[piblondin]

I'll need to spend more time thinking about this, and I would love to hear others' thoughts on the subject. Here are some quick suggestions for improving the show, off the top of my head:

 

1) Move the location to San Francisco. It's currently at an office park hotel about 30 minutes south of the city, which requires travel by car and is quite isolated on weekends. It's convenient for vendors who fly in to SFO from out of town and not at all convenient to the attendees who drive 30-60 minutes each way to get there. As a result, the show attracts only the most hardcore and dedicated fountain pen fans because one has to make a specific and not insignificant effort to attend. It's not like there are other things to do in the area. Moving the show to the city would make it more convenient to attend, more attractive to sponsors, and more likely to draw a more casual audience.

 

2) Replace attendance revenue with sponsorship revenue. Go after small sponsorships from $500 to $2,500. This isn't difficult to do, and sponsors could range from national vendors to local shops to larger corporates, such as Moleskine, MB, Lamy, Evernote, Pilot, Adobe, Clairefontaine, etc. More sponsorship dollars could allow the show to do away with the admission fee, which is also a gating factor to attracting the more casual FP users.

 

3) Diversify the range of vendors. There are too many vendors focused on vintage pens. Get more people who will work on pens. Get more people who sell paper goods. Have more sponsors with onsite presences.

 

4) Develop more local partners, who can co-market the event, including some who will also have onsite presences. This could include Arch, CCA, SFAI, Flax, Renegade Craft Fair, Rare Device, Needles & Pens, Little Paper Planes, etc.

[Oldtimer]

I noticed less enthusiasm and photos on IG from this show than from the DC pen show. Is it because it followed a better one? I have never attended any of these and I am looking forward to one closer to me but unless in need to see something I cannot get on the internet for a better price, I don't see why i should go attend one yet. It has to come to me. OK, I am older, so I don't travel well anymore, there has to be a good reason to go now.

[piblondin]

Another minor thing, and I may have missed this, is that there should be a program that explains which vendors are located where and who they are, what they specialize in, etc.

[ac12]

 

Another minor thing, and I may have missed this, is that there should be a program that explains which vendors are located where and who they are, what they specialize in, etc.

 

 

There was, and it appears that you indeed did miss it.

 

There was a Show Information Board located between the 2 entrances into the showroom.

This board was just under 3 feet x 4 feet, so I do not think that it was a small easy to miss board, yet it apparently was.

 

On the board among other things were:

• Seminar Schedues; both tuition and free
• Room Layout /map
• Vendor List and assigned table number (to link to the layout)
  In many case, there was barely enough room for the name, especially when the vendor only had 1 table, or 2 small vendors shared a table.
• Local Places to eat, outside the hotel.

note1 - I have been to other hobby shows, and none had a room layout map, nor a vendor list. I was totally on my own.

 

note2 - I have been to professional shows/conferences, with $2,000+ registration fees. And even there there things were not too much better.

- Vendor lists are constantly moving, vendors dropping out, new vendors being added, all this right to the week of the event. So any list that you have is already outdated.

- Room layout at some/many events also change constantly; vendor A drops out so vendor D wants the booth that vendor A had, vendor E want a BIGGER booth, so you have to move other vendors H,J and P, to make a larger contiguous booth, vendor K need power which they did not specify when the reserved the booth (not all booths are provided power), vendor M decides they want to something 'different' and needs significant reconfiguration to accommodate them. and on, and on, and on ....

- Graphics layout, printing, shipping and collating require significant lead time.

 

note3 - Some people choose to not read the information they want, despite it being clearly available.

I was told that some/many people wanted to be TOLD the seminar schedules. They did not want to walk over to the Information Board to read it for themselves.

I have dealt with this general problem in every company that I have worked for, and have personally not been able to find a practical universal solution.

Edited August 31, 2015 by ac12

[piblondin]

 

 

There was, and it appears that you indeed did miss it.

 

There was a Show Information Board located between the 2 entrances into the showroom.

This board was just under 3 feet x 4 feet, so I do not think that it was a small easy to miss board, yet it apparently was.

 

On the board among other things were:

• Seminar Schedues; both tuition and free
• Room Layout /map
• Vendor List and assigned table number (to link to the layout)

  In many case, there was barely enough room for the name, especially when the vendor only had 1 table, or 2 small vendors shared a table.

• Local Places to eat, outside the hotel.

note1 - I have been to other hobby shows, and none had a room layout map, nor a vendor list. I was totally on my own.

 

note2 - I have been to professional shows/conferences, with $2,000+ registration fees. And even there there things were not too much better.

- Vendor lists are constantly moving, vendors dropping out, new vendors being added, all this right to the week of the event. So any list that you have is already outdated.

- Room layout at some/many events also change constantly; vendor A drops out so vendor D wants the booth that vendor A had, vendor E want a BIGGER booth, so you have to move other vendors H,J and P, to make a larger contiguous booth, vendor K need power which they did not specify when the reserved the booth (not all booths are provided power), vendor M decides they want to something 'different' and needs significant reconfiguration to accommodate them. and on, and on, and on ....

- Graphics layout, printing, shipping and collating require significant lead time.

 

note3 - Some people choose to not read the information they want, despite it being clearly available.

I was told that some/many people wanted to be TOLD the seminar schedules. They did not want to walk over to the Information Board to read it for themselves.

I have dealt with this general problem in every company that I have worked for, and have personally not been able to find a practical universal solution.

 

Yes, there's a push/pull dichotomy here in terms of how to get people the information. With that said, I didn't feel like this was deficient in any significant way. Would have been nice to have printed programs or something more robust on the website, but that's the least of my concerns.

[ac12]

 

 

I'll need to spend more time thinking about this, and I would love to hear others' thoughts on the subject. Here are some quick suggestions for improving the show, off the top of my head:

 

1) Move the location to San Francisco. It's currently at an office park hotel about 30 minutes south of the city, which requires travel by car and is quite isolated on weekends. It's convenient for vendors who fly in to SFO from out of town and not at all convenient to the attendees who drive 30-60 minutes each way to get there. As a result, the show attracts only the most hardcore and dedicated fountain pen fans because one has to make a specific and not insignificant effort to attend. It's not like there are other things to do in the area. Moving the show to the city would make it more convenient to attend, more attractive to sponsors, and more likely to draw a more casual audience.

 

 

For us locals, find a good SF hotel with reasonable parking rates.

10 years ago, it was $40 a day. Today, I would guess $50+ a day.

Sofitel was only $5 a day (1 in-out cycle).

 

Have you ever tried to drive into SF during the week? It can be pure HELL.

In the 1 year that I worked in SF, I took CalTrain, because I would ride by 101 and regularly see it at a dead stop.

Once I had to drive into SF during the week, and it took me 1 hour to go from Army Street into downtown. NEVER AGAIN by car during the week. But of course for my nephew I ended up into the city again, 30 minutes to go 2 blocks.

 

For casual audience, I imagine, #1 is distance, at least it is to me. This is aside from my point about SF above.

If you are in the valley, SF is a LONGER drive.

If you are in the north bay, RWC is a LONGER drive.

So, what is good for one, is not good for another.

 

[stevesurf]

We brought a few pens that we wanted examined and adjusted. Unfortunately, it seemed like Mike Masuyama was the only person actively working on pens at the show, and by the time we arrived at 11 am, he was already booked for the weekend. Fortunately, Joel, from Ink Pen was extremely nice and helped my fiancée with some flow problems in her pen and adjusted the tines on my Dialog 3. It would have been great to have had easier access to someone who could grind/sand nibs, though.

 

I did not attend the show, but when I heard that John Mottishaw was not making it, I knew that Mike Masuyama would be swamped and most likely unable to do on-the spot tuning. I'm so glad that Joel helped you out, though.

 

I know I sound like a "broken record" and I mentioned this a few times on FPN, but it would be wonderful if there were an easier way for show onsite nib tuning to happen, without all the begging, pleading, early arrival, etc. that goes on. It's just my opinion, but I believe the four things a pen show needs are:

 

1 A wide range of pens for sale to appeal to many tastes, both vintage and modern

2 Pen and nib tuning done during the show so long distance and international visitors can take their pens back with them

3 Inks - sale and sampling

4 Paper and pen peripherals and cases, etc.

 

I even believe it is possible to build in a travel subsidy to the cost of a show ticket to encourage nib tuners to attend. Maybe it is as simple as a "Nib Tuning Pass" that gives you some credit off a future pen repair and the proceeds allow you on a "priority list" for on-site tuning.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm happy to see the amazing pens purchased at the show and hope to send in some of my Montblancs and Watermans to Mikeitwork someday.

[piblondin]

 

 

For us locals, find a good SF hotel with reasonable parking rates.

10 years ago, it was $40 a day. Today, I would guess $50+ a day.

Sofitel was only $5 a day (1 in-out cycle).

 

Have you ever tried to drive into SF during the week? It can be pure HELL.

In the 1 year that I worked in SF, I took CalTrain, because I would ride by 101 and regularly see it at a dead stop.

Once I had to drive into SF during the week, and it took me 1 hour to go from Army Street into downtown. NEVER AGAIN by car during the week. But of course for my nephew I ended up into the city again, 30 minutes to go 2 blocks.

 

For casual audience, I imagine, #1 is distance, at least it is to me. This is aside from my point about SF above.

If you are in the valley, SF is a LONGER drive.

If you are in the north bay, RWC is a LONGER drive.

So, what is good for one, is not good for another.

Sure, I'm assuming that the audience we would want to go after would be concentrated in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Driving to the city during the week is a pain, I've done it when I lived in Mountain View and worked in SF. Driving there on the weekend isn't bad, but again I'm assuming an urban concentration among the audience. Also, why would the show have to be at a hotel? I think Fort Mason would be a good option.

[ac12]

 

 

Yes, there's a push/pull dichotomy here in terms of how to get people the information. With that said, I didn't feel like this was deficient in any significant way. Would have been nice to have printed programs or something more robust on the website, but that's the least of my concerns.

 

I will agree that the web site wasn't kept as up to date as it could have.

And that is one of the items the we will take a valid feedback.

 

But not being a web guy, I have NO idea what it takes to actively maintain a web site.

[piblondin]

 

I did not attend the show, but when I heard that John Mottishaw was not making it, I knew that Mike Masuyama would be swamped and most likely unable to do on-the spot tuning. I'm so glad that Joel helped you out, though.

 

I know I sound like a "broken record" and I mentioned this a few times on FPN, but it would be wonderful if there were an easier way for show onsite nib tuning to happen, without all the begging, pleading, early arrival, etc. that goes on. It's just my opinion, but I believe the four things a pen show needs are:

 

1 A wide range of pens for sale to appeal to many tastes, both vintage and modern

2 Pen and nib tuning done during the show so long distance and international visitors can take their pens back with them

3 Inks - sale and sampling

4 Paper and pen peripherals and cases, etc.

 

I even believe it is possible to build in a travel subsidy to the cost of a show ticket to encourage nib tuners to attend. Maybe it is as simple as a "Nib Tuning Pass" that gives you some credit off a future pen repair and the proceeds allow you on a "priority list" for on-site tuning.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm happy to see the amazing pens purchased at the show and hope to send in some of my Montblancs and Watermans to Mikeitwork someday.

Steve, I totally agree with you. I think tuning the show a little bit to shift more of the revenue to sponsorships would help in many ways and allow it to focus more on attendees. Then the vendors will want to be there for the attendees, and the organizers can have more leeway in negotiating with them. It seems like having more access to onsite nib and pen work would be a big sell and really incentivize people to go for functional experience beyond the softer community stuff that would only be available in person.

[piblondin]

 

 

I will agree that the web site wasn't kept as up to date as it could have.

And that is one of the items the we will take a valid feedback.

 

But not being a web guy, I have NO idea what it takes to actively maintain a web site.

 

Set up a Squarespace account, and share the responsibility for maintaining it among the organizers.

 

Is the implication that the other points aren't "valid feedback"?

[ac12]

 

 

 

I did not attend the show, but when I heard that John Mottishaw was not making it, I knew that Mike Masuyama would be swamped and most likely unable to do on-the spot tuning. I'm so glad that Joel helped you out, though.

 

I know I sound like a "broken record" and I mentioned this a few times on FPN, but it would be wonderful if there were an easier way for show onsite nib tuning to happen, without all the begging, pleading, early arrival, etc. that goes on. It's just my opinion, but I believe the four things a pen show needs are:

 

1 A wide range of pens for sale to appeal to many tastes, both vintage and modern

2 Pen and nib tuning done during the show so long distance and international visitors can take their pens back with them

3 Inks - sale and sampling

4 Paper and pen peripherals and cases, etc.

 

I even believe it is possible to build in a travel subsidy to the cost of a show ticket to encourage nib tuners to attend. Maybe it is as simple as a "Nib Tuning Pass" that gives you some credit off a future pen repair and the proceeds allow you on a "priority list" for on-site tuning.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm happy to see the amazing pens purchased at the show and hope to send in some of my Montblancs and Watermans to Mikeitwork someday.

 

No idea is a dumb idea.

Ideas have be poured onto the table to be looked at, sorted and sifted, discussed, argued (for and against), built upon, etc.

Out of 2 less than good ideas, might come a single GREAT idea.

So keep them coming.

 

 

If you have an idea. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, put as much meat behind the idea as you can. Explain what you mean, how might it be done, etc.

This is the internet, it is all printed words. What you write, I may read and interpret differently, and another person might read and interpret yet another way.

 

There is an old saying that the United States and England are two countries separated by a common language...English.

Now cut to internal to the US, common language of English but, different generations, different cultures, different occupations, etc. and communication gets even more difficult.

Example, I was at work explaining something to one of my co-workers and she said "shut up." I was so insulted and ticked off at her that I almost threw her out of my office. As it turned out, it was a generational thing. To her "shut up" did not mean to SHUT UP and stop talking, but seemed to mean something so different that to her it was "eye opening" in concept or information. I was still insulted by the words, but I grudgingly accepted her different use of the term.

[pepsiplease69]

Getting some time with a nib meister like Mike Masuyama has always been difficult.

 

Last year I had my name since friday and managed to get only a portion of my pens done on the tail-end of sunday.

 

This year I registered with Mike early friday, at around 8-9am and got my chance the same day.

 

I heard Dallas show has an extra day after the show where Mike stays onsite to work on the nibs. Maybe something like that can be setup the monday after the show at our normal pen-posse hangouts at Peter's Cafe?

 

This year I had to take back to Mike one of my Pelikan M215's that I had to send home with him last year. It was still needing a bit of tweaking. So having work done onsite is the best thing.

 

And lastly, I think its a very tough job for Mike physically to be hunched over his tools non-stop from 9-10 am till 5-6pm with no lunch, no meals. I saw how he was walking away from his booth to go to the restrooms, all physically cramped and needing a stretch. I feel for the guy.

[piblondin]

How would people feel about allowing attendees to register for onsite work in advance, at least for Mike? I, as a more casual FP user, can devote maybe 2-3 hours of my weekend to the show. I can't go on Saturday and then return on Sunday.

 

I'm curious to know more about the structure of the organizing group. ac12, anything you can share?

[dms525]

There's a bit of a "different strokes for different folks" aspect to this conversation, but I will focus on shared concerns:

 

1. People differ in their preferred mode for acquiring information. Two thoughts for easier location of vendors: 1. Set up the registration desk more explicitly as an information desk also. Pen Posse folks were certainly accessible for guidance (think missiles) when approached, but maybe there could be a big sign over a table saying, "INFORMATION." 2. Encourage the vendors to have better signage. Consider 6 or 8-foot sign posts behind each vendor. Not a cure for studied, deliberate incompetence, but maybe helpful.

 

2. I had the leisure (3 days) during which I could get Michael to grind 6 of my nibs, but he definitely maxed out. He ended up taking one of my nibs back to LA to do and mail to me. John Mottishaw did not do more than minor nib adjustments on his own wares last year, and he didn't attend this year. Pendleton attended 4 years ago, but not for the last two shows. There are several younger people now doing nibs and building good reputations, some of whom might be tempted to come to San Francisco, if invited and incentivized (What an awful word!). It is my impression there was enough work to keep 4 or 5 nib technicians pretty busy.

 

3. I thought there was a fairly reasonable balance of new and vintage pens. Clearly, the OP feels new pens were under-represented. I was a bit disappointed that YAFA didn't come. I wonder what it would take to encourage some additional vendors or distributors to attend and show/sell their brands. (Not my area of expertise!)

 

Those are a few thoughts for now. If others occur to me, I will release them into the wild and hope some learn to survive.

 

Oh, yeah. One more thing. Personally, I think it was a great show! There's always room for improvement,

 

David

[stevesurf]

How would people feel about allowing attendees to register for onsite work in advance, at least for Mike?

 

It's an excellent idea, and I would even prepay via PayPal to be given the commitment if I could drop off a two or three pen limit to receive them by the end of the show.

 

This wouldn't cause any more work by the organizers and the nib tuners could just simply reply to PayPal requests to pay whether they can accept pre-orders or not, if they are fully booked.

[FarmBoy]

I'm curious to know more about the structure of the organizing group. ac12, anything you can share?

What would you like to know? I have a bit of familiarity with the group.

[ac12]

 

How would people feel about allowing attendees to register for onsite work in advance, at least for Mike? I, as a more casual FP user, can devote maybe 2-3 hours of my weekend to the show. I can't go on Saturday and then return on Sunday.

 

I'm curious to know more about the structure of the organizing group. ac12, anything you can share?

 

I was told to keep the internal show operations off the main boards, and I understand why, so I can't say much.

 

I can tell you that my own incentive to help the 2014 and 2015 shows are selfish. I live in the SF Bay Area, and going to the LA show for a retired person like me is financially too much, I would rather spend the travel money on pens. If I want the SF show to continue, and I dang well wanted the SF show to continue, the SF show had to succeed. So if I could do anything to help it succeed, I will and did.

 

If you live in the Northern California, SF Bay Area, join us at one of the SF Pen Posse meets in Millbrae.

Come with an open mind and lots of time to talk. It may take a few meets to talk to everyone, but you will enjoy the group, we are a nice bunch.

Then you can volunteer to help with next years show, like I did.