2017 Ohio Pen Show!

[TheRealMikeDr]

Just booked my rooms for Saturday Nov 4th - only a couple months away now!

 

I'm sure I'll see some of you down there - even if I don't know who you are.

 

Cheers!

[gweimer1]

I'll be there. It should be an interesting week. I'm also moving that week...again.

[Wolverine1]

I plan on going this year. But, it will depend on getting a ride, given my health issues I can no longer drive. The Ohio Show is a great show. It is not so big that you feel lost in it, and it has a cozy, intimate vibe. Plus, all the major vendors will be there.

[specialk0449]

I will be there on Thursday and will stay through Sunday. I have booked my room. It is a great show and I always look forward to it.

[Parker51]

I will be there.

[inkstainedruth]

Need to figure out accommodations -- the site hotel is too expensive for me, but the place I've stayed the past 3 years has turned into a poorly maintained and managed dump. So I need to start scoping out other places in the area (I day tripped OPS from Pittsburgh the first year I went, and that was a mistake -- I was completely exhausted by the time I got home, at 12:30 AM...).

Beyond that, looking forward to it. I always have a great time at that show.

Ironically, I was in an antiques mall in Fryburg, PA this afternoon (north of Clarion and east and a little south of Oil City) -- and had to laugh at the display they had of flyers for local attractions -- because someone had put flyers for OPS in one of the slots! [Not that there were any pens worth buying in the store -- just a few ballpoints and an Esterbrook dip pen with a rusty nib; although on a previous excursion to the place I found a 3/4 full pint bottle of Skrip Peacock!]

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Federalist Pens]

We'll be there! Back corner as in previous years!

 

Always a great show!

Stop by, and say Hello!

 

Frank

Fed Pens

[gryphon1911]

Need to figure out accommodations -- the site hotel is too expensive for me, but the place I've stayed the past 3 years has turned into a poorly maintained and managed dump. So I need to start scoping out other places in the area (I day tripped OPS from Pittsburgh the first year I went, and that was a mistake -- I was completely exhausted by the time I got home, at 12:30 AM...).

Beyond that, looking forward to it. I always have a great time at that show.

Ironically, I was in an antiques mall in Fryburg, PA this afternoon (north of Clarion and east and a little south of Oil City) -- and had to laugh at the display they had of flyers for local attractions -- because someone had put flyers for OPS in one of the slots! [Not that there were any pens worth buying in the store -- just a few ballpoints and an Esterbrook dip pen with a rusty nib; although on a previous excursion to the place I found a 3/4 full pint bottle of Skrip Peacock!]

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Check out the Airbnb app. My wife and I use it now exclusively over hotels.

[FrozenPen]

Looking at the show schedule - what goes on during the early Friday section (9 am - 1 pm)?

[Federalist Pens]

Looking at the show schedule - what goes on during the early Friday section (9 am - 1 pm)?

 

Dealer setup for the most part....

Also a chance for dealers to walk around- see their distributors/etc...

 

Frank ;-)

[FrozenPen]

Thanks - I'll drive down Friday morning then. Put the money saved on a Thursday night room towards a pen ;-)

[TheRealMikeDr]

 

Dealer setup for the most part....

Also a chance for dealers to walk around- see their distributors/etc...

 

Frank ;-)

 

That's also when all the "double top secret" pen sales and trades go down.

 

We'll be there! Back corner as in previous years!

 

Always a great show!

Stop by, and say Hello!

 

Frank

Fed Pens

 

I'll be sure to look you up! I may pull the trigger on the Orange Diplomat Aero you had at the DC Show.

[inkstainedruth]

Check out the Airbnb app. My wife and I use it now exclusively over hotels.

 

I'm a bit nervous of that. Staying in a regular B&B is one thing because they'll be registered and inspected and such. We stayed in a lot of B&Bs on our honeymoon, up in Nova Scotia (cheaper than some hotels, and if the place had three or fewer rooms they weren't required to charge the 10% provincial tax (this was pre-GAT). Plus, the people who ran them liked meeting people (or they wouldn't be in that business). But in the States, [regular] B&Bs are often a LOT more expensive than a moderately priced hotel.

And of course back then, I didn't have a laptop, and the camera was with me while we were sightseeing. At least at a regular hotel, you can put the "do not disturb" sign on the door.... Especially since odds are that I'll be by myself (I tried to talk my husband into going out to the Ohio show a couple of years ago, but he balked when he found out I was going to go out Thursday morning and hit the Heart of Ohio Antiques Mall, and this year I'm considering doing the 2 building place the next exit west from there, and then doubling back to go to the show -- I still have to check whether I will have another commitment for that weekend, which will mean I'd only basically be doing Friday and maybe part of Saturday).

Up until last year, the place I stayed was clean, comfortable, quiet, and had free continental breakfast. Last year? I had to switch rooms because the first one the heater didn't work (hello, November in central Ohio), and then discovered (too late) that the shower in the second room didn't work.... Plus, this place had outside stairs, and the concrete was in such bad shape that there were places it was just the metal treads, and I slipped and slid about halfway down the stairs -- I could easily have broken something, and it was pretty scary (and I have a bad back to start with). Corporate was like "well, we can give you a voucher for a free room nationwide" and my response was "Why would I EVER want to stay at one of your locations ever again?"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[gryphon1911]

 

I'm a bit nervous of that. Staying in a regular B&B is one thing because they'll be registered and inspected and such. We stayed in a lot of B&Bs on our honeymoon, up in Nova Scotia (cheaper than some hotels, and if the place had three or fewer rooms they weren't required to charge the 10% provincial tax (this was pre-GAT). Plus, the people who ran them liked meeting people (or they wouldn't be in that business). But in the States, [regular] B&Bs are often a LOT more expensive than a moderately priced hotel.

And of course back then, I didn't have a laptop, and the camera was with me while we were sightseeing. At least at a regular hotel, you can put the "do not disturb" sign on the door.... Especially since odds are that I'll be by myself (I tried to talk my husband into going out to the Ohio show a couple of years ago, but he balked when he found out I was going to go out Thursday morning and hit the Heart of Ohio Antiques Mall, and this year I'm considering doing the 2 building place the next exit west from there, and then doubling back to go to the show -- I still have to check whether I will have another commitment for that weekend, which will mean I'd only basically be doing Friday and maybe part of Saturday).

Up until last year, the place I stayed was clean, comfortable, quiet, and had free continental breakfast. Last year? I had to switch rooms because the first one the heater didn't work (hello, November in central Ohio), and then discovered (too late) that the shower in the second room didn't work.... Plus, this place had outside stairs, and the concrete was in such bad shape that there were places it was just the metal treads, and I slipped and slid about halfway down the stairs -- I could easily have broken something, and it was pretty scary (and I have a bad back to start with). Corporate was like "well, we can give you a voucher for a free room nationwide" and my response was "Why would I EVER want to stay at one of your locations ever again?"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

We've never had any issue with the place we've stayed via Airbnb. It is quite a good system. We've stayed at places all over the country and have always found the accommodations superior to a hotel and always less expensive.

 

You just have to do what you are comfortable with.

[trdsf]

I'll be there Saturday for sure, Sunday for maybe. Alas, my wallet is on fumes so it'll be mostly to wander around and look at things... I'll bring my camera and snap what I can, at least.

[inkstainedruth]

Most of my budget got blown earlier this year. So most of the discretionary funds are going to pen repairs. Although there are a few pens on my short list, if I can find them at decent prices. And I'm definitely in the market for a bottle of Ackerman Dutch Masters Stormachig Blauw....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[trdsf]

Yeah, I had a couple big ticket items this year, and the Ohio show always comes close on the heels of a convention that I haven't missed in over 25 years -- oddly enough, it's at the same hotel that convention used to be at -- so I haven't really had the opportunity to set money aside for this year. And now I can't find the one pen I wanted to bring to see if I could get it serviced.

[trdsf]

Had a good show despite the lack of funds to really go crazy with -- many samples, some parts for repair, handed my Doric over to Ron Zorn for restoration (it's a repair that needs to go back to the shop, not one he could have done there), and I got to meet Ruth!

[trdsf]

Oh, heck. I forgot what avatar I was using here. Ruth, no wonder you didn't think that looked like me, it isn't me. It's the late, great Ghoulardi! I thought I was using an image of me in the OVFF closing jam from '04.

[inkstainedruth]

Hah! Just looked up Ghoulardi and he sounds like Cleveland's answer to Chilly Billy here in Pittsburgh. Don't remember an equivalent host in the NYC area but apparently there was one at some point, on Creature Feature on WNEW Channel 5 (which back in the 1970s and 1980s was an independent station).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth