Is The Washington Dc 2019 Pen Show Happening?

[shawnee]

Room is booked. Deadline is out the window. Coming in sometime Friday after lunch. Wondering if I need to pack the paperbag to breath into so I don't hyperventilate. You know, the usual . . .

[SpecTP]

I'm going to try and get in early to the thursday session too

[Ana_]

Just landed in DC!! #excited

[Barry Gabay]

Arriving Friday morning. Will set up as soon as possible. Bringing newer Montblancs, OMAS, Sailors, & Sheaffers, vintage Parkers & Sheaffers, plus many other fountain pens I no longer want to keep. Please assist this worthy elderly gent in eliminating his clutter. Bring lots of loot. Social Security cost of living increase ain't what we feeble folk had expected. See you there, if I can see at all.

[SpecTP]

things came up and I'm missing today's visit. will try again tomorrow.

[shawnee]

Okay, can someone give me a reality check?

 

I'm now panic packing pens and I'm not sure if I'm being an idiot or not.

 

This is what I've done:

 

1) Packed 4 cheap Sheaffers as dip pens for ink

2) Brought a Sailor Silver for Mike to adjust

3) Brought all my hard rubber Watermans in the hopes that someone has pity on me and gives me advice on what to do with them

4) Brought 2 x Parker 51s that I absolutely want to get restored

5) Brought 2 x Sheaffer Snorkels that are on my list next to restore although I am not a big Sheaffer fan (yeah, I don't know what I'm doing either...)

6) Brought a Marathon filigree lever fill that is right after the Parkers in terms of wanting restored as well as a vintage Parker Duofold

 

I will obviously bring my journal and a couple of my currently inked pens for making notes in my satchel.

 

What am I missing except for food and water? LOL.

 

xo

shawnee

 

 

[SpecTP]

Okay, can someone give me a reality check?

 

I'm now panic packing pens and I'm not sure if I'm being an idiot or not.

 

This is what I've done:

 

1) Packed 4 cheap Sheaffers as dip pens for ink

2) Brought a Sailor Silver for Mike to adjust

3) Brought all my hard rubber Watermans in the hopes that someone has pity on me and gives me advice on what to do with them

4) Brought 2 x Parker 51s that I absolutely want to get restored

5) Brought 2 x Sheaffer Snorkels that are on my list next to restore although I am not a big Sheaffer fan (yeah, I don't know what I'm doing either...)

6) Brought a Marathon filigree lever fill that is right after the Parkers in terms of wanting restored as well as a vintage Parker Duofold

 

I will obviously bring my journal and a couple of my currently inked pens for making notes in my satchel.

 

What am I missing except for food and water? LOL.

 

xo

shawnee

 

 

 

you probably won't get thru all those pens. I usually manage to get about 3-4 pens worked on. you'll have a great time playing at the ink stations though.

[shawnee]

 

you probably won't get thru all those pens. I usually manage to get about 3-4 pens worked on. you'll have a great time playing at the ink stations though.

 

Most of them I'm bringing just as a jumping off point to talk to repair people. If I get my one Sailor nib fixed, I'll be happy. My bigger problem because I'm a relative newbie is that I don't know who's best to fix Parkers, or Snorkels, or hard rubber pens, or another type and/or brand. I'm hoping by bringing the ones that I'm most interested in having repaired first, I might find someone who will take a couple of them away to fix and ship them back to me. They are all more than just nib tweaks or grinds unfortunately. If they all come home with me then that's fine, too. They are good teaching tools for me to have conversations. This will be my first time with real in-person contact with other pen nerds. I think the husbot is relieved that there are other people who have to listen to me talk about pens for a change. LOL.

[FOUR X FOUR]

Yes, you can attend the Thursday session, but you have to pay the $45 or $60 - whatever it is nowadays.

 

Erick

45 to 60 dollars to attend a pen show? Not a chance. That’s just crazy.

[langere]

You're right. You can go Saturday/Sunday and only pay $9.00

 

I'm going Saturday...

 

Erick

[TheRealMikeDr]

45 to 60 dollars to attend a pen show? Not a chance. That’s just crazy.

 

It is crazy. As a side note - I know of someone who went on Friday last year and just walked into the main ballroom to wander around for an hour - without paying - and nobody said a word. I'm not advocating that - but if you simply want to wander around and get the lay of the land it can be done. Of course you will need to and want to pay for access on Saturday/Sunday.

[shawnee]

Okay can I just say that I thought I walked the entire show yesterday and I STILL didn’t find everyone. Lol. They need better maps and signage. I basically walked around in a daze. I didn’t even buy a pen yet! Instagram has been my friend. Also freezing. Also must stop writing in short sentences.

[Jackson]

Does anyone know if there’s a Pay It Forward table this year? I have a bagful of goodies...

[Tasmith]

Does anyone know if there’s a Pay It Forward table this year? I have a bagful of goodies..

I believe at the Pen Collectors of America table.

[Tasmith]

Okay can I just say that I thought I walked the entire show yesterday and I STILL didn’t find everyone. Lol. They need better maps and signage. I basically walked around in a daze. I didn’t even buy a pen yet! Instagram has been my friend. Also freezing. Also must stop writing in short sentences.

Ditto on the signage. Some vendors didn't even have business cards.

[Tasmith]

Had a good time there today.

 

Looked like a great turn out.

 

Only bought a couple of items that I can't get locally, Wing Sung 618 and a Rhodia No. 16 Ice note pad. Said hello to some vendors I know.

 

The Washington Calligrapher's Guild has a table where one of their members will write out a name in Copperplate. Had her write my 2 1/2 year old grand nephew's name thinking not only does it look awesome, but it may spark an interest in calligraphy or just good penmanship in the future.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Tasmith

[MightyEighth]

Okay can I just say that I thought I walked the entire show yesterday and I STILL didn’t find everyone. Lol. They need better maps and signage. I basically walked around in a daze. I didn’t even buy a pen yet! Instagram has been my friend. Also freezing. Also must stop writing in short sentences.

To the right of the entrance to the small room was a posted alphabetical listing of vendors with table numbers. Next to that was a table map with names and table numbers. It was not 100% complete but I found it useful.

 

I spent Friday and Saturday at the show and enjoyed it very much, including filling some holes in my collection. Despite the 2017 situation and continuing imperfections, this show has a lot of life in it.

 

Marc

[TheRealMikeDr]

Ditto on the signage. Some vendors didn't even have business cards.

 

Some (maybe most) vendors aren't businesses. They're just people who like pens and enjoy selling (and buying) them at shows. A pen show isn't a Trade Show or Business Convention. They were started by pen collectors who wanted to get together to trade/buy/sell pens and grew from there. As such you really shouldn't attend one with the expectation that there will be proper marketing or signage or things of that nature.

[CraigN]

2019 D.C. Pen Supershow Notes

Note: In my working background I spent about 8 years as a technical writer. Now that I am retired my writing skills have deteriorated
somewhat. I wish I wrote in a more conversational style, so please bear with me as you read this.

Friday, after dropping our dog at the kennel, we drove just over an hour to the Fairview Marriott. Check-in was early and easy. Our assigned
room was a 'corner executive king' which didn't mean much to us, but the room was nice. As we didn't have weekend passes, we skipped the pen
show activities and headed for the pool. The pen show rate was unmatched by AAA and other rates. In the past this included a couple of
breakfast passes per day. This year, the front desk explained to us that there would only be on pass for breakfast per day. Still the room
rate was far better than others for the pen show dates, but the front desk staff must have received lots of feedback from arriving guests.
As usual parking was under cover and was free. Thankfully there was an ATM in the lobby (hidden behind a pen show sign in the lobby) that came
in very handy after I realized that I spent all my cash on Saturday and needed to restock the wallet for Sunday shopping. Staff was as friendly
and helpful to us as we have come to expect at Marriott hotels.

The show appeared to be well-attended and there were numerous traffic jams in the aisles on Saturday. It was a challenge to belly up to some
vendors' tables. During our visit on Sunday morning, the foot traffic was noticeably lighter. A nice aid that I hadn't notice in past shows
was a map of the vendors and their assigned tables, posted at the entrance to the small ballroom. This came in very handy when finding some of
the people I needed to visit. The ink testing tables were located on the second floor in previous years but were located in the small ballroom this year.

One of the things we observed were what you might call the personal pen shows that took place near the hotel restaurant and bar. We
participated in 2 of these impromptu gatherings with a man from Philadelphia and a couple from just north of D.C. It was a lot of fun.

It seems like there must be no restaurants within walking distance, so the Marriott provides a shuttle service for people who want to go afield
for meals. We chose to eat at the hotel, having a dinner of appetizers at the bar on Friday and a nice dinner in the dining room on Saturday.
Both food and service were good. The breakfast buffet was filling. We used one voucher for free breakfast on Saturday and paid for the second
buffet. We handed over the second voucher on Sunday morning and were told that the second breakfast was also free. Perhaps the guest
feedback had some impact on this and it was appreciated.

Regarding the actual pen show, purchases included:

• Graf von Faber-Castell Platino fountain pen from Vanness Pens
• Pelikan 100n nib and feed replacement from Mr. Osman Sumer. The original feed was broken and the nib had almost no tipping. Now I have a fully functional pen. Thanks go to Cliff Harrington for steering me to Osman.
• J-bars for a Moore pen repair
• Noodlers and Ackerman inks
• Pen trays for a future, but overdue, pen box project
• Chocolates from Brandon Lee and fudge from Jinji Chocolates
• A journal from Federalist Pens
• My wife's haul included a Platinum 3776 ROKKA fountain pen from Dan Smith, along with pens from Laban and Bentu from other vendors

Regarding prices, there were some pens that came with high asking prices. That being said, I was offered large discounts on a few very nice pens,
including pens with MSRP in the $1400-1500 range selling for $550-600. Some representatives were selling pens at decent discounts and seemed
motivated to move discontinued models.

We really enjoyed the show and are fortunate to live in an area that hosts two pen very good shows annually. Items that remain on my 'wish list' will be
pursued next year in Baltimore.

Regards,

Craig

[SpecTP]

I got a couple of my pens worked on so I'm very content. Got some new inks too so that's a plus