Editing The Pen Addict 284/transcript (section)

== Wrapping Pens ==


'''Ana Reinert:''' and we forgot to talk about the wrapping stuff.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So why don't you go? I think we all kind of do the same thing. So why don't you lead it off there?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Oh, for, and I'm assuming he means wrapping for like shipping purposes. Yeah. So I try to make sure that if I'm shipping a pen, it goes into some sort of box and I wrap that in bubble wrap and then I put it in a shipper. So it's kind of like double, triple, triple wrap. And the same thing for me goes for with ink, but usually ink is in its box, but that's wrapped in cellophane or Ziploc first. And then it's wrapped in bubble wrap and then it goes in a shipping box.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. I do the exact same thing. Myke does the same thing. You know, I put the ink and some other type of baggie first, even if it's already in its box and sealed and then bubble wrap it and then box or bag it. Same with the pen. So yeah, just there's, there's not too much protection you can do. I mean boxes and bubble wraps and, and they'll be safe and sound. I've, I haven't shipped like tons of pens. I've shipped plenty and I've never really had a damage issue from just simply adding bubble wrap to the external box and then putting the ink in a little extra Ziploc. So that works good. All right. Dilly wants to know gifts for those in your life who've shown an interest in your stationary hobby, but haven't made that first step. So this is a popular question. We all get it from time to time. And I think it's kind of good for us to revisit this from time to time, see what our, what our answers are. If there's any changes in the way we think about, you know, getting someone started into stationary. So Ana, what do you think?

'''Ana Reinert:''' My feeling is also trying to determine like in what direction somebody is interested in the hobby. So, you know, some people might want to go more like my, my first feeling was like somebody like my husband might be more interested in like a Fisher space pen and like a Nemesine notepad. So something that's more kind of sort of space age and modern where somebody else might be way more interested in like some black wings and a field notes, dime store edition that feels a little more maker and, you know, a little, you know, sort of more heritage feel, you know, so it's kind of making sure that when you see somebody taking an interest in the stationary hobby, making sure that you sort of introduce them in a direction that you think appeals to them, you know, so that's always one of those things where it's like, I'm always trying to find in what direction somebody will go. So it's like, if you see that they like, you know, I don't know, a homebrew coffee and they drive, you know, I don't know, like, you know, like they like bicycles, like maybe they're going to want more sort of to go into like vintage pens and, and that sort of aesthetic versus somebody who might want, you know, a Lamy Ion and, you know, sort of, you know, wear a Lamy 2000 or something that feels very modern and very, you know, sort of a very sleek aesthetic, you know, and sort of push them that direction and that, that would appeal to them. So it's like kind of always just sort of sussing out what aesthetically is going to appeal to them and, and sort of lean them that direction.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So Myke, I think a lot of people know what you're going to say here, but that kind of fits into what's, what Anna's just said. So what do you think?

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you get your bingo cards ready, uh, retro 51, I think it's the obvious because it's, it's a product that I have used for so many people to help them gauge their interest, right? Like if, and, and you can kind of get someone to be like, look, look at this pen. There was a bunch of different options in it. Just use it. And then everybody uses it. And they're like, wow, this is on the most part. Wow. This is wonderful. And then they're like, they're like, oh, not only does this write so great, they have these million different designs. And I found one that really works for me. So I think the retro 51 is a perfect example here.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I actually skipped the pen route completely and went to the notebook route because I think, you know, even someone might already have some pens that they use and they may not be the best pens and it might be hard to get them to replace them, but they might be used to writing on office copy paper or cheap legal pad or something. So get them a nice hard bound notebook, like a Leuch term or like a Baron fig, you know, something that's cool looking that, you know, it's going to work well with a lot of pens or pencils. And maybe that's kind of the eye opener that they need to say, oh, there's choices out there and this is something different and it's better than what I'm using. Let me explore a little bit more. So that was, that was kind of the path I, I took on that one. So this is a similar question, but a little bit more direct and that we're going to try to get some employee gifts for Nathan here. He says something that would be appreciated, not super expensive and actually get used. That's a challenge is, is the getting used part. You don't want to, you know, you want to get something that's unique enough to where someone's actually going to pick it up and use these things. So Myke, what do you have? Studio neat panel book.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Like that's perfect for, for the office. Really. It's like, I use one every single day. It fits below my keyboard. It's absolutely fantastic notebook. And especially for this kind of use.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So I told Myke last episode off the air that I actually didn't put all of the notes in the show note document because I'd written two full pages in my panel book and I wasn't going to write them back down on there. So I actually use this all the time on my desk. I find it to be a great lap writing pad too. I use it in the vertical format and it's stiff enough to allow me to like sit back in a chair and write. And that's how I write a lot of my notes. So I, two thumbs up on the panel book. I would have gone with that there too, but I'm going with a new release, something that hopefully would be appreciated by the employees. And that's the new field notes resolution edition calendar and to do lists. You know, everyone needs, you know, especially if you're the boss, I don't know if that's a good idea to give them a calendar and to do list. You might be telling them something, but if they're your coworkers, that might work. If not, I would pick the, not the, if not the panel book or the field notes, I like the A5 size spiral pads. For example, we still want it knock the field notes, steno book, something like that. That's a desk pad. That's a good quality pad or the rhodia pads. You know, those would be great desk pads. Those are the type of things that I always used on my desk. They weren't, they were A5 is just the right size for that desk type situation, you know, at an office. Anna, what about you?

'''Ana Reinert:''' All right. By the time I got to this question, I was getting a little punchy and I said food.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think that's an amazing answer actually.

'''Ana Reinert:''' But where I work, what would be a big hit would be black wing pencils.

'''Ana Reinert:''' That would probably be every time people see black wings on my desk, they get, they're like blown away by them. So anybody like any manager at Hallmark that gave black wing pencils would probably be a huge hit. So I would say a couple of black wings and probably a field notes and those would get used.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So this last one is from Sandra and it kind of encompasses a lot of the questions that we've gone through. So this is kind of the summation of, of all the questions. And it's the way to get someone started in this hobby minus the fountain pens. And they, so Sandra wants, Sandra wants to give her family and friends, a starter pen addict kit. So what do you include in that kit? Especially if they don't like fountain pens. So let's see. Okay. I'm going first on this one. So I give them the one of each, if you will, from a group of pens, like the best gel pen, like the Sino DX, Signo DX, the best ballpoint and the Uniball Jetstream. One of the best liquid ink pens, the Pilot Precise V5. I actually throw in the Zebra super fine brush pen because it's so different, but it's a really neat pen. And then I throw in a pencil, a really good quality pencil, like the Uni Mitsubishi 9850. That's still cheap. Like you can get all of that for about 15 bucks. And that way someone has the opportunity to say, I like this. I don't like that. I like this. And then you can narrow it down and go from there, you know, in the future. And then you can give them like one of the small Rodeo test pads, one of the small Rodeo pads to test on. You know, you can probably, you could probably, if you shopped well, you could probably do all that for about 15 bucks, maybe 20 with the pad. So that gets a little expensive if you're doing several of these, but I want to give a lot of options when I'm trying to just throw something out there to see what sticks. Um, so what do you think, Anna?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I thought your list was a really cool approach. Um, I went with, if you wanted to like do an either or, and if you wanted to give somebody like a really good gel pen or really good rollerball. And I, so I thought the pilot juice up, which is a really nice looking gel pen. So if you wanted to just give them one and then like the Rosetta notes, note pad, so you could kind of do like that combination or the retro 51 classic lacquers are really only about $20 each. Yeah. And then the notepad as an option. So I took Myke's retro 51. Sorry. I stole your answer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, that's all right. There's his next one. Super obvious too. So what do you have for this one, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Field notes. Look, I mean, yeah, use them, right? Like this is something that you can give to somebody and like someone doesn't even really need to care about pens and paper at all. And they'll use a notebook. And these are like fun little notebooks, right? Like they're cool designs and they're bold and you can put them in your pocket. Like it is something people will just use. Um, and I think that this is a great start.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. Totally agree. And totally like the approach we did this time on the gift guide. You know, we may go back to the normal next time. We may take a new, a new batch of ask TPA questions. How many links did we end up with Myke? It's a kind of a huge, huge show notes this week. Um, 72. Wow. All right. So I'm not going to touch that. We'll leave that one alone and we'll let you wrap it up. Thank you so much, Anna for making time for us this morning. We really, really appreciate it.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Thanks for your patience. Oh, please.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Patience. Never. We will wait for you forever if we have to. Absolutely. We wouldn't, we cannot do this without Anna. Um, Anna, where can people find your work?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I'm at the well-pointed desk.com and I'm on Twitter as well. A P P T desk.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have to ask you because I can, I never can get the letters in the right order. Neither can I. The well-tapper desk with Anna Reinhardt.

'''Ana Reinert:''' If you go to the well-pointed desk.com, there are links to everything else.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All the things.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Brad is over at notco.com, penaddict.com. He is, uh, Dowdy is on Twitter, penaddict on Instagram. I am iMike. Thanks again to Casper and Pen Shelley for their support of this show. And thank you for listening. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, everybody.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Goodbye. Bye everybody.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Bye everybody.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]