Cardiff, Uk

[Ebberman]

I need help and advice to put on a show in UK. I have a venue. A Saturday would be best, possibly October or November. A tea and refreshments area would be available. Is an entrance fee appropriate? What do I need to do/know? There is a dearth of British shows. I would like to find out how many people would be interested.

[Beechwood]

I need help and advice to put on a show in UK. I have a venue. A Saturday would be best, possibly October or November. A tea and refreshments area would be available. Is an entrance fee appropriate? What do I need to do/know? There is a dearth of British shows. I would like to find out how many people would be interested.

 

 

Have you reached out for advice to UK Pen Shows?

 

https://ukpenshows.co.uk/

 

The most obvious question for you to consider is given the situtaion on Covid are you likely to have the requisite number of trade tables and also attendees, there is a very good reason why UK Pen Shows have no planned shows for 2020.

 

 

 

I would suggest an early enquiry to the Welsh Government on whether they would permit a gathering of several hundred people from all over the UK and possibly international, as you may know, outdoor meetings of over 30 people are generally not permitted, indoor meetings are not permitted at all.

[Ebberman]

Beechwood - thank you for replying. I've never been to a pen show and have never seen one advertised in the UK. Also I didn't know about a ukpenshows website.

Consequent to my knowing so little, I had no idea of the number of people to be expected. I shall mull over your suggestions and information. Thanks again.

[Beechwood]

Beechwood - thank you for replying. I've never been to a pen show and have never seen one advertised in the UK. Also I didn't know about a ukpenshows website.

Consequent to my knowing so little, I had no idea of the number of people to be expected. I shall mull over your suggestions and information. Thanks again.

 

 

Have a look at this You Tube Video for the South West Pen Show

 

 

I think that you will agree that attending a pen show and complying with social distancing will be a tall order.

 

The idea of a Welsh pen show is very good indeed, the first in the Principality, I think we just need to wait a little longer.

 

Best regards

[LesterPendragon]

I'd suggest that, as a less ambitious first step, you consider holding a local pen meet – venues and social distancing permitting…

That way you can test the waters by identifying a group of S.Wales pen enthusiasts, find out what their particular interests are (Vintage/Modern/ephemera), maybe form the basis of a potential project team with contacts beyond your current network.

It's a steep learning curve just to gather a dozen strangers together for an evening's get-together… It may you give you useful insights into the practicalities of a larger event.

Hope this is useful – pen collecting can be a bit self-isolating at the best of times; any social element is to be welcomed, albeit with caution at the moment…

Roger [Lester Pendragon]

[Ebberman]

LesterPendragon - I had been thinking along the lines you mention, but wondering if I dared.

There is a large church building near me which was a former stationers for 15 years. The owner stopped it but has a load of slow moving stock; I have always loved buying things. When I worked in a music shop I loved ordering instruments every week and although I'm retired I still buy a load of things. I'm awash with guitars so I do it with stationery now.

I thought that having a pen fair would would provide an outlet for our combined stock.

I agree that it would be best to have a modest event. The other guy involved could call on former suppliers to have stalls, but nevertheless it would be a low key affair.

I would include pencils and gel pens, leads and refills, cartridges - anything and everything stationery..

If there are people on FPN who live in or around Cardiff then I'd like to get in touch with them.

I'm bored now with social distancing, and I suspect many others are.

[Inkysloth]

I'm bored now with social distancing, and I suspect many others are.

Purely on this point, simply being bored of social distancing isn't a reason to organise a large gathering. There's still a need to try and slow or reduce the spread of COVID-19. The less we pay attention to control measures like social distancing, the longer we're actually going to have to have these measures in place.

[Beechwood]

Create a virtual pen show if one of the motivations is to sell stationery, create a Facebook page and go from there.

 

As 3 toe has suggested, you may have the place but this is not the time.

 

Irregardless, the best shows need a lot of careful planning and preparation including getting vendors organised and on board, tables, chairsd, lighting, tickets, reception people, insurance, hotel reservations and discounts for attendees, parking and unloading arrangements and fitting in your pen show with the other preplanned UK pen shows. it is no easy task to produce a good pen show, a very easy task to produce a bad one.

[Ebberman]

Beechwood - Yes, I took your advice and looked at ukpenshows. No individual could compete with that. Regarding Facebook, I avoid social media. I don't have the time. I love technology but am continually amazed how many stupid things are produced by it.

 

Inkysloth - I am an ex-nurse. My wife is a microbiologist. We are hospital types and not ignorant of the situation. The lockdown was for three weeks but is now in its sixth month. Masks of the type used in operating theatres have no purpose. I could go on, but this forum is not the place.

[northlodge]

a month on and the difficulties you might encounter have suddenly become very real, with an imminent Cardiff lock-down!!

 

If you are genuinely interested in running a pen show, then it would be a shame for that enthusiasm to be crushed by a hefty financial loss from a covid impacted disaster.

 

Surely it would be better that you pick a date in late 2021 and have a reasonable chance of success - consult on dates with UKpenshows, I suspect they will me happy to hear from you given that it is run by "pen people" rather than "business heads"

 

I would imagine the success of the first event is crucial to whether your venture lives beyond episode 1

[Ebberman]

northlodge - thank you for the input. It'll be a quite a while before I can consider doing anything regarding pen publicly. The situation is not improving. I stay at home now writing songs and poetry. I can't abide wasting time..