Editing The Pen Addict 272/transcript (section)

== Pen Community ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And that's probably my favorite aspect of this. And we've talked about it all the time. And this weekend wasn't just another example in the long list of great examples. It's the people more than anything in this community. Just, you know, being willing to share and pass on knowledge and help like whenever they can. And like, you know, if you ask for help or you have a question, you don't like wait a day or two and someone might jump in. You're usually like inundated with answers or offers or things like that. So it's really cool and it's fun. And, you know, honestly, we're lucky to have you as a part of this community because I think you bring a different voice. You know, you come at things from a different perspective, certainly than from where I come from. So I am able to learn a lot from you and just by watching you and hanging around you and spending the night with you. And, you know, I'm very glad that we're friends.

'''Joey Feldman:''' But, yeah, I'm very glad that we're friends, too. And, you know, I will say this in all honesty, and this is just my experience, you know, as a whole, it's been awesome. But I have had some experiences. And listen, I'm not saying I'm outspoken or I'm a rebel or whatever. But there's been a couple incidents that I've had that, you know, and this is just, you know, people are people that like so Saturday night at the pen show, I got inducted into the Black Pen Society.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Joey Feldman:''' And I hung out with like, you know, the old guys. And we were talking and they were talking about sort of like what we were just talking about, about sharing and passing stuff around and all. And they said how important it is, you know, for this new crew of people to come in to really be nice, to have the idea opened from the old people to the new people. Because, you know, there's technology plays a lot in it. There's new pens compared to the vintage pen crew. And, you know, I've had a couple incidents. Like, look, I'm not – when it comes to the pen stuff, I can't remember half of the names, especially like the Japanese pens. I couldn't tell you the type of nib, the material that it was used. I just know I like to pick up a pen. I like to write or draw with it. And I'm going to come over to you and I'm going to say, Brad, I just laid down some cash for this epic, you know, platinum. And you're going to say, oh, the – and I'm going to say, yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. I have been corrected a couple times, like, where – and I'm a super sensitive, like, only child, like, artist, Jewish kid. So, like, if you say two words, like, I'm going to, like, freak. You know, I've had people, like, correct me. You know, this is not what it is. And I'm sure they meant well. But, like, that type of stuff I don't care about, but I do. And I think, you know, just with all communities, you just have to be mindful of not necessarily what you say but how you say it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, yeah. And I thought it was cool when you came back and told me that you'd just been out there hanging out with those guys and the Black Pen Society guys. And, you know, their grand poobah, Paul Arano, helped out with the Pen Dash event we had, which we're going to talk about in a little bit. So, yeah, I think that's great. It's really important for myself and for them to help bring, like, all these groups of people together because what we do is just fun, right? It's really, really fun. It's a blast. So let's talk about this event we just had this weekend, the San Francisco Pen Show as a whole. But first, I want to talk about our good friends at Pen Chalet. Ron Manwaring, you know, our great sponsor of Pen Chalet, was at San Francisco this weekend. And I got to meet him. I actually met him at the 2016 LA show when I met you. That was the first time I met Ron. And this was the next time I saw him was at this show. So Pen Chalet is a great sponsor of ours. They sell authentic, amazing roller balls, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, so much more. They have all your favorite brands like Monteverde, Pelican, Lamy, Pilot, Namiki, Sailor, Kaweco, and, of course, are an authorized dealer of all those brands. They're fast and reliable customer service. Specials and discounts are always available at least twice a month, including closeout specials every two weeks. They're adding new styles of pens every month. And as well as all the brands, I already mentioned Pen Chalet sells limited edition pens and all the accessories you ever need, like carrying cases, pen holders, refills, fountain pens, converters, and so much more. You get free shipping on orders over $50 in the U.S., and they also ship internationally with very reasonable rates. Pen Chalet has low prices on high-quality pens and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So this is fresh off the press, Joey. I just got this week's Pen Addict deal while we are recording. So what I usually do is I log into PenChalet.com while Myke is reading the ad, and I go see what the deal is. He doesn't tell me ahead of time. So this week, I'm going to go log in. It's apparently there right now. And let's see if I can bring that up real quick. So you head over to Pen Chalet. You type Pen Addict. Hit the radio podcast button. Type Pen Addict as I do this into the field. And this week, we have the Aurora Kappa on special. It's Aurora Kappa rollerball and the fountain pen. This is not one I have used yet from Aurora, but I've seen it. I like the shape and the style and the design of this barrel. And Aurora's, you know, quality is phenomenal. And this is one of their entry-level pens. So the pen is 30% off this week, plus an extra 10% off if you use the code Pen Addict at checkout. So head over to Pen Chalet. They have great pens at great prices, including a great deal this week on the Aurora Kappa fountain pen. Thanks so much to Pen Chalet for sponsoring Relay, FM, and the pen addict. All right, Joey. So what made you come to San Francisco this year? You know, you're down in L.A. You know, I met you a couple times there. And you told me, you know, not too long ago, you're like, hey, I think I'm going to come up to San Francisco. What made you make the trip? Well, I was there last year. That's right. You sure were. That's right. You worked for Van Nass.

'''Joey Feldman:''' I get my... Stop drinking your tea.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I get L.A. and San Francisco mixed up, you know. Big difference. So you must put something in my drink when we're in the room at night.

'''Joey Feldman:''' Well, listen, so I was there last year. And, you know, I was doing some stuff with Van Nass and you. We were all hanging out. Roommates last year also. Yep. That was... Over the L.A. pen show, I thought that that was a phenomenal upstep. So, so much that this year when it was going on and seeing some of the people that were going from online who I've met in the community, it was like, how could I not go? And I hadn't taken a vacation or anything all year. So this was like my only couple days to get off. And I just was so excited. And, you know, if we're going to get into the show, the people that put that show on, I really, like, I applaud them. Like, it was just such a mellow, well-run. It was just an awesome time to be there. Like, I really felt at home being at that show.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. The way I explain it is that you go there and you don't have to worry about anything. Right? I don't have to worry about anything except being there and talking to people and hanging out and, you know, doing my sales thing for Nock and, you know, slinging pin cases. But they make everything else so easy, you know, I can focus on those things and focus on the people and the pins and the events because they do it so right. I really appreciate what Ricky and Todd and the whole San Francisco pin bossy do and Sid for this show. So, yeah, it's from, you know, like I'm tied into it from a dealer's perspective. But from, you know, a customer's perspective, you kind of notice the same things, right?

'''Joey Feldman:''' I, yeah, I mean, every, I got there on Friday morning and the show had been maybe up for about an hour. But every day the show opened when it was supposed to open. There was everything, like, from what I saw was running on time, you know, any classes or seminars you wanted to take, you know, and it was just a general good. I don't think I spoke to anybody that was miserable being there. Like everybody, it was just a general feel good feeling. And the dealers were so easily accessible. The testing stations, like if I was to do a pen show or something, that would be my example of how to do one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I agree across the board. They do a fantastic job. I can't rave about them enough. So from a personal perspective, did you have a shopping list? You know, I know kind of how you just like rage buy stuff. You know, I've seen it in action. Were you there? Were you there with a purpose or you were just going to go berserk if you found something?

'''Joey Feldman:''' Oh, my goodness, Brad. Like it came fast.

'''Joey Feldman:''' The phenomenon of craving came fast. I didn't have any intentions. There wasn't anything like I came there to get some nib work done by Dan Smith on my Pelican M805, which he did an awesome job. I had my favorite Mont Blanc pen, my double B that I got some nib work done by Myke Masayama.

'''Joey Feldman:''' I was on the hunt, believe it or not. And I did get there was a shopping list, but I didn't have anything premeditated. The only thing that I was thinking of was getting those pens done. And I wanted to get a few ink samples. And, you know, I love gold Lamy nibs for my Safaris and Joys. And I found a guy, I think his name was Brian. I hooked up. I got a couple gold broad nibs. And then Lisa had got me another medium gold nib. So that was my plan. And then I started walking around. And I tried a Nakaya Sumi desk pen. Yeah. And, you know, I got the glaze over my face. Like I just ate white donuts. I came running back to you. I asked Catherine from Slack. I think I asked Tanya. I said, I just would say, you know, desk pen, Sumi. And I'd say it was 1,050. And everybody, not anybody, nobody blinked an eye and said, whoa, that's kind of steep. They said, oh, that's not too bad. Oh, that's not too bad. 1,050 for a pen. Yeah. So I just needed to calm down a little bit because that would have been it for me, you know. Right. So then I remember telling you that. And you said, well, why don't you try a Platinum? You know, go get a Platinum. Same nib, you know, supposedly. So somewhere from you telling me that until the time I got to Brian Anderson, Platinum had become Sailor. And I don't know how that happened.