Editing The Pen Addict 583/transcript (section)

== Experiences at Various Pen Shows ==


'''Myke Madison:''' I did Philly, Baltimore, Atlanta, the Triangle Pen Show in Raleigh, DC, San Francisco.

'''Myke Madison:''' That might be it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. Yep. So, you know, we've gotten around to different shows, different sizes. We've been doing this for years too, right? Like this, we've been doing these, a lot of these shows every year for quite a long time. So I'm wondering, what do you see like in the big picture of pen shows that you want to, that can be improved just in the broader sense of things?

'''Myke Madison:''' Yeah. So I had a whole bunch of notes about like building the whole perfect thing. But like, I think, I think something that is sort of in constant flux at pen shows is trying to find the right kind of organization. Mm-hmm. And I mean, of the pen show itself, of the floor and how the flow is. And I think that's one of the things that is, I think, really important for both the vendor experience and the showgoer experience. And I've done both. I've had tables at shows. I've just gone to shows. I've worked tables at shows for other folks. And so it really matters kind of how the spaces are set up. You don't want to have, and this is sort of my take on things, but I don't think you want to have like vintage pens in one place and modern pens in another place because then you don't get that crossover and that cross pollination. You know, somebody might go to a pen show thinking, I just want to get modern pens. I don't care about vintage. But if you make them, if they, if they're going to buy vintage tables and like standing next to a vintage table and getting a modern pen, or they're like, I only want vintage pens. I don't care about modern stuff. But they're, you want them to see that stuff, get exposed to those things. And that's good for the vendors. And it's also good for the showgoers. I think you want to have like the services. I think you want services like kind of together. So put your nib grinders and your repair people, you know, together and in a place that can be found, you know? So as these shows grow, I think a lot of them are outgrowing their one ballroom or maybe two ballroom spaces. And they're adding like ancillary and auxiliary spaces and that sort of thing kind of off to the side. They might be hard for people to find. And that's not great for the people going to the show because they can't find the thing. And it's not great for the vendors because they don't get people going to their table. So I think flow and organization is sort of the biggest and most doable thing that needs to be and is being focused on, I think, at pin shows.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So like number one on my list, and you probably watched me giggling while you were talking, is space. And that just doesn't mean floor space. It means aisle space and behind the table space and, you know, broader floor space and how that all interacts with the flow of the room. Exactly all the things that you're saying because there's nothing worse than going to a Saturday at a pin show, walking into the main ballroom and then just like hitting a wall and not knowing which way to go. And a lot of people, you know, may only have like a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon to get in there and get around. And like I know that's, you know, there's a balance like, you know, hey, it's not like an exact science on how big of a room to get. But there are things like I think show promoters can consider when laying out shows and, you know, get the most feasible flow. So I really like your idea of like a services area, right, to where this area is, you know, for nib grinds and repairs. And it's easier to point people to this place as opposed to, oh, let me go find where such and such is and point you to it or take you over there. And then if you need this other like repair and it's across the room and let me find them and like find the show map and figure out where they're at, things like that. So, yeah, I think those are like super, super smart ideas. What else what else would make your perfect pen show?

'''Myke Madison:''' Two things that are environmental. One is heating and cooling. Oh, man, I know it's got to be tough to figure out heating and cooling in a large convention space like that. But it feels like most of the time we're either being frozen or steamed and neither are great. So, like, oh, man, I hope and this is not something a show promoter can necessarily do. But like hotels have got to nail that down. Like it's 2023. Give me some give me some airflow. But like, don't freeze me. Definitely don't steam the crowd. You don't want that. And the other thing is light. Light is super important in this in these kinds of shows, you know, and there are so many places where you just don't get any light. You know, you'll like hallways and even in ballrooms and that sort of thing, like the light is is bad. So vendors bring your own lights. You're going to need to and shows provide electricity because you're not providing light. You got to let us bring our own lights, you know, and give us electricity. But if we can get some light and we can get some like cool and or warm air, that would be great. This is why I'm loving having you on talking about this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're so right. How do hotels whose whose business is like to comfort people happy and have comfort? No hotel is able to manage an HVAC system in the year 2023. It's like it's like, what are you talking about? It's 800 degrees in here. It's set to 70. It's like, well, I don't care. We're roasting or we're freezing or everyone just went to get their jacket. One of the two.

'''Myke Madison:''' Right. Yeah, I'm asking you to turn the air down and I'm visibly sweating. Don't tell me it's cool already because it is demonstrably not.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The lighting thing cracks me up because it is can be genuinely bad and ruin like a table experience for someone who's not prepared to handle that or doesn't have the access to power or didn't bring lights at the Orlando Pen Show. One of the local vendors is a kind of like a stationery retailer called Sam Flax. They literally bring table lights to sell to the other and like they will sell a bunch of table lights because like it's it was one of the more popular things because like you don't know what you're going to get when you show up at a hotel with, you know, 20 foot ceilings or eight foot ceilings, you know, the light right over your table or you're stuck in the corner where the lights out. Right. So bringing your own and I've started to see way more large batteries for these lights at the table because they also don't have access to power like to, you know, you know, physical power outlets and cables and things like that. So, yeah, that's yeah, that that all came to play just in like the most recent show I was in is like there's dark corners of the ballroom. And I was like, oh, that stinks. So, yeah. All right. What else got?

'''Myke Madison:''' What have we not covered? Oh, so I've got I've only got a couple of things on my list. I hope you have a list, too. We got to get some Brad stuff. I have a few things. I definitely have one that you haven't mentioned yet. All right. So I'm going to go with I'm going to go with this. I think we need some tours at shows. OK. And there are a couple of shows that have been doing this. And like I not to toot my own horn, but I do some of this on video as well. Like when I go to a pin show on Friday afternoon, I'll do a live show tour and talk to vendors and show people where things are. And some of the shows have started doing, you know, time to tours. Like I know Dallas did this a few years back. I kind of hope they've kept up with it. San Francisco is doing it this year with our friend Kimberly. Just like, you know, you can meet up at this time and somebody will take you around and show you around a pin show because so many people right now are coming up to me and saying this is my first pin show. Where do I go? Like, how do I how do I navigate this thing? Or people might say, like, I want to go to a pin show, but I don't. I think I'll be intimidated by the space. And so it'd be really great if we can get some, you know, locals or some other people who are, I don't know, gregarious and don't mind talking in front of people. It's like, you know, a couple of three times a day have like, hey, go with this person. They'll show you around the show. Right. Show up at 1030. Somebody will show you around, you know, that kind of thing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I should volunteer for that more and just tell like a show promoter if I know I'm going to show because that's one of my favorite things to do. Right. Because I can I can only shop so much. Right. I'm there to like talk to people. I like I'm making 500 laps around the show anyway. I might as well bring five people with me and show them what's going on. Right. Because I'm not doing anything like too important. So let me do like every two or three hours. I'll take a group around and and show them around. And I would just be more than happy to do that. Like a lot of shows. I know a lot of shows are doing a fountain pen 101. But you're if you're not there at Saturday at 10 a.m. Between 10 a.m. and 1030. Well, you don't get fountain pen 101. Right. It's not a recurring thing for like the most like basic thing for new customers who like it's intimidating. Like we have both talked to dozens and dozens of people like this is and it can be very, very intimidating in the space in the in the knowledge and just the comfort level of being able to walk around and look at things. How do you how do you walk up to a vendors table and ask about a product or test a product? Right. And then what are the pros? What are the the right way to do these things? Right. So, yeah, I think that's super, super important. One of my things is you need to make everything available to purchase online as far as tickets and classes go to sign up for classes, to purchase show tickets, to have a working functional website. This is right up there with Hotel HVAC. Like it's 2023. 2023. We should be able to buy tickets online and you should be able to sign up for classes online. I don't want to sign your legal pad on the day of the show to go into a class that especially a class that I have to pay for. Right. Who do I pay? When do I pay? How do I pay? Like make it easy for people to sign up for things. And, you know, we're in a pretty modern age. And I think, you know, even it's really kind of cool to see how like how many young people are coming to these shows. And just like you mentioned, the Pelican Hub, getting younger people out there, they're going to be able to go to your website and sign up for it, sign up for the thing. So make that an available option. And it's just a real, real ease of use thing and keep it updated. Right. Like, hey, this class is full, you know, that kind of thing. So I think having a modern website with some basic capabilities to sign up. What do you got?

'''Myke Madison:''' Yeah, I want to piggyback on that and say like show maps. So like Alexander Kramer makes some really great interactive sorts of maps for some of the shows. I love seeing that kind of thing because folks can go to a website, look at the list of vendors, see where they are. Even if things like kind of changed, you know, day of, maybe you have to make some shifts or whatever, but they're not going to be massive. You know, have who's going to be there and kind of where and that sort of thing and what the space, like what the layout is, how many rooms there are, that kind of thing. I think if people can know that going in, then like they'll have a better time at the show.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' One of the coolest things I saw at DC related to Alexander's map. So he did a great map. I referred to it a ton during the show because that show is just so massive. But a friend of mine walked up to me with their iPad that had taken a screenshot of the show map and then annotated the map for and like highlighted each table and just wrote in the name like with, you know, like digitally, like and had like maybe 10 things marked on the interactive show map. So they knew where to go, right, because DC is a complex show to get around, especially if you're short on time or you're a first timer. It's very, very overwhelming type of show. So like someone like literally just like annotated Alexander's map. And I thought that was like the coolest thing. And they were just carrying around with them. It's like, oh, I need to go here next. Boom. And you can get all that done and more efficiently and, you know, figure out which way to go. So, yeah. What else you got? Anything?