Is This The Dc Pen Show Everyone Talks About?

[hatedmind]

for 2018

http://baltimorepenshow.com

??? I have convinced the wife to attend the washington DC pen show this year, the one I hear is super gigantic etc etc. I am not sure if this is it, last years DC pen show was in August?

 

 

[Parker51]

No, this is the Baltimore show. It is smaller and takes place in Maryland, not Virginia. It is a good show to attend however, especially as a first show.

[rutherfordr]

That's the Baltimore pen show, which will be held on the first weekend in March this year.

 

The Washington DC pen show is held in the summer.

 

According to the web site, there will be over 80 exhibitors at the Baltimore pen show this year. It is smaller than the Washington DC show, but it's still a lot of fun.

[TheRealMikeDr]

That's not the famous DC show - you can tell because they have the actual dates listed for the show

[FarmBoy]

Don’t know if DC has released the show dates.

 

San Francisco has and it is closer for me. I already have my travel booked!

[inkstainedruth]

That's not the famous DC show - you can tell because they have the actual dates listed for the show

 

Snerk.

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[rutherfordr]

That's not the famous DC show - you can tell because they have the actual dates listed for the show

 

Yup. And the location, too.

[inkstainedruth]

Hmmm. Just looked last night at the Baltimore show website. Really tempted, since I'm not going to MS this year, and I think it's the weekend before my husband is loading the truck to go down to MS (so we woudn't have to juggle finding cat sitters).

OTOH, I'd have to find someplace else to stay -- the hotel rates are higher than I ever paid for DCSS in the old Tyson's Corner location.... Even the last year I went, when the convention rate rooms were sold out.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

Hmmm. Just looked last night at the Baltimore show website. Really tempted, since I'm not going to MS this year, and I think it's the weekend before my husband is loading the truck to go down to MS (so we woudn't have to juggle finding cat sitters).

OTOH, I'd have to find someplace else to stay -- the hotel rates are higher than I ever paid for DCSS in the old Tyson's Corner location.... Even the last year I went, when the convention rate rooms were sold out.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Part of the 'deal' with the hotel for use of the ballrooms and facilities most likely includes a minimum number of 'room nights' that the show needs to meet as part of the contract. The hotel will likely view any event as an income stream and the show guarantees a minimum. The minimum is a sum of revenue streams such as food and beverage, room nights, parking, equipment rental, facilities fees, etc. Fall short of the minimum and you make up the difference. Long winded way of saying I understand that one can almost always find a better room rate than at a show hotel but staying at the hotel actually helps support the show in a very substantial way. AND most hotels that can handle a 125+ table show are not inexpensive venues.

 

[inkstainedruth]

Part of the 'deal' with the hotel for use of the ballrooms and facilities most likely includes a minimum number of 'room nights' that the show needs to meet as part of the contract. The hotel will likely view any event as an income stream and the show guarantees a minimum. The minimum is a sum of revenue streams such as food and beverage, room nights, parking, equipment rental, facilities fees, etc. Fall short of the minimum and you make up the difference. Long winded way of saying I understand that one can almost always find a better room rate than at a show hotel but staying at the hotel actually helps support the show in a very substantial way. AND most hotels that can handle a 125+ table show are not inexpensive venues.

 

Well, when the "show" rate is more expensive than what I paid per night at the three years I went to DCSS.... I can pay for a hotel room on site, or I can buy pens/inks/paper. And frankly, I'd rather do the latter. If I was actually a dealer, then yes, paying for a room on site would definitely make sense. But I'm not. I'm just an attendee.

This year, because I'm NOT doing the 20 hour drive to southern MS the following weekend (between freezing my butt last year and "Gulfnado" the year before -- and with not a whole lot of whole of "my share of the profits" to show for it before last year except for a laptop in year 8 when I put my foot down, I'm kinda happy NOT to be in a car for 20 hours each way), I can actually GO to Baltimore (and without juggling about cat sitters for the weekend).

Instead, I'm staying someplace that is about a 10 minute walk (depending on if it's walking weather in Baltimore in March, that is; the only other time I was ever there was in the summer, and I learned where NOT to eat in the neighborhood of the Walters Gallery on a Sunday... ). I do seem to remember some discussion about parking but apparently in a different thread; my husband said if necessary I should just take a cab back and forth -- that it might be cheaper in the long run.

The current plan is that I'll be there for Friday, and possibly Saturday morning (I have to be back in Pittsburgh on Sunday for a baby shower). Looking forward to the show (especially since there are some dealers who will be new to me).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

 

ETA: Nope, I'm wrong about the comment about parking -- it was on the show's website, and I've just sent out mail to the organizer asking for details.

Edited February 4, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[pen tom]

That's not the famous DC show - you can tell because they have the actual dates listed for the show

 

hahaha, good one