Editing The Pen Addict 269/transcript (section)

== Ask TPA ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So real-time follow-up before we get into our Ask TPA section of the show. I opened up my email while you were reading your Squarespace ad. And from our manufacturer, I went down to the shipping department yesterday because I did not get a shipping report. 40 parts were made. They will be sent out with what they get made today. My response was, well, then I hope today is 400. So this is my life right now. Oh, God. Because 40 doesn't cut it. No. They owe me 700. So let's add a zero to that, guys. Come on. Oh, Brad. It's fine, Myke. It's all fine. I hope so.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. Let's do some Ask TPA today. I want to start with a question from at Slim Targa, right? Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Great question. And I don't even know where you found this because I never saw it until you put it in the doc, but I'm glad it's here.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'll do what I can. How is the relationship between the Black Pen Society and the new media pen enthusiasts? All right. Okay. Let's back this up a bit. I had never heard of the Black Pen Society until DC. From what I can gather, the Black Pen Society seems like a group of old school pen vendors and enthusiasts who have this kind of secret club, which seems to be all men.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. So I'm along the right line. Which is this kind of ridiculous thing with a bunch of people that think they're being really cool. And it's an old guard thing, for sure.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's, you know, it's like the old vendors and they're having their cigar club. And it's something that I couldn't be less interested in if I tried because that's not the type of life that I want to live at a pen show. I want to be having fun with everybody in the bar and not having it being a part of a secret society. So I will say, though, at this show, I did notice that there were a bunch of people that would usually maybe be a part of this society that were more interested in trying to learn what we do. And coming and hanging out and trying to understand a bit more about the podcast and social media stuff. I don't think that there should be any secret clubs or societies. I think that we should all just enjoy this stuff together. So that's my feeling on that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, so I can see exactly why those are your comments. But it's not quite that way. And they're trying to change it, even though they don't know exactly how. So the Black Pen Society was started, you know, as a group of mostly men who saw each other at every show. And then every year at D.C. was kind of the the main event for them because it was the big one. And they make like a lapel pin they give to everyone. Basically, all you have to do to be part of the Black Pen Society is they ask you, do you do you own a black pen? You say yes. And then they give you a pen, a PIN pen. And it's very cool. It's these neat pens that they do every year. You know, I forget how many years it's been around. So there's a core group of guys that do this. And a few years ago, you know, I learned about this at D.C. And kind of like what you were alluding to, I just didn't have like time in my schedule to go do this event. But on at other shows, I've tried to hang out with these guys and get to know them a little bit better and kind of have this crossover. And I've become friends with a lot of them. So Paul Arano runs the Black Pen Society. I've become good friends with him. And so it comes around to D.C. I've got so much going on. It's not even on my radar that, you know, whatever. I guess it's Saturday night, Friday night. I don't even remember which night. I think it was Saturday night. So it was going on outside. And people started coming to me inside, including Paul. He's like, hey, we're doing this Black Pen Society thing outside. Why don't you all come? It's fun. I'm like, that would have been great if I was aware two hours ago. You know, maybe I should have been already. And we could have rounded up some people all gone out there and met some new people. Because they're a really good bunch of folks. It's not all men. There's plenty of women out there.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, this is just the impression that I got from it. Like, it just seems super weird.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Understandably so. Understandably so. You know, and it's definitely the old guard. It's definitely very old school and traditional. And there's, you know, scotch and cigars and stuff. But just making an appearance, you know, like I tried to. Like last year in D.C. I went out and hung out for a while. But it was after the, it's usually last year was during the Pen Act event. But they were still going after the Pen Act event. So I went. This year was during the Topgolf event. And we didn't have much. I wanted to go. I wanted to talk to people at the bar because I knew I wasn't going to be there much later. So instead of going out to the Black Pen Society, you know, I just hung out in the bar with my friends. You know, if I would have even considered it earlier, I might have planned better for that. But, you know, they're looking for fresh faces and new blood and other people to just join them. And there's really no joining to do. It's just kind of a hangout. And D.C. is always the big one for that. It's where they give out the pens every year. So everyone enjoys that. But, yes, it is a little old schooly male dominated, you know, whiskey and cigar thing. But it's changing it a little bit. And they're trying. Like, I give them credit. Even though they're not like super hard trying. They're like, hey, we want y'all to come. You know, y'all being, you know, like us and, you know, the pen attic crowd and the younger people and the people who are just into modern pens, not vintage pens. It's a definite for everybody thing. Cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, so maybe I missed some of it. But I just, it doesn't feel inviting to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Because, I mean, what did you know about it other than them coming in the bar saying, hey, this is going on. Come on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Nothing. Nothing. And that's not how we work, right? Like, everything's nicely communicated. But I like the idea of, like, people trying to understand a little bit more and bridge the gap, right? I think, you know, I think it kind of needs to come from more of that side because I think they need to understand a little bit more of what we're trying to do. I don't know. But, yeah, it just seems super weird to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The big joke last year for us, because we were doing the pen attic thing in a ballroom and there were a bunch of us sitting there and we actually said we're the black sheep pen society. So that was, you know, something we got a big kick out of. But it's really, it's just something fun. They're trying to get everyone together, but they just, there's no real official way of doing it other than, hey, we're out there. Come on. And, you know, a lot of us don't roll that way. You know, a lot of us are like, hey, what's going on tonight? Oh, we'll be at the bar testing pens. And even though you can get up and walk away from that for 30 minutes, it's not the easiest thing to do, especially when you're hanging out with your friends that you only get to see at this show and they might only be there tonight. And you get to go hang out with a bunch of people you don't know. So, but I do try to make the effort whenever I can, especially at other shows besides DC. Okay. You know, I'll go and hang out and sit with them and talk to them and hear some stories. You know, I've definitely made some good contacts and learned some things. You know, now I have people that I can go to for questions and things like that. So it's a good, it's a good group that doesn't know how to cross the bridge.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, now I know for next time. So I'm pleased that you gave me that information. Yep. Cool. Yep. BD Margulius asked, I know that you guys really love your Pro Gears. Have either of you had a chance to try the Pro Gear 2? If so, how did the two compare? I had no idea such a pen existed. So I did a little bit of research and it turns out that there is a new version of the Pro Gear.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it's been around two or three years or so. I've never seen one. I've never seen one in person, but I've seen them online a bunch and I just don't see any reason why I would get this pen. I don't like the clip design of it. I mean, it's fine, but I just like the traditional one better. Mm-hmm. You know, it's a little bit aesthetically different. It's cleaner.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't know if the original Pro Gear is cleaner than this one, I think.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And while this is supposed to be a modernized version of that, right? Yeah. You know, that's the way I see it, but it's not necessarily. No.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't like the clip. They put this anchor on the clip, which makes it look like a duck spill.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, yeah. Which Pelican can get away with that. Because that's their brand. Not Sailor. Yeah, it doesn't work for me. And the nibs are inverse of what they normally are on the Pro Gears. Most of the Pro Gears have the gold braiding in the middle of the nib throughout a rhodium nib. And this is reversed. It's a gold nib with the silver plating throughout the little braiding and rope design on there. So I don't know that I've ever even used one at a pen show like DC at the bar. I don't know anyone that owns one of these. So, you know, it's just they didn't. I think it was something they were trying to. Let's have like a modern version, even though they don't need to. You know, a modernized version of the Pro Gear or do something a little bit of a different tweak. But I think it just kind of felt flat. And I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, we didn't see it in a couple of years. Plus, I think it's only in like the black and gold, black and silver trim. They don't do all the crazy colors like they do in the Pro Gear because it's a better pen. And this one basically kind of fell flat. And before you go on to your next point, which I'm excited to get into, BD Margolis has actually been who brought us the pens and notebooks from Japan. Oh, okay. Which I didn't realize that till this morning he was asking me a different question. I was like, oh, wait a minute. That's Ben. So, yeah. Very cool. So, you have a continuation of this question that I want to get into a little bit.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm pretty shocked. I'm pretty shocked at how this went. So, tell the people what happened.