Anticipation
As you know if you've read my previous pen show articles (1, 2, and 3) or heard me talking about how special fountain pen shows are to me, the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow is something I look forward to all year. This year, I booked a weekend trader pass and hotel room as soon as they became available, and couldn't wait to be surrounded once again by friendly pen lovers from all over the world.
The DC Pen Show is the largest fountain pen event on the planet, and we at Pen Boutique are lucky enough to be only about an hour away from its location at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, Virginia. It's close enough to me that I could drive back and forth each day, but I love to lose myself in the experience and forget the outside world while I am there. I absolutely adore the energy of a show, with its incredible combination of excited pen enthusiasts and collectors, experienced vintage pen dealers and nibmeisters, custom makers, social media personalities, small family businesses, large companies, and distributors, all mixing and sharing their passion for fountain pens, paper, ink, and accessories. Being immersed in the atmosphere of a pen show, especially a huge one like the DC Supershow, is an incredible high I've experienced nowhere else. I was counting the days until I could spend time with some of my very favorite people again, record footage with my friend and YouTube co-host Leila, see what 200 vendors would have to share, and feel the adrenaline and love once more.
The week before the big day, Leila and I prepared a special "DC Pen SUPERSHOW" episode of our YouTube series For Your Penjoyment, discussing what we were most looking forward to and everything we could think of to share about what to expect. Leila needed to travel out of the country for her sister's wedding later that week, so we recorded the episode on Tuesday, July 23rd, for release the following Wednesday, July 31st. The pen show would open the next day, August 1st, for weekend traders, and to the general public on Friday, August 2nd.
During the episode, I talked multiple times about how I had discovered that when you're at a pen show (and in a lot of other situations, too) unexpected things happen and you just have to "go with the flow" and accept that what you planned to do might not work out, but something else surprising and beautiful might happen instead. I actually keep a "Go with the Flow" painted rock in my car from a Kindness Rocks garden near where I used to live, and its message reminds me how important it is to be flexible, adaptable, and open to where life takes me, even when it isn't what I envisioned. Every time I go to a show, I find that it's impossible to see everyone and do everything I want to do, but it's different every time and I make new discoveries and have new experiences that I never would have even thought of.
Well, my advice was definitely pertinent. The days we recorded and edited the episode, I wasn't feeling my best, and I started to wonder if I was coming down with something. Fortunately, all the rest of my work days that week were at home writing my new blog article, but my energy was very low and I soon realized that I was, indeed, sick! I was able to finish the article, but, as the pen show grew closer, I knew I wasn't well enough to go and have the intense, exhausting, and wonderful experience I had looked forward to all year.
Change of Plans
On Wednesday, the day I had planned to pack, I made the decision to transfer my hotel reservation to a good friend, a pen rep who had been unable to get a room at the Marriott. It was a painful decision to make, but I felt better knowing that he would have a much more convenient place to stay than the backup hotel he had been forced to book when the Marriott sold out. As I rested and tried not to think too much about everything and everyone I would be missing, I texted a few additional favorite people to let them know I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the show. I'd been focusing on accepting this with grace, but the responses of concern and encouragement I received brought me to tears several times.
That same day, we had a very special visit at Pen Boutique from two guests who were in the area for the show. Ms. Minami Obuchi and Mr. Yoshimasa Sugahara from the Research and Development division of Pilot's Japanese headquarters wanted to see our store and meet Leena! It was the first time Japanese visitors from Pilot HQ had visited us, and they were assisted by Aiki Takatoo, Business Development Manager of International Sales, who works at Pilot Corporation of America headquarters in Jacksonville, FL. I'd really enjoyed spending time with Aiki, along with our wonderful Pilot rep Bill Pearcy, and Casey Walston, Pilot's Director of Commercial Sales, at the Baltimore Pen Show in March, so I was excited to hear more about the visit and had been looking forward to meeting them and the rest of the large team that Pilot was bringing to the D.C. show. Aiki had been of great assistance to me over the past five months, helping Bill answer all my obscure and detailed questions when I was writing my articles on the Vanishing Point, "number" pens, and Falcon Pen and Nibs, and I wanted to thank him again in person.
(Aiki Takatoo, Minami Obuchi, Pen Boutique owner Leena Shrestha-Menon, and Yoshimasa Sugahara.)
I was astonished and incredibly honored when I read Leena's newsletter about the visit the following afternoon. Over lunch, Mr. Yoshimasa Sugahara, the designer of the "luxurious and silent" Vanishing Point LS, had mentioned to Leena that he'd read my blog article on Vanishing Points and loved it! He said it was the most comprehensive Vanishing Point blog he had ever read! What?! Wow! Although I was feeling tired, and on and off wistful about missing the show, that definitely brought a big smile to my face!
As the week went on, I began to get a lot better, and wondered if I'd be able to make it to part of the show after all. I knew I didn't have the energy to pack and stay in the hotel, but maybe I could drive there for the day. It wouldn't be at all what I had envisioned, but it would be better than nothing! I rested all day Friday, other than a phone call with Leila to hear about her experiences at the show, including lunch with Leena and our Faber-Castell rep, Rachel Lee, who will be having an event at our store on December 5th and 6th. I've never met Rachel and I'm really looking forward to that!
Throughout the day, my favorite reps and show friends from out of town kept texting to encourage me to come if I felt well enough. I was incredibly touched that they were actually missing me and thinking about me at a busy pen show! By Friday evening, I knew I'd be able to go on Sunday, and maybe even part of Saturday, if I took breaks and didn't push myself too much. I wasn't contagious, but had I regained enough stamina? That night, I prepared some things to bring, which tired me out quite a bit, and decided to see how I felt in the morning.
Thankful and Elated
Saturday, I slept late and got ready without rushing. I did feel good! I could do this after all! The traffic wasn't too bad on the way to Falls Church, and I got to the Marriott by mid-afternoon. I'd only have a few hours before the show closed for the day, but I was so elated and thankful to be there at all. It felt wonderful to walk into the Marriott! I'd planned to be there on Thursday, before the show was even fully underway, and now it was more than half over, but it was okay. I was there! I was at the pen show!
At the admissions desk, the volunteers couldn't find my badge at first, but that was because Barbara Johnson, who runs the show, had set it aside for me. Apparently Barb had been told I wasn't coming. Although we had met last year, I didn't even know if Barb knew who I was, but she greeted me warmly and gave me my badge, and I hung it around my neck joyfully. It was so good to see her again! I admire her so much and am so impressed by how she manages to run such a huge and complicated show so smoothly and graciously.
First Stop: Pilot
My first stop at the show was the Pilot table, where I thanked Aiki for all his help, and posed with the giant Vanishing Point cutaway model. Sean McWilliams, the Vice President of Product Management, was extremely friendly, and took some fun and silly pictures of me with Bill!
Jaclynn Burleigh, Fine Writing Sales Manager, also obligingly demonstrated Pilot's oversized 3D-printed models of their two types of nib feeds to me, and I recorded a video for our show. You can see it in the new DC Pen Show Recap episode that we released this past week. One represents the stainless steel feed, like you'd find in an Explorer or a Metropolitan. That feed needs to be fully submerged into your ink all the way up to the top of the exposed nib. The gold nib feed, on the other hand, only needs to be submerged up to the small hole on the bottom side of the feed, because there is a secondary internal feed channel for the air. I never knew that! How cool! Thank you, Jaclynn!
Pelikan Passion
After I'd checked into the show on Saturday, and visited the Pilot table, I headed back toward the hotel lobby and ran into one of my favorite very special customers, Warkenda. She was just arriving, and looked overwhelmed. It was her first pen show, and I didn't even know that she'd planned to come! We were overjoyed to see each other, and both felt like serendipity had struck. Warkenda wanted to buy her first Pelikan, so of course I told her she needed to meet Gary Lange, National Sales Director and Brand Manager of Pelikan, who is also Pen Boutique's very own Pelikan rep and another one of my favorite people. I don't see Gary very often--just at the DC Pen Show and an occasional event at our store--and he was one of the people I had been saddest about missing when I thought I wouldn't be able to make it to the show.
I've only known Gary for one year, as I first met him at last year's DC Show when I was having lunch with Bill from Pilot. As Bill was telling me more about his experiences as a representative, he mentioned his old friend and colleague Gary, whom he had met when they worked together at Rotring about 30 years ago, early in their careers. Lucky for me, it just so happened that, shortly after he started telling me about Gary, Bill spotted him across the lobby, checking into the hotel! He waved Gary over to introduce him, and, even though he had been traveling all day and hadn't even visited his room yet, Gary very graciously took the time to meet me and talk. Although I didn't know Gary, he knew about me, and, to my surprise and great pleasure, he thanked me for my support and for the blog article I had written about Pelikans. It's one of my older articles, but was one of the most memorable for me to write, and is still one of my favorites. My "Pelikan passion" has grown more and more over the past year, along with my little "flock" of Pelikan pens (currently up to six), and I am extremely fond of both Bill and Gary.
(Gary and Bill together again, gamely recording a video with me at the end of the show while everyone was packing up! Thank you, guys! You're the best!)
I hadn't had a chance to visit Gary's Pelikan table yet, but I assumed it would be in the same area it was last year, so I led Warkenda through the crowd to the far wall of the grand ballroom. Gary was busy when we walked up, so he didn't notice us approaching, and when he saw me standing in front of him with a huge smile on my face, his overjoyed reaction was priceless! Gary was one of the people I'd texted to tell I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the show, so he was elated to see me after all, and came out from behind the table to give me a giant hug.
Helping Warkenda choose her first Pelikan was a complete pleasure and delight for us both. She is such a joyful, expressive person, whose enthusiasm and warmth radiates like the sun. First, Gary had Warkenda try the amazing Souverän M1000, with its huge, soft 18k gold nib, and Warkenda gushed over the smooth feel, the bounce, and the natural line variation. She loved the nib, but the pen felt a little large for her hand, so she compared the M800, M600, and M400 sizes, along with the steel-nibbed M200 series with their pretty barrels. 
I know Warkenda appreciates sparkly things, so I pointed out the beautiful Copper Rose Gold M200, one of my favorites in my own collection. She loved it, but couldn't stop thinking about the amazing feel of Pelikan's gold nib and larger barrel pens, so I pointed her to my own newest pen, the retired Special Edition M600 Tortoiseshell Red. It was a match made in heaven! As soon as Warkenda saw the chatoyance of the orangey-red tortoiseshell barrel under the light, she fell in love. Like Warkenda, the Tortoiseshell Red has a brightness and loveliness that stands out in a crowd, and we both knew it was the perfect pen for her.
Gary had Warkenda write with each M600 nib size, and she decided on the same one I own, a fine. All three of us were thrilled and beaming, and Warkenda thanked Gary with a warm hug.
It was such a pleasure helping Warkenda find her ideal Pelikan, and was the perfect start to my pen show. It made me so, so happy to collaborate with Gary, be with Warkenda, and just feel the joy of our shared love of pens and the way they bring people together. I thought, "Yes! This is why I'm here; this is why I'm doing this." It was just one more instance of Gary's personal motto, "Making people happy, one pen at a time!"
Pen Boutique will be hosting our second Pelikan Hub on September 27th, and it will be an even bigger and more exciting one than last year's. I can't wait!
Penjoyment!
I didn't get to look around the show that much and see what people were selling, because I was busy all day Sunday running around getting videos with Pen Boutique's favorite reps for our next episode of For Your Penjoyment, talking to customers, and thanking "Battle of the Pens" and For Your Penjoyment fans for their encouragement and support. Even though I'd promised to take lots of breaks, of course I didn't. How could I? I didn't want to miss a moment! Sure, it would have been cool if I'd been able to check out the ink swatching room, or browse through all the interesting pens, stationery, and accessories in the three showrooms, but I did what was most important to me, and that was seeing people.
It was great to catch up with the charismatic David Oscarson again, and listen to him talk about his breathtaking handcrafted solid sterling silver pen designs. The details in his hot enamel writing instruments are out of this world, and it's especially amazing to hear David describe the inspirations behind his creations. I love his intensity and excitement! Every time I talk with David, he tells me how eager he is to have a store event with us at Pen Boutique, and it's finally going to happen in less than a month from now! We can't wait to have David visit our store for the first time on Saturday, September 7th!
(David explains all the details in one of his powerful Deus Regit pens to fountain pen collector Clare Coco.)
I also loved seeing two more of my favorite reps: Mark Sloan from Coles of London (US distributor of Visconti and ST Dupont) and Bryan Gillett from Luxury Brands (US distributor of Platinum, Benu, Colorverse, Endless, Girologio, Noodler’s, and Waldmann). After I recorded videos with them individually, they had the fun idea of doing another one together to show that, although they are competitors, they are also friends! I jokingly asked them if they'd ever gotten into a fist fight, so the video ended in a friendly tussle, and Mark declaring, "Game on, Laura! Game on!" You can see the video on Instagram, or a full-screen version on our YouTube show, For Your Penjoyment, along with lots more footage from the pen show.
(Mark and Bryan, competitors but also friends!)
I spent time with too many more wonderful people to name: favorite customers Mikele and Natalie, Logan, Shane, Persephone, and Martin... pen friends I'd made at previous shows and was looking forward to seeing again, like vintage pen dealers Walter Butler and Myk Daigle; Barry Gabay, pen seller and contributing editor from Pen World magazine; and Kim and Sandro, who welcomed me and introduced me to so many people at my first show... nibmeister Kirk Speer from Pen Realm (who will be doing another nibmeisting event at our store this November 7th-9th), and Mario Campa (owner of Toys from the Attic and brand ambassador for Omas), both of whom have encouraged me so much. I also got to talk briefly with our former Kenro (Aurora, Esterbrook, Montegrappa, Otto Hutt, and ystudio) rep, Cary Yeager (Mr. Fountain Pen Day), who inspired me to go to my first pen show. It was wonderful to see him again! We'll be having a store event with our new Kenro rep, Danean Dymond, this fall, and I can't wait to meet her.
Although I didn't have much time, I even made some new pen friends, like Lenny, a fountain pen collector and "Battle of the Pens" fan, who let me try so many of his beautiful pens when I was relaxing after hours on Saturday evening, basking in the joy of being immersed in this generous and welcoming community once again.
Before the show completely closed up on Sunday, I had two final important things to accomplish: get a video of Gary and Bill together, and visit Karen Anderson from Anderillium Inks. I'd briefly stopped by her table on Saturday, but she was away, and I needed to see her to pick up stickers for the tops of our boxes of Penjoyment Purple ink, a Pen Boutique and Anderillium exclusive collaboration that we'd be releasing the following Wednesday when our new For Your Penjoyment episode aired! Producing the exclusive ink had been in the works for about six months, and, as a longtime ink lover, it's one of the coolest things I've ever been involved in. I couldn't believe we were on the cusp of releasing an ink that had been my idea to create!
I'd thought of the idea of doing a For Your Penjoyment ink when Leila was working with Luxury Brands and Benu to create the Pen Boutique exclusive Talisman, Firefly Stone. Excited by watching the process of collaborating to create a unique pen for our store, I said to Leila, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could have our own show ink?" She immediately loved the idea, and we both had the same first choice of company to create this fantasy ink: Anderillium.
Anderillium is a small family-run American brand, and Leila and I both love their nature-inspired inks, especially the Cephalopod series. I wrote a blog article about Anderillium last summer when we first started carrying their inks, and had the pleasure of interviewing Karen, the mom of the family and Anderillium's operations manager. Bert Anderson, Karen's son, is Anderillium's founder, owner, and chief chemist. When he's not making inks, he's a high school chemistry and biology teacher. Since Leila and I are two women with a small YouTube show brought to you by the woman-owned and family-run company Pen Boutique, Anderillum seemed like a perfect fit for us! I emailed Karen to ask her if Anderillium would work with us, and she immediately said yes. Leila and I talked over her proposal with Leena and Raj, and then Leena, Leila, and I met with Karen at the Baltimore Pen Show in March to discuss the process, and Anderillium began creating our ink.
Leila and I wanted the ink to reflect the spirit of our show, so we knew right away that it should be a joyful purple that looks like the color that you see when you watch For Your Penjoyment. Leila picked up a huge range of purple paint swatches at Home Depot, and we held them up to our set, then chose two that matched best--a darker and a lighter purple. We sent Karen both, asking Anderillium to create an ink that would encompass the two, shading from the darker to the lighter. We wanted the color to be deep enough to be easy on the eyes for everyday writing, and to be well behaved.
The Andersons rose to the occasion, in spades. Karen sent us swatches of three potential variations to choose from, and we picked the one that we felt was the most joyful. When we received a small bottle in the mail a few weeks later, the ink was even better than we'd imagined. Penjoyment Purple is a beautiful rich purple with a quick dry time, smooth medium-to-wet flow, lovely subtle shading, and--to top it off--stunning hot pink-to-aqua chromatography. I filled two pens with Penjoyment Purple right away: my wet Pelikan M600 and much drier extra fine nib Pilot E95s. It writes beautifully in both!
I volunteered to create an image for the bottle's label, a challenge that was daunting for me, but that I also really wanted to do. It took me a little while to come up with my illustration, which I made using fountain pens, a watercolor paintbrush, and the ink itself, then touched it up on my computer. When I was satisfied with it, I sent the image to Karen, with instructions on what we wanted the label to say.
Anderillium completed our ink the week before the DC Show, and the bottles arrived at Pen Boutique while I was out sick, so I hadn't seen them in person yet, but I'd been using our sample constantly for several weeks. At the DC Pen Show, I saw my artwork in label form for the first time, on the stickers Karen gave me to bring back to the store.
As an ink fanatic, it was so exciting to see my idea turn into an actual bottle of ink, especially an ink that I love and truly want to use every day. Leila and I are both so excited to celebrate fountain pens and the joys they bring us by sharing this ink with you!
Ink label stickers in hand, I felt like I'd done everything I possibly could in the time I'd been allowed for this show, and I went back to the grand ballroom to watch everyone dismantle their displays and pack up. After they'd finished, Gary asked Bill and I to join him for a drink at the hotel bar before he had to leave. I loved sitting with Gary to my left and Bill to my right, tired, hungry, and happy, so thankful to be at the DC Pen Show after all. Even though the show was over, we couldn't stop talking about pens. Gary ordered a beer, but recommended a cocktail on the menu to me: the Work-Life Balance. We all laughed at the irony. It's hard to separate work and life when you love what you do and the people you do it with!
1 comment
Roger
This was an awesome blog.
This was an awesome blog.