The Pen Addict 722/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	722
Title:	St. Louis Pen Show Preview, Featuring Ana Reinert!
Release Date:	June 25th, 2026
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	Ana Reinert
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 722
Audio File:	Audio Episode 722
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 722
Length:	6262 min <br />1.033 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Brad Dowdy: From Relay, this is The Pen Addict podcast episode number 722. This week's episode is sponsored by our friends over at Enigma Stationery and Squarespace. I'm your host, Brad Dowdy. While Myke is away again, just kidding, Myke, I know, it's my fault this time. I had to bring in the world's most frequent guest to The Pen Addict podcast. Maybe does that mean, God, am I going to say it, the world's best guest? Anna Reinhart. Thank you. Anna Reinhart, how are you doing?

Ana Reinhart: Hi, how are you? I'm doing well. Scrambling, as always. But hi, hi everybody.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, we're going to talk about scrambling. The impetus of this episode was kind of the scramble you're on so far this year. So I want to talk about that a lot. So, but it's kind of perfect timing because it's, as we record this, it's going to be St. Louis Pen Show Week. We're going to be together at that event here this weekend, this upcoming weekend. As you're listening to the podcast on Thursday, we will both probably be there around that time or that evening.

Ana Reinhart: Hopefully nothing goes wrong. We will both be there. Like fingers crossed.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's always a fun, stormy season in that part of the world around this time of year. Yeah, no kidding. We're getting it too. Not like y'all, but woof, woof. So we're going to talk about the St. Louis Pen Show specifically towards the end of this show because I've never been and you've been how many times?

Ana Reinhart: I don't know. A bunch.

Brad Dowdy: A bunch because it's pretty close. It's a drive for you.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah, it's just on the other side of the state.

Pen Shows

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So you've been there a bunch. So I'm going to get advice from a pro and y'all are going to get to ride along with me as I ask Ana some questions. But you've been, speaking of pro, you've been on the pro tour so far, the pro pen show tour in 2026 so far. I just did the count. So once St. Louis happens, that'll be five shows in six months. And that's honestly, as someone who's done that, that is a lot, right? It's less than say like a retailer who does this full time for a living and hits all the shows, right? They've probably done, they'll probably do eight in this span or maybe something like that. But that's a lot. So how are you doing so far?

Ana Reinhart: Well, okay. Fingers crossed. I have not gotten the crud at any of the shows. I have managed to avoid that. So like fingers crossed St. Louis is not a crud capital.

Ana Reinhart: Everybody wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer, please. Because in two weeks after that, I go to Portland. Oh, okay. Yeah. But yeah, it's a lot. The next couple of months for me is going to be worse because we're getting into DC, San Francisco, Dallas. Like these are shows that kind of, they roll one right after the other and there's only two or three weeks. I've had about a month or so, a little bit more than a month in between the last show that I attended and this one, which really helped because there was a stretch there where it was like every three or four weeks. And just getting back into the swing of things at home after doing a show because we get there a day before, working a show, you get there a day before and then you do all the setup and then you're there on the show floor from the minute the show opens to the minute the show closes. And then have to do the tear down and then drive back. And I know a lot of people travel and they drive, but they have the luxury of like middle of the afternoon going and taking a nap or sitting down and having some coffee or sitting in a class and not having to teach it. So yeah, it can be really, and I'm an introvert and I work from home by myself all day long. So I like, it's the extremes. I go from absolute solitude to like all the people. And then it takes me a little while of like, I'd like a sensory deprivation tank, please.

Brad Dowdy: For sure. We just, we need one installed at the, at the hotel and during the show you can, you can go jump in there for like an hour.

Ana Reinhart: Absolutely. But yeah, it's been interesting to go to all these different shows because each of them does have a different personality and a different experience. Some of the shows are newer than others. Like I did the Chicago stationary fest this year and then turned around and like three weeks later did the Chicago pen show, which was held at a new to me venue. Although they had been in that same space now for two years. Um, and so it was interesting to see the difference because the stationary fest was held, um, more in the Chicago city proper where the Chicago pen show was held out in the suburbs. But, um, it was just surprising. Both of those shows has, have changed in the years that I have attended them. This was only in the second year for Chicago stationary fest. Um, but I had visited the Chicago pen show for many years and it was interesting to see how much it has changed since it's relocated. I think the new location was really good for them. Um, and they're moving to a different hotel, but in the same area for next year because they really outgrew the space already. Already. Wow. Already. Yeah. Um, the nice thing about where the show was held this year was that it was very close to like a big shopping center mall area with a lot of restaurants and places people could shop if they wanted to like get off the show floor and go do something else. Um, but, uh, I laugh because it's the mall I went to in my childhood. So it's, it was the, the location of the Chicago pen show was, uh, literally, uh, five minutes from where I grew up, um, out in the suburbs of Chicago. So, uh, that was very peculiar. Um, my dad had just recently relocated like further out into the X burbs. Um, otherwise I probably would have just stayed at my dad's house for the weekend. Um, but, uh, yeah, so I did actually get to visit with my dad while I was there, which was nice. Um, but yeah, so it's been interesting to, to go to these shows. Some of them, I go as a vendor for myself and some of them, I help other people. Mostly this year I've been working with the drum goals. Um, and so it's.

Brad Dowdy: Is that what you did at Chicago or did you do? Chicago? I was solo.

Ana Reinhart: 100% solo. I went all by myself. Um, I didn't have anybody watching my table while I taught classes. So I had to put a cover over and bail out. I mean. Oh, I have a question about that later. Yeah, for sure. Um, my friend Jacqueline who, uh, does Kaleido Craft, um, was nearby. So she could kind of tell people like, oh, she'll be back. She's just teaching a class. She didn't just like bail out or anything.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, but you brought up two good shows that I want to talk about. And a couple of weeks ago on this show, I had, uh, Tony Palumbo from Feed Your Creativity. And we're talking about the differences in say like the stationary fest type of events. Like she had been to Little Craft Fest and then the Florida stationary, uh, fest. And then like the regular traditional pin shows, you know, like your Chicago's and LA's and things like that. Between like the Chicago stationary fest and Chicago pin show, I was just curious your thoughts. I'm not going to ask you to compare and contrast them. They're like, they're very different events, but like, what did you get from like the vibe of each? Because they both looked while we're all in the same space, we'd all fit somewhere in this Venn diagram together. I think like stationary fest look like big and fun and awesome and a certain type of crowd and a certain type of vendor. And then the Chicago pin show also looked big and fun and awesome with a completely different style of vendor. But we are able to get to see this kind of overlap. I don't know what, what are your, just kind of your general thoughts on like those two types of events, especially only three weeks apart.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Like in, in Chicago, but I mean, I know they can handle that.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah. Um, what I find interesting is that you're right. There is a sort of Venn diagram between stationary, stationary people with air quotes, pen people with air quotes, and then like journaling people with air quotes, you know, like, or planner people. Like, cause there's planner events too, which are also very. And you like, they're unusual for people who attend pen shows because they tend to be more activity based. Um, the stationary fest this year, they did go to just a strictly marketplace environment as opposed to the previous year where they tried to add in classes and meetups and things like that. And they kind of tried to pull it back a little bit because of the, some of the feedback that they got. And, but the crowd is different. One of the things I think is a big, the big thing that I noticed is because a lot of stationary events focus a lot on the smaller priced items, the lower priced items, stickers, washi tape, um, kind of tchotchkes kind of thing. I do think that, um, like the, like the, like you got to move a lot of product if you're, if that's what you're selling as opposed to pen shows where you're talking about items that can be, you know, two zeros, three zeros, four zero prices, um, where a lot of the vendors can come sell two or three pens and clear their costs for the trip. Uh, you got to sell a lot of rolls, uh, you got to sell a lot of rolls, washi tape, you know, and a lot. Uh, so it was interesting to see like sort of how vendors reacted because I, I've been seeing a lot of the same vendors at different stationary events. So we've all kind of become friends. Uh, so we do sort of talk shop in the background about like, how did we do, are you selling well? Are you not selling well? Um, a lot of the people that I saw at Chicago stationary fest in 2025, I also saw at little craft fest. And then again, at Chicago stationary fest or some of them I saw in, in San Francisco and, and other venues like pen related venues, but it is interesting. I think just, you know, people who come to pen shows are like, wow, there's no paper here. Um, people who go to stationary events are like, Hey, there's no pens here. So there is a need, I think to find a middle ground where there's a, an assortment of pens, ink, paper, stationary stickers, washi tape, you know, fun toy kind of thing like our play toys. Um, but I do think that it helps to create like a really well-rounded event when you have a little bit of all of that. And I think that that was what Chicago pen show did. And we joked because a lot of the sticker washi type of stuff all went to the basement. We were all downstairs. We were in the dungeon and people came down and they were like, this is what I've been looking for. You know, so it's like, it was the kind of thing where it was like the big show floor was all the pen vendors and the nib grinders and some of the retailers who are like pen shops that brought the pens and the ink and the paper. Um, but they were like, you know, people wanted to have, you know, buy a few rolls of washi tape, buy some sticker sheets, that kind of thing to add into sort of their purchases for the weekend. Um, and so I thought it was interesting. We, we did end up getting, because we're more, a lot of us are newer vendors. Compared with like people who've been doing the pen show in Chicago for years as, you know, uh, vintage pen dealers, that kind of thing. So we all got like the last room available.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Uh, not next year. You'll be, you'll be thrown into the big room. Everyone's in one big room next year. Yeah. Yeah. So that'll be interesting. Yeah. So I think the shows that are doing it the best, well, I should say the shows that I'm enjoying the most as someone who goes to mostly pen shows are the ones who are starting to see more of an integration into just having the traditional weight would call stationary vendors, like your, your stickers, washi stamps, all that kind of stuff. And it's pretty clear. There's a market for that. Um, from what I see and you know, the bigger shows, your San Fran's DC Chicago's are able to handle kind of this, you know, having these extra, maybe more vendor tables that they've had in the past. Um, and having to fit some of these things in. But I think it's just such a better offering and such a more unique experience for an attendee, even if you're not interested in that stuff. Like it's interesting to see the creativity, at least like, I guess I am speaking for myself here because I'm just very interested in what people do and what people make. But like, I'm interested in the creativity, even if maybe I'm not shopping for a pen, I want to see what the makers are doing. And are they doing anything interesting with shapes or materials or metal work? You know, I want to see, you know, a sticker maker, how they're handled. They're handling their sticker sheets versus their individual stickers. And I don't know, as someone who's in this business, it's always interesting to me just to have that wide variety of options, as opposed to going from pen table to pen table to pen table. Like I'm good with like one pass around, like the pens, just because I've been doing it a while. Like I know what I want or what I need. And it's like, okay, well, give me something else. And I'm super happy to kind of see all of this, um, bit of diversity in, in types of vintage. Vendors at the more traditional pen shows. And I only think it's going to continue as you kind of alluded to. You're kind of this conduit a little bit between two worlds. Like you'll see people at, um, you know, like a little craft fest or something that I've never been a vendor that it's never been to a pen show, but they would fit right in. Right. They just don't have that familiarity or, you know, that knowledge. Knowledge. And then like someone like you can say, Oh yeah, like the show might be good for someone who sells the things you do. And I love seeing that.

Ana Reinhart: And I'm seeing more and more of the crossover, like the vendor that was next to me in, uh, Chicago stationary fest, um, was somebody who did stickers and washi tape and things like that, but was getting into fountain pens and was able to work an arrangement with Esther Brooke to eventually come out with her own exclusive pen. I'm not naming names cause I don't want to get anybody in trouble, but, um, you know, so it's that thing where it's like where I'm seeing the crossover between the markets where people who were just sort of, uh, you know, pen, you know, like a gel pen station, like where we started. Let's be honest, Brad, we all started there, you know, where we had just had gel pens. We had, you know, stuff we found at the office supply store, but we, we wanted our notebooks to look pretty. We wanted to have nice stuff in them. And so it's, that's happening now. I think in the, what's kind of quote unquote, the stationary community, they're discovering things like, uh, travelers notebooks, which have lovely paper. And all of a sudden they're like, Oh, a fountain pen would be nice. You know? So it's like, we're starting to like blend all of that. And I think that it's time to stop having the division between like stationary people and pen people. And there are, you know, I mean, there are things, different things that they're interested in and how they're looking at these events. But I think that there's room at most of these events for everyone.

Brad Dowdy: Totally. Totally. That's like my favorite thing right now going to, to pen shows is seeing like so many new, new faces and new products. And, uh, yeah, I just love that, that, that whole crossover. It's really just, you know, one big space we're all playing in, you know, we're just all doing our different things, but bringing them together is great.

Ana Reinhart: Going back like about 10 years when you and I first started going to pen shows, like, did you think that we would ever be at this point where you're like, I'm so excited to see all these new people. Like when we went, we were the youngest people there. Yeah. And there was not real warmth initially to us coming into this community that had been built. And now to see this whole array of new interest and people taking it in different directions and exploring. I, I, I'm delighted with it. I think it's great.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. I'll never forget. Like we have so many stories we could tell, but just a real, a real short one that, you know, being pulled aside more than like a decade ago and being asked like, what is going on here with like the, the crowd that people, we would bring to these shows and people not understanding that. And now like seeing it now, it's like, it's not really a, what is going on here moment, but it's, it's a great moment to where we're just, just have all this availability to us and just the creativity. I don't know. I'm just a huge, huge fan of what I see at a lot of these shows now. So I'm also a huge fan on, of what I see over at Enigma stationery, who is the perfect sponsor for this conversation that we're just having, because they have everything. They have all your stationery. They have a lot of pens. So this week's pen addict podcast is brought to you by our friends over at Enigma stationery. They offer unique items made from in-house designs, along with top brands and hard to find imports. So I always look through their, through their site before our ad read, they kind of give us free run on, Hey, y'all talk about whatever y'all want to talk about, whatever catches your eye. And the last time, just a couple of weeks ago, I was mentioning, and this might be something that you're familiar with. So I was mentioning these, uh, Sukoneko Memento Dew Drop dye ink pads. So there's these ink pads and I was mentioning them to Tony who was on the, uh, on the show. She goes, Oh, those are my favorite. Those are the best ink pads. And I've been getting into stamps a little bit, but I don't have like a go-to, uh, stamp pad. And she's like, Oh, these are my favorite. And now I go over to Enigma site and I see, okay, all of them are on low stock now. So they must be pretty good. They must be pretty good. Uh, so I, I love seeing that. And then they also have, you know, a bunch of pens, um, all types of pens you can get. And I, I just have to give them a shout out. This is a, not a difficult, not an easy product to recommend because of the price point, but the Lamy M17 Jetstream ballpoint refill makes a difference. It's an expensive refill and I love it. It's one of my favorite refills. It's $15 just for the refill. I'll be straight up because you can't really get it in the States. Right. And you know, but by the time you import it and get it in and a retailer has to sell it, that's pretty much what I've paid for mine whenever I've gotten them, but they are so good and they have them in stock at Enigma. And honestly, if you have a Lamy ballpoint pen that has the M16 refill, you will change everything about that pen by putting in the M17 with the Jetstream ink. So that's one of those great things that, um, the acquisition of Mitsubishi has done. Um, they also have a bunch of field notes. They have a bunch of wax seals and stamps. They have a bunch of business frog. You know, I'm not going to get through an episode without mentioning my friend business frog. Um, I'm looking at these stamps now that the individual stamps, like the coffee cup stamps. And, um, you know, like I said, I'm getting into this, this kind of thing, pencil stamps. So I've ordered a few of those and I'll probably be ordering more. So if you want $10 off on your orders of $50 or more, go over to enigmastationary.com slash pen addict and use TPA26 at checkout. Now that's enigmastationary.com slash pen addict to get $10 off on orders of $50 or more with code TPA26. Our thanks to enigmastationary for their support of this show and all of relay. All right. Speaking of stuff, it's time to talk stuff. Okay. Um, I have some questions you you've been doing. I mean, you've always done a great job on the blog, but you're kind of crushing it right now. You and Laura and whoever else you got writing to writing for you these days. I'm loving everything. Um, you're putting out. I was like, Oh yes, I want to read about this. And Oh yes, I've been meaning to read, learn about this. And Oh yes. So over and over and over again. So recently you did a post, uh, that said called my top five stationary favorites for 2026 so far. And I was wondering if we could just touch on that for a second. Sure. Sure. So there's a couple of products I wanted to call out and we'll save the one. I want to talk about the

Ana Reinhart: longest for last. Okay. But let's start with the Sola pouch. Okay. The Sula and Sula. Yeah. I was, I was literally going to ask you, did I pronounce it correctly? Um, why are these so popular? They're everywhere. They are everywhere. They are super, super duper handy. They are beautifully crafted. And the husband and wife team that, um, run this company are the nicest people I have ever met. So there's a lot of reasons to support Sula. Um, they use YKK zippers. Um, everything is really beautifully manufactured, great quality. Um, there's a bazillion pockets. I mean, like you can't go wrong with a bazillion pockets. Um, somebody I saw compared them with the, there's another case that's similar in that A5 size that comes from Japan. And I cannot think of the name right now. I mean, there's a list, but you know what I'm talking about. It's very, the hit lab. Yeah. Maybe it's the lead time or something like that. Um, but I saw somebody compare and cause they had one of those and then they got a Sula and they're like, oh my gosh, I like the Sula so much better because it's sturdier. So once it's filled, it will actually stand up on its little tiny end. Yeah. On your desk where the other ones flop over and kind of, you have to use them laying down. And I was like, well, there is a, I mean like right there. So you can kind of use it as like a portable office. Um, and I always think of like the Sula pouch as being like a bag in a bag. Like I, because all the pockets are on the outside, it's the kind of thing where you fill it with everything that you're going to be using while you're traveling or at the office or at the coffee shop. And then you drop that into your tote bag or your, your backpack or whatever. And then when you get there, you just pull that out and you have everything accessible. Your pens are on the outside. You've got your pockets filled with other things. And then the internal compartment is large enough to hold an A5. So you can actually just stick your notebook in there. But if you fill your Sula as full as I fill mine, there's no room and you have to put your notebook somewhere else.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I am known for having design opinions, but I think if you're making like a pouch style in the stationary realm, starting with, hey, let me make a silhouette where the A5 can go in the middle and then build around that, you end up with kind of a perfect size bag. Bag because then you can segment it properly to hold smaller things. But while you're fitting like your biggest stuff, whether you ever use an A5 or not, it's the right size for the stuff. Yeah. And it's doesn't get too big, but it gets like very like conveniently full. Like it just fits the right amount of stuff.

Ana Reinhart: It does. And it does force you because it's pretty slender. It does force you to sort of limit yourself because you cannot put everything in it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Which is why I like their pouch as opposed like they have the bigger totes and then like you're just asking me for me to put like a 20 pound weight in there.

Ana Reinhart: Absolutely. And also it goes back to like the bag is great if you're basically just going back and forth in your vehicle to coffee shop or a meetup or something. But if you are in any other situation, the idea of having like pens on the outside of your bag, even if they're just gel pens and highlighters and that those types of pens, the idea that they're on the outside, like they're going to catch on things. Like that's not, it doesn't, it's not compatible with my lifestyle.

Brad Dowdy: Sure.

Ana Reinhart: So the pouch works better because I can put it inside of particular, like the big joke is that if you have a Trader Joe's near you and you get one of those mini totes, the Sula pouch fits perfectly in a mini tote. Just saying, $3 solution to a $50 problem.

Mechanical Pencil

Brad Dowdy: I know, exactly. All right, this next product, I was shocked to read about. This did not make your list, but I would argue that it should and you might actually capitulate and have an addendum. The Leuchtturm Dreggerfell Mechanical Pencil.

Ana Reinhart: I love that thing. You know what? I think I wrote the review for the mechanical pencil after I did this post.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So it came after. Maybe that's what it is. That is one of the best products on the market. And I still, I've done a whole review. We have the exact same color. We have good taste.

Ana Reinhart: Yes, we do. I saw your review.

Mechanical Pencil

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I still think about why I like that product so much. It's hard to put into words. It's just right for me. Like it just works. It's small. It's sturdy. The twist mechanism is different for like mechanical pencils, right? To have that little twist, which some people might not like. I am still just completely flummoxed why I adore it so much. And I don't know. It's just good. It's great.

Ana Reinhart: I legitimately did not think anyone could improve upon the Caran Dosh mechanical pencil, like that 849 style. I know it's not an 849. It's, they call it something else, but it's an 849. But to, and that is what I think it is. It is like a modernization, contemporary redesign of that same classic, you know, soft hex shape. They're playing with materials and colors. And this goes back to the manufacturers who are experimenting with like finishes and colors in ways, you know. And, and Caran Dosh has always done it. They've put metallics and sparkles. They've put gradients. They've done all these kinds of things. So they've, they've done it. But I think that like charm is just doing it in a different way and being very competitive about it. I think if that's the kind of tool you're looking for.

Brad Dowdy: It's crazy cool. And like, you know, it's a bit of an outlier. It's not for everyone, but I think it would be like a real treat yourself, like type of product, like just to have fun with and have around. And I've ended up using that thing so, so much. And I already, I already love the, the pen, which I literally just compared to the 849 ballpoint. They're so similar in size and just like why they exist. And I don't know, super fan, super fan. Last product I want to hit from you real quick is the one I'm the most curious about. And that's the Mark Inc. Mark's Inc. Notebooks. Mark's Edit. Mark's Edit. Yes. Notebooks. Yes. Tell me about these because I've gotten to test them out from Pilot. So Pilot bought Mark's like three years ago at this point and really hasn't done anything yet. Yes. Allegedly it's coming. You probably know more than I do.

Ana Reinhart: I don't. I wish I did.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: But yeah, that's.

Brad Dowdy: But the paper's pretty unique and like getting to test them, I'm like, huh, that's pretty good. And I love the format. The format's small. Again, back to the Leuchtturm, the Dreggerfeld. They're small pens, small pencils, right? I like them. These are, generally speaking, smaller size notebooks, but the paper is just kind of awesome.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah, it really is. And it very much competes in the same category with papers like Tomoe River and Cosmo Era Light and things like that. If you are looking for a thin, lightweight paper that is really good with fountain pens, Mark's Edit is probably the, probably tops my list at this point. I did, I laugh because I just did a review last Friday, I think, of six Japanese paper notebooks and did not actually compare them to the Mark's Edit. So I'm going to have to go back and like side by side those at some point. But it's very, I mean, it is comparable. It is, they come in like a B7 slim size, a B6, an A5. They have a couple different formats that are in terms of like how they're covering them. But I really like the ones that just have the plain cardboard cover and then you can get a plastic like over cover to put on them that have like a zipper on the side to like, so you can stick stuff in the cover and that kind of thing. But, but, and those, the covers come in different, like the plastic covers come in different colors. The, the plastic covers, like there's a clear one so you can actually just see the, the, the sort of chipboard cover. But they have over 300 pages in them and they're like the size of a Midori, like in terms of thickness because it's that really thin light paper that like very similar to like a 52 GSM kind of thing. Um, they have the really, really light, um, graph grid, like Stology. So, and I'm a huge fan of Stology. So I'm like, if you can up, cause sometimes Stology isn't great with some fountain pens or inks. Um, so it's like, if you can up the game there with the paper and then still have that really light grid where like when you lift the paper up, you almost can't see the printing on there. Um, but when you're looking at a whole stack of it, because the paper is fairly translucent, you see the grid really nicely. I'm like, there's just like, they can't do wrong. And I've been carrying one around as a like everyday notebook, the little B7 size. It's been banging around in my house, my bag for almost a year and it looks brand new.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I keep waiting for these just like continue to just like blow up cause they've been around for a while. Mark's has been around for a while. I've reviewed Mark's products years ago, not the notebooks. Um, but we've reviewed some older models, but they've changed the paper here in the last couple of years. And, um, I think they're pretty great.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah. I do think that Mark's as a company has a couple different paper stocks. So this Mark's edit specifically is they're more fountain pen friendly. So it's, it is one of those things to be, make sure you are getting it from a retailer or a vendor like myself.

Brad Dowdy: So with that, is that the edit?

Ana Reinhart: The edit line, I believe is there the same way that like some people have talked about some of the other companies where they have like their, the, uh, somebody mentioned in my review, the, uh, Kukuyo, um, Sentry notebook. And I think they're not a notebook has the paper that they use in the, um, their Techo, the Jibo and Techo.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, sure.

Ana Reinhart: But it's not the paper that they use in the business Techo. That's different. And I was like, oh my gosh, I did not realize. And they're like, they like the paper that's in the business Techo better because it's a little bit thicker than what's in the Jibo and Techo. So.

Brad Dowdy: Gotcha. Gotcha. If you were curious. Always something. Always something. So, yeah.

Ana Reinhart: And we're so, we're all so picky. We're so picky.

Brad Dowdy: I was like, why is this different? I was like, well, let me ask the company.

Ana Reinhart: I will be bringing the edits to this St. Louis show. So.

Brad Dowdy: Okay, cool. Well, I will get some there and, um, we'll get some, I want to, I want to test out the new ones. Anyway, another reason for me to bring a suitcase, which we discussed in the pre-show.

Brad Dowdy: Brad trying to be stubborn over here. Stubborn and trying to like be, uh, use common sense going to Penn Show. That's just a mistake. Just, just go wing it. All right. Um, we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about St. Louis Penn Show. Yeah.

Pentel Multi 8

Ana Reinhart: It's my turn to ask you about your choices.

Brad Dowdy: All right. All right.

Ana Reinhart: So you mentioned them. I'm laughing because you and I, we just write the same freaking reviews, but the, the Pentel Multi 8.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: It's kind of freaking amazing, right?

Brad Dowdy: It's a problem, right? It should not be good. It should be a bad product. Um, and I held off on years because I was just convinced there's no way this is good. Not only no way is there, is this good. It's like 20 to $30, depending on which, which one you wanted. Um.

Ana Reinhart: For people not to know, the Pentel Multi 8 is a multi-colored pencil, like mechanical pencil, and it has eight different colors and it holds the, like, the 1.1 millimeter leads. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Okay. It's, um, it's so useful. And it works. Number one, it works, right? It has to do that first because it's a kind of a complicated, complicated, uh, pencil, right? In the mechanism. It's just a little bit, you know, there's a lot going on with this, which. And it's chunky. Adds to the cost. Yeah. And it's chunky, but I do like the taper. Or, but how they executed it to where, and you don't know this until I got it. I didn't realize that the full lead piece drops into the bottom. So it remains straight when it comes out of the pen tip or the pencil tip in this case. Where traditionally multi-pens, they have to work around like a nose cone to just kind of squirrel out. And if companies aren't careful, you can get an angle out the tip. Um, all the good ones do it right. And it's, they make it straight, but just the way that pencil works fascinates me. And oh, by the way, it's like crazy useful for like notes. Like I'm not going to like color a bunch of pages. Like I did for the review. Like I colored a full page. Cause I wanted to see like, how long are these cores going to last? And are the colors like moderately rich enough to like hang with the standalone? Like it's never going to beat a singular standalone in color performance, right? For most companies, but it got most of the way there and the quality and portability of it and the usefulness of it. Uh, you know, consider me a fan. I was, I was surprised with that one.

Ana Reinhart: Me too. Me too. Okay. So what else have you got on your list?

Brad Dowdy: I capitulated just straight from the jump. I just wanted to put on here, look, I've been team Safari my entire life and Anna being the main cheerleader for team all-star team Safari got wax this year. Like there's no two ways about it. Team all-star brought the a game. Lamy Lamy brought like a B plus game. They're fine. Like I really love the neon yellow. That's the pen I've been using the most probably like in the last month, the Safari neon yellow, the all-stars are better this year by a pretty good margin. So I just wanted to give you credit for constantly, uh, having team all-stars back. And while I, while I sit over here and pout with team Safari, I was like, y'all have disco and roller skate and I, and I have a improperly capitalized neon yellow pen. Well, what are you doing to me?

Ana Reinhart: When they released the, the, um, the disco one, I must've gotten half a dozen text messages and emails of like, they made your pen. Yeah. It is my shade of lime green with a, with a translucent pink grip section. And I was like, I know, I know they made my pen. I really don't need another Lamy, but yeah, they made my pen. So I'll probably pick one up at some point, but yeah, they did.

Brad Dowdy: Same here. I haven't yet. I don't, I don't have an all-star that I use. I have a ballpoint like, but I don't have a all-star fountain pen that I ever use. I don't own one that I use. I think I have one that I reviewed way back in the day. Um, I will get one of these to, to use. Like I use my Safaris, which is pretty regularly.

Ana Reinhart: I can definitely see you with the roller skate one. That is very, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I think that'd be the one. I think that'd be the one for sure. Um, the other few, uh, I just real quick on these, I was just kind of going back. I was like, Oh, what would I pick? Um, and my, my idea was, like I said, new to us products, right? It didn't necessarily have to be launched in 2026. Like the multi gate's been out for who knows how long. Um, the Visconti Mirage mythos lineup of pens is crazy good. Like kind of a surprise. Again, I love being surprised by products. Um, you can't help being in the position that I'm in or you're in to have some preconceived notions about products. And sometimes like, I'll just make a jump on one that I think like looks good and figure out, does it work good for me? And, uh, this one kind of does all the things. I just love looking at it and holding it and using it. And the performance is great. So, um, that's been a good one. Colorverse Erebus crater is such a weird ink color that it's hard to explain and how different it looks on different papers. And it's definitely been kind of my ink of the year so far, just in, I want to use it. I want to put it, I want to ink it up, uh, and lots of different things. I don't actually have it inked up right now, but it's, it's been fun. And then lastly, this is, uh, April from, uh, design fill slash the penguins post fault. She got me onto the Midori carton opener and I kind of haven't shut up about it yet.

Ana Reinhart: Really?

Brad Dowdy: Cause I didn't know it existed. I didn't know this was a thing. It's super, super good quality for, for what it does. It's really, really small. Um, and I open a lot of boxes. I might need one of these. What I'm figuring out is that it's great for boxes, but I'm using it for like washi tape and cutting some of my pages just on my desk. Cause it's just a little bitty ceramic blade in there. Oh, nice. Um, so I've been kind of like trimming things at my desk cause we all have just ephemera everywhere. And I, I'm actually going to get a second one for my shipping department just so I can have that. So anyway, those are kind of, you know, my kind of quick thinking, uh, products of the year so far, but I unfortunately had to give a shout out to team all star along the way. So it's okay.

Ana Reinhart: I forgive you though.

Lamy Safari Releases

Brad Dowdy: Now it's, Hey, it's not the first time. I can't remember the last time that it happened. It's happened recently where Safari had some pretty bad releases and team all star like brought the, brought their game. Uh, this has been the best year, uh, for team all star. And we're not even talking about flamingo and pine, which were also just like fantastic releases earlier this year. So, all right. Well, I want to talk about the St. Louis pen show. So let's get to that next, but not before we hear from our good friends over at Squarespace. So this episode of the pen act is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all in one website platform designed to help you stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or scaling your business, Squarespace gives you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings with a professional website, grow your brand and get paid all in one place. So I've been using Squarespace for, I don't know, between 10 and 15 years. One of these years I'll actually do the math and figure out how long it is, but it's been forever. It's just so easy for me to use. It allows me to just, you know, put up my posts, add the images and go. I can schedule anything I need. I can adjust everything I need. It's just super easy, super flexible. And I just love like the easy things. Like I don't ever have to worry about, you know, SEO and writing toward writing a certain way because Squarespace's tools just allow for that. Like I'll put a little description in the image and then Squarespace kind of handles everything else. And, you know, nobody wants to build a beautiful website only for zero people to see it. That's why every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, auto-generated sitemap, and more. So more people find your site through search engine results. And then you can offer your services and get paid from consultations to events and experiences. You can showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. Think built-in appointment scheduling, email marketing tools, and more. Plus everything cohesive with on-brand invoices and get paid easily with online payments. I also use them for my online shop, which works very, very well for me. So head over to squarespace.com slash pen addict for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code pen addict to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash pen addict offer code pen addict to get 10% off your first purchase and to show your support for the pen act. Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of the show and all of relay. And this show is about to be on the road at the St. Louis pen show. Not technically, not doing a podcast there.

Ana Reinhart: No, we should have organized that.

Brad Dowdy: I know, I know. I am doing a talk. You're doing classes. So we actually kind of have a lot to talk about. We do. So you're going to be a vendor there, yes? Yes. So the well-appointed desk will be there. What are you bringing? Like literally all of it?

Ana Reinhart: As much as I can fit into our little tiny vehicle. So yes, I will be bringing the marks at it. I will be bringing all of my clear stamps, stickers, washi tape. We will be bringing a selection of products, of course, letterpress products. We'll be bringing an assortment of other items that I have featured on the website on my shop. Some of it is harder to travel with. I would really like to bring the Archer and Olive notebooks. But the way that they package them so beautifully, they're in presentation boxes that have shrink wrap on them, that in order for anyone to purchase them in an event, I would have to disassemble them. And so then they've been touched by other people. And so I don't know that I'm going to bring the Archer and Olive. If someone wants me to bring something specific, let me know and I will pack it. And, you know, we can work stuff out when we get there. But yeah, those are the ones things that's a little bit harder to travel with because they're packaged for online sales, not for retail sales.

Brad Dowdy: So my question from earlier in the show, and you've kind of mentioned we, are you going to have help at your table?

Ana Reinhart: Oh, yes, I am. So I am teaching four classes and one workshop or one seminar. So it basically meant I was going to be away from the table for like four hours every day.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: And I finally was just like, Bob, you're going to have to come. He's like, okay. So anyone who has ever met my husband, he's never met a stranger. He loves everyone. He will be there to help you with your purchases when I am not available. And he will talk your ear off. So you can tell him to shut your pie hole. I got shopping to do. But he will. He's yeah. So everybody's excited to see him. He does not go to a lot of shows because he is sort of peripherally interested in pens, but not like the rest of us.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah, I think the last time I got to hang out with Bob was probably like in Little Rock, like pre COVID times. Like it's been probably like five, six years since I got to see him. So I look forward to that. That's good. I'm glad you have help because all these classes, Anna, tell me about them. Like I am like, look, I am so impressed with what you do for this.

Ana Reinhart: Thank you.

Brad Dowdy: I love your classes. So I've taken the sigils class. We're going to have a link in the show notes to all of Anna's classes. And I'm doing the Gamify Your Life class this time. I've done the sigils class before. I would do the Carve Your Own Rubber Stamps class, but I'm not going to be there on Sunday this year. And then I'm forgetting like maybe one of the most fun is the mini junk journal. So give everyone a little bit of an idea if they've number one or just really in general, if they've never been to a class at a pen show. Like what can they generally expect? Because you put a lot into these classes. I do.

Ana Reinhart: So specifically for my classes, I hope that I have described in my descriptions on in the shop where you can register for classes fairly detailed because each of them is very different. The sigils class is very much a it's they're all hands on. They're all like you get there's an activity sort of involved. Gamify is probably the least hands on. It's a little bit more discussion because it's I think a lot of people leave the Gamify and have to sort of process how they can put some of these gamification techniques into their journaling or their planning or their sort of life organizing. It's and it's interesting. I've had people do the Gamify class who have come in like moms with like teenage or college age kids who they think, you know, already like gaming and and game activities so that maybe this will help them to be to stay better organized to using some of these tactics. And then I've also had other people who've taken the class and then are like, I have to buy an extra copy of the zine to give to friends, spouse, etc. Because they're like, this will very much help them out. But yeah, so the Gamify is probably the most sort of lecture bring paper to write notes.

Ana Reinhart: Ask a bunch of questions. The sigils one you do actually most people leave class with at least one sigil created sometimes more. The carve your own rubber stamps comes with a whole kit to carve your own rubber stamp in class. But then you have materials that you can take home with you so that you can keep making your own stamps, which I guess I'm hoping I put myself out of business, like make your own stamps. And then the new class, this will be the first time I'm teaching it, which is the junk journal class, is a combination of very simple bookbinding techniques and junk journaling. So it's going to touch a little on both topics. I know there's another instructor who's teaching a bookbinding class, but mine is definitely more of a do what you want, bring what you want, kind of walk away from it. You'll have a book that you can use at the end of the class. And then how you want to use it is 100% up to the people who take the class. So that's what I've got. And then I'm doing a seminar on fountain pens for lefties, which I do at a lot of shows. It's like a free seminar that I laugh because they're like, how much time do you need? And I'm like, five minutes. And they're like, what are you talking about? And I'm like, because I don't think there should be any rules, but I help a lot of people who are concerned that like lefties can't do this or they should only have this kind of thing. And so I just kind of, I myth bust.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. No, I think that's great. Like, you know, whenever Myke and you are on, it's one of the few times I've outnumbered with lefties and righties on the show. So it's great. I love you always talking about that because it's nothing to be scared about. Like if you're a left-hander and using fountain pens, like maybe some thoughtfulness. Just think about like how you're going about things. But like, that's about it.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah. And what I've discovered over the years is that oftentimes the issues that lefties have are the same issues righties have with fountain pens in just in different ways. Like we come at them from a slightly different angle, literally.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah. So tell me about your big speaking engagement.

Speaking Engagement

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So they just asked me, you know, I finally, so it's a whole thing. If you're a longtime listener to the Panatic podcast that I can't ever make the St. Louis pen show because it's usually right on my wife's birthday. And we usually take a family vacation on her birthday in the summer. So every year it is lined up exactly where I cannot take it. Except this year, the calendar shifted a little bit for her work schedule and being able to take some time off. And I was like, all of a sudden we weren't taking off her birthday week. And I was like, I guess I know what I'm doing. So I finally get to come to the St. Louis pen show. And, you know, I don't necessarily like teach any classes. Like maybe if I ever thought one day of something I'd enjoy teaching, I'd do it. But they just said, well, can we do just like a Q&A session? And I was like, yeah, I'm open to like whatever y'all want to do. And, you know, I like talking. I like talking about pens. And so Saturday afternoon, it's a free talk. It's called A Conversation with Brad Dowdy, the pen addict, which sounds like I should wear like a suit or something. Like I'm just to tell y'all, I'll be in shorts the entire weekend.

Ana Reinhart: At least wear close-toed shoes. Okay, man?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do. I wear sneakers. You know, I like my sneaker game. But yeah, no, it's really going to be a chill kind of Q&A session. Um, it's going to be, um, moderated by my, uh, friend Andy Kuhn, who is local there. And, you know, he and I, uh, he's, he's done some, um, some podcast stuff with me. Some like, he always comes up with questions trying to stump me. Not on, not like in a trivia kind of way, but like in a, like, what do you think about this? And why are you wrong kind of way? And having to defend these positions.

Ana Reinhart: Well, the, the funny thing is that they reached out to me and said, can we move one of your classes back by half an hour? Because they are concerned that you won't be finished in time.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, take that.

Ana Reinhart: And I, and I was like, you know, I have absolutely no problem with kicking Brad out. And, and I don't think that they realized that we have met each other, that we know each other. And so I was like very flip and they're like, thank you for being so accommodating. And I'm like, oh, just you wait. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And also I won't stop talking unless they actually do kick me.

Ana Reinhart: Oh, I will kick you out. I think it's actually your, uh, your presentation is right before my lefties. So there might not be any lefties.

Brad Dowdy: I see that. Yes. So I end at three lefties at three 30.

Ana Reinhart: So it was supposed to be at three 15 and they pushed me back by 15 minutes. And I was like, I have no problem kicking Brad out. You just watch me.

Brad Dowdy: There'll be no one there and I'll have no one to talk to and you can start early. So there we go. Probably. Well, and there'll be, and there'll be one sad little,

Ana Reinhart: little lefty who comes.

Brad Dowdy: I'll ask you actually, that's what it'll just be. It'll just me learning how to write left-handed, which I did have to do for like. Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: You don't recommend it. Do you?

Brad Dowdy: I don't actually, uh, it was not as bad. My handwriting wasn't as bad as I thought. Um, but yeah, I was happy to be, to be done with that. So, um, turns out when you have to write with the hand, you're not used to writing in your entire life. Pencils are a really good choice because they kind of just like break into the shape of that you're writing in. And then it's like, oh, that actually works. So anyway, I digress. Um, St. Louis pen show overall. What can we expect? It's a good, like, what would you compare it to? Good midsize show, like bigger than like an Atlanta type of show, which I'm just referencing my own personal.

Ana Reinhart: I would say it's similar. I think, um, I think they have a larger main ballroom. Uh, so, and I don't think that they've done like a lot of offshoot rooms. I think they just have a really big main ballroom. So it is consistent in size to Atlanta in terms of, I think the overall number of vendors, maybe they have a few more. One of the things that we had noticed over the last couple of years was that there were a lot, there were a lot of vendors for what should be considered sort of a midsize show. So there are lots of shopping opportunities. And if you have not been to a show, honestly, St. Louis is one that I would recommend for people because it's not as crowded as some of the like DC, San Francisco type of shows that can be very overwhelming. This one, there's more room to move. There's more room to get around. And you're getting a lot of the same vendors that hit both coasts because it's in the middle of the country. So people can come from either side.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. Is there any St. Louis food I need to be sure to check out while I'm there? I don't know. I haven't, I haven't, I don't have the lay of the land or anything I should for sure get. Like if we're going to Kansas City, you get barbecue, right? Right. What do you get in Cincinnati? You're getting chili. What do you get in Chicago?

Ana Reinhart: Oh, God.

Brad Dowdy: Cincinnati chili. Chicago, you're getting the dog. What do you, what do you get in St. Louis? I don't know. I'm going to get St. Louis in my, in my email after this.

Ana Reinhart: Oh, yeah, you are. Um, St. Louis is really well known for, um, doing like a very, uh, cracker crust pizza.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. I think I may have heard of this. Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: Um, and I do think there's some places nearby that do that. Um, they are also.

Brad Dowdy: Does it have like cheddar cheese on it or something like that?

Ana Reinhart: I think they can. I've never had it with cheddar cheese, but it's like really cracker thin crust, which I actually approve of. Um, they also do, what are those? Like the, is it called the butter cake, butter something? Yeah. Yes. Which is very popular. It came from there. And it's funny because, um, in Kansas city at the, when I used to work at Hallmark, they used to make it in the cafeteria and I didn't realize it was actually like imported from St. Louis. This like, um, some kind of, I forget what it's called, but like, it's like a, it's, it's almost like a blondie brownie kind of thing. Okay. But very dense and very buttery, quite delicious, really bad for you. Um, and I joke because there is, um, I'm a vegan. Uh, so there's not a ton of things that I can eat these days, uh, nearby, but, uh, my favorite restaurant in the whole world is 10 minutes away from the St. Louis venue. So I go to St. Louis entirely so that I can eat like a pig for three days. Um, because this it's, um, it's called like. Bombay fast food or something. It's in a, it's a hole in the wall. It's Indian, uh, cuisine. Uh, but they also do non-dairy milkshakes. Mm. And I drink my weight and they are so good. And they do like, they even do some that are like, you know, they do traditional flavors like chocolate, strawberry, that kind of thing. But they also do one that's like rose and basil or something. It's amazing. Oh, wow. So yeah, like very unusual. I dragged so many people there and apparently I'm dragging so many people there again this time. Um, if you're, if you're familiar with an online website called, uh, that's, uh, like for vegetarian and vegan foodies called happy cow. All of the reviews for that restaurant are me.

Ana Reinhart: I, every time I go, I take tons of pictures and I post them. Um, cause there's not, I don't have a lot of, I don't go out to eat a lot. So I get real excited and get to go there. Um, but yeah, it's a nice little place.

Brad Dowdy: That's awesome. That's awesome. I'm super looking forward to it. Uh, I like going to shows I haven't been to before. Um, one of the things I do is I always go through the vendor list. I'm not going to shout out vendors cause I'll, I'll leave someone out.

Ana Reinhart: You'll have to take a full page ad out in variety tomorrow, just like the Oscars.

Brad Dowdy: I know. Um, but that's something, even if you can't go to a pen show and you hear us talking about pen shows, you can pop on the vendors list and you can learn about like some new people. Like I go, I go through it mostly to see who don't I know on this list. Right. So I kind of have an idea of when I go to the show and there's, there's plenty, um, here at St. Louis. Um, all right. Anything else on St. Louis? I think I'm going to wrap it up with a, um, kind of a pen show ask TPA question. That's kind of, uh, related to us talking about pen shows. I thought I'd squeeze it in there. Is that, that okay by you?

Ana Reinhart: Yeah, absolutely. Hit it.

Brad Dowdy: All right. Hunter asks. First, I started listening to the podcast a few months ago and really enjoy it. Thank you, Hunter. I appreciate that. Myke always cuts those parts out. He's just like, yeah, I appreciate that. But like, let me just, let me just cut to the chase. I was like, no, I want to hear it. I want to hear it, Myke.

Ana Reinhart: He's not going to like this episode because I'm on it. It's fine.

Brad Dowdy: He said, in the recent episode, you talked a lot about the upcoming DC pen show. I live about 10 minutes away from the venue and plan to attend. This will be my first show and I'd appreciate advice on which days to attend. I'd love to attend all three days, but I have small kids and I realistically only have time to attend one, maybe two days. Is it better to go on Friday when it opens or wait for one of the weekend days? Thanks for all your help. And I hope to see you there. So I wanted to ask this question in this particular episode, because one of what you said about the St. Louis pen show and being a great show for like newcomers and people to attend. But if you're local to something like DC, you're going to go to DC and that's a different animal. And you answer this question a little bit differently, I think. So what do you think? Advice for a hunter. Let's pick one day or like one slot, like a morning or afternoon. When would you tell hunter to go?

Ana Reinhart: I think if you are new. So like we have always said in the past that Fridays were the day that we recommended because they weren't as busy, but Fridays have become consistently more and more busy. So I would say if Friday is the most convenient day for you to go, I would wait and go later in the day, like go come around one o'clock, like after lunch. Because there's the fervor right at nine o'clock or whatever of people wanting to get whatever that limited edition thing is, the, you know, getting their times in with nib grinders, like those types of things that make that very early Friday a little bit hectic and a little bit crazy that I would recommend if you can only come on Friday, come later in the afternoon. I realize it doesn't give you as much time, but if you do that on Friday and you decide, you know what, I do need to come back, then I would say come back on Sunday.

Brad Dowdy: This is why I asked this question and I didn't prep you for it. Our brains are wired identically because like this is a very particular question that I would answer differently for a different show. But to answer direct to like Hunter's like expected experience to not have a lot of time, have kids, I would not go on a Friday morning and I would go Friday afternoon or Sunday and I would skip Saturday completely. Yes, yes, absolutely. So that's funny. We have the exact same answer. And I think that's like for Hunter's question, I feel pretty good about that answer. And we both said the same.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah. And it's, if your concern is the amount of time that you have and the amount of potential overwhelm, if you are somebody who is ready to be elbow to elbow and just go with the flow and just experience it and very much look forward to that sort of like party environment, then jump feet first in on a Friday morning. But I think if what you're expecting is to be like, I'm not sure what I'm looking at. I'm a little nervous about like, I don't want to touch anything I'm not supposed to or like crowds overwhelming, which a remarkable number of pen people are introverts and a little bit, you know, little neuro spicy. So that can often be really hard. So that's where we're like Friday afternoon, things start to slow down a little and quiet down. And Sunday, first thing Sunday mornings, because people who have three day passes usually sleep in, maybe don't come down right away. Um, that, you know, so that that gives you some opportunities to sort of wander around.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And, and Saturday, uh, never, there's really never a slow window on Saturday. Not even, they're usually like having to kick people out. Like I would say like, like from four to five on Saturday, but I think back and it really doesn't slow down that much. It's that it wouldn't be worth you trying to squeeze in time on Saturday.

DC Pen Show

Ana Reinhart: So are you going to DC this year?

Brad Dowdy: I am not going to DC this year.

Ana Reinhart: San Francisco.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know. Okay. I'm rethinking. I'm not booked for San Francisco. I was not planning on it. Uh, I was waiting for some other things to come through. Those things have come through and now I kind of have a gap there in a San Francisco sized gap in my calendar. That's at an interesting time. So I'm going to start thinking about that. So right now, after this, after St. Louis, I have stationary fest in Brooklyn at the end of July. And then I have our St. Jude stuff in Memphis at the end of September. And then I have Tokyo at the end of October. So I could squeeze something maybe late August, early September, which means San Francisco or Orlando, but that's just a lot.

Ana Reinhart: Yeah, that is a lot. And honestly, I mean, I think that that's one of the things that has come up with vendors, with people who are sort of on the periphery of vendors like ourselves. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, that we're, it's getting to the point where it is a lot physically, emotionally, financially to go to all of these events. And we have to start being a little bit more pick and choose. I mean, you know, even with vendors who are driving to these events and bringing all their stuff, like with the cost of gas is very much influencing some of their decisions on this. Um, you know, I, I always laugh. There's always somebody who'll come up and be like, can you cut me a deal? Can you cut me a deal? I'm like, do you know how much it costs us to get all this stuff a year? Like, you don't have to pay shipping, but you're going to have to pay full price.

Pen Shows

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So yeah, that was my, my impetus this year. This is only my second show this year on purpose, knowing that I'm going to Japan at the end of the year. Like I can't do all the things. No, no. That's a lot. Leading into that. So probably not San Francisco, but I actually do have like almost two months where I could fit like one thing in. So it might be easier to just drive to Orlando, um, which is like a couple of weeks after.

Ana Reinhart: It has not gotten as much press coverage and, you know, sort of amongst our community. So it might be worth doing Orlando.

Brad Dowdy: It's a super, super solid show. I've been twice and they do a great job. I actually really much, very much enjoy that show. So I very much enjoy having you on this show and I will very much enjoy seeing you in person.

Ana Reinhart: This is going to have been the longest that you and I get to talk.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Ana Reinhart: This is how it always works. We'll get to say hi at the shows and maybe have a cocktail in the evening. But like, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I'll talk to Bob way more than I talk to you. Yeah. Well, he's a chatty Kathy. He's a chatty Kathy. All right. If you want to find me and Ana this weekend, after you've listened to this episode, we'll be at the St. Louis Penn Show. So come by, say hi. Don't be scared to say hi. We don't bite. Just each other. Yeah. Yeah. Just each other. We're as shy as all of y'all. So we enjoy hearing from you. So we'll see y'all there. Again, Ana, thank you. I'll have all the links to everything we talked about in the show notes for everyone to check out. And unless there's anything else you have this week, I think that's a wrap for me. You can find everything I have over at PennAddict.com. You can find Ana at TheWellAppointedDesk.com and all links there within. So until St. Louis, say goodbye, Ana.

Ana Reinhart: Say goodbye, Ana. Say goodbye, Ana.