Many thanks to everyone who came out and stopped by our table at this year’s D.C. Pen Show! It’s always enjoyable to meet readers in person and to put faces to names, and it never ceases to amaze me just how many people share this passion of ours. The 2024 D.C. Pen Show was easily the largest pen show I’ve been to in terms of number of vendors, and I suspect that once the attendee numbers come in, they’ll confirm that the show is still growing and has recovered from the “Pandemic lull” in attendee traffic.
A shot of the third ballroom on Sunday afternoon, as everyone was starting to pack up.
Three Full Ballrooms of Pens, Inks, and Paper
I’ll be honest with you up front: The show was so busy that I saw very little of it - other than what I could see from my table - until Sunday afternoon. When you’re a full-time vendor trying to make a go of it as an actual business, it’s a very different show experience. I didn’t buy a single pen all weekend, which is the first time that’s ever happened. That said, if I had actually had the time to explore, it likely would have ended up as a financial disaster. This year there were three full ballrooms full of exhibitors: the main ballroom with major brands and retailers, a smaller “second” ballroom that mostly housed independent makers, and a third ballroom down the hall that featured most of the international attendees, including show favorite Galen Leather! Additional vendors were packed into the main entrance and hallways.
Table neighbor Matthew Chen was grinding away at nibs all weekend!
Fantastic Pens was attending their first pen show! They definitely raised the bar on the sign game.
I picked up one of the Good Made Better ebonite pocket pens at the Chicago Pen Show. Dan has continued to perfect the design, all of which feature a faceted cap with a matte-finished ebonite.
I almost snagged that yellow ebonite pen, but I was good.
The latest from Schon DSGN! I think this pen was a new release for the show.
I shared table space with Vanness Pens, and Ana Reinert from the Well-Appointed Desk was swatching inks from Octopus Fluids, Van Diemans, and Laban all weekend!
Hinze Pens brought these new plated nib designs!
I delved into this a bit more in my Patreon writeup, but several people commented that this year’s show may have been a bit too big. As you can see from the lead photo in this recap post, the aisles periodically clogged during giveaways, influencer meet-and-greets, etc., making it difficult for people to navigate the show and frustrating vendors who couldn’t get customers to their tables. A solution is beyond the scope of this post, but limiting the number of vendors and/or moving to a larger event space might be options for future D.C. Pen Shows. As for the current hotel, it’s fine as far as pen show venues go, but in my opinion there isn’t enough restaurant and bar space for attendees to gather after-hours, and the location is not particularly convenient for other shopping and dining alternatives.
Later in the afternoon, my friend Dan (@dandon375) hosted a meet-and-greet where we got to play around with his collection of folded nibs, ruling pens, and modified Pilot Parallel calligraphy pens. This is the Franklin-Christoph DC Pen Show Special Edition Ink (an olive green) on 68gsm Tomoe River Paper.
Classes in the Pen Lounge: What Did You Think?
This year I worked with Vanness Pens on the Vanness Pen Lounge, which was a ballroom below the main show area that offered a quiet respite from the chaos that is the D.C. Pen Show. Throughout the weekend, the Pen Lounge hosted a running list of classes that included Fountain Pens 101 for beginners, a class on inks taught by Ana from the Well-Appointed Desk, and my own class on notebook systems. Basically, my class was a 30-60 minute overview of a handful of popular notebook and organizer systems that included the Traveler’s Notebook, the Lochby Field Journal, the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter, and Plotter. For those who attended the class, I referenced some written resources that exist on the site: a general overview post on how to get started, and a multi-post series on specific notebook systems including those we discussed during the class. If you’d like to read further, see Part I (Background Information); Part II (Plotter/Ring Binders); Part III (Traveler’s Company/Modular); and Part IV (Single Notebooks). I also recently published an “Ask TGS” FAQ Page that contains certain of the information we discussed, as well as general resources for new users.
Overall, the Pen Lounge concept seemed well-received, especially at a show that drew a lot of first-time pen show attendees and ended up being very crowded. It was nice to have a quiet, well air-conditioned and ventilated space downstairs to rest for a moment, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet everyone away from the table.
Did You Miss Out on the Fun? Product Links, Resources, and Details on More August Pen Show Opportunities!
As with most pen shows I attend, I needed to take a day to recover on Monday, but yesterday I was back in the shop and re-entered all products from the show into the online inventory. My personal show strategy when I have a table is not to bring all of the product lines that we carry, but rather to select unique products that won’t otherwise be represented at the show. This year I chose a handful of brands: Roterfaden and Lochby for the main table display, accented with some interesting pens from Anterique, Uni, and Pilot.
Pens from the T.G.S. Table: Uni Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pens, Anterique Brass Ballpoints, and Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Gel Multi Pens. Again, it’s fun to surprise people with items you don’t typically see at shows!
I had never seen the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter organizers represented at a pen show, and since I was teaching a class on notebook systems, I figured that this past weekend would be as good a time as any to test it out. There’s a reason the Taschenbegleiter remains popular after all these years, even at a relatively high price point: It’s an intuitive, well-made organizer system, and the quality shines when you’re able to try it in person. It turns out that the Taschenbegleiter that drew the most attention was my 5+ year-old classic leather black model (new versions of which I carry in the shop but of course forgot to bring with me). Several people requested that I post the link to the specific model, which is the Taschenbegleiter LTD_022. All Lochby products that remain in stock are also back in inventory and listed on the site.
Because I need to finish moving into our physical shop space here in Nashville, I will not be attending Stationery Fest this week in New York City as originally planned. (If anyone was unable to get a three day pass and would like one, please reach out.) My next pen show will be the San Francisco Pen Show at the end of the month. I will not have a table but will rather be doing this show as an attendee, though if you’d like to place an order for show pickup I can probably make that work.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Stay tuned for details on our upcoming brick and mortar location, including visiting hours.