Editing The Pen Addict 151/transcript (section)

== Pen Shows ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is another interesting question from Mitchell Hislop. He said, if there are no pen shows near you, any worth traveling to? That's an easy question. Yes. And he says, is it worth noobs starting their own? That's a super interesting question.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't know. You want to say yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But I haven't had time to, like, formulate my thoughts on that answer. But I thought it was a really good question I wanted to throw out there. And, you know, it's, yeah, I don't even know what to say to that. I think it's an interesting idea and worth exploring. But pretty tough at the same sense because there's already kind of, like, a tour around the country of pen shows, you know. And fitting something else in separate from that would be an interesting idea. I think it would do well to pose it more as, like, a convention type thing. Like, pen con or something like that. So, I don't know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, looking at the amount of people that came to this, I think, in a couple of years' time, we could do our own. I genuinely mean that as well. A couple of hundred people.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, no, I think about it all the time and have different people come in to speak and do more than just, you know, have, like, a pen show. It would be more of an event, conference type thing, if you will, than just a show. So, yeah, I think it's certainly worth continuing conversations around that because of what we saw this past weekend.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Speaking of seeing, wow, that was really good of me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, look at you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Golly, I'm professional.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This week's episode of The Pen Addict is brought to you by Warby Parker. Glasses should not cost as much as an iPhone, but way too often they do. And this is where Warby Parker can help. If you go into an optometrist and you go and get your eyes checked, I know that last time that I did this, it set me back, this was a few years ago, it set me back, like, the equivalent of, like, $450. Sure. To get my eyes checked, to buy some frames that I liked, and to get the lenses that I needed with a scratch-proof coating in them, right? That's how much it cost. Warby Parker's prescription glasses start at just $95. This includes lenses. These aren't ugly, cheap-looking designs at these prices either. Because Warby Parker, they make great-looking stuff because they believe that glasses should be viewed as a fashion accessory, just like a bag, a shoe, a necktie, a hat, or even a watch. And, of course, at prices like $95, you can have a few pairs and you can choose from them, right? They want you to look good in your glasses, and you will with Warby Parker glasses. They also have a titanium collection. These are all made of Japanese titanium with French non-rocking screws, and including prescription lenses, these are at $145. See, I say about the premium materials and you think they're going to be way expensive, that's $145, including lenses. And all of Warby Parker's glasses include anti-reflective and anti-glare coating. This is at no additional cost. They all have a come of a hard case and a cleaning cloth. There's no additional stuff that you're going to need to buy. But the best part about Warby Parker and their experience is the home try-on. Brad, you have done a home try-on for Warby Parker. Can you talk me through what you did?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I'm a glasses guy. I've worn glasses for 35 or more years, I'm guessing. And I've never been a contacts guy. I just like glasses. I don't like contacts. And it's just my thing. And Warby Parker's style has always been something. I've enjoyed the style of glasses. Speak to me. So I did the home try-on.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I picked out five frames from their site. You go through. There's a little... It basically walks you through the process on their page to do the home try-on. And you pick out the different frames. They send them to you in a box. I think it came in like two days. It was super fast. Two, three days. Open up the box. And all these different frames that I picked out online are there for me to try and stand in front of the mirror and have my wife either love them or make fun of me for the weird things that I picked out. I try as hard as I can. I try to pick something different than what I've always worn, which is like a tortoiseshell plastic frame. Just a real traditional looking style. But, you know, that's what Warby Parker does very, very well. So I picked out five frames. Started trying them on. I got the wife and kids involved. We're all looking at them. And we all came to the same conclusion, which I was hoping for the most. And it's the most different frame than what I currently wear. And it's called the Nash, where the style is very traditional. But I'm getting it in the clear crystal, which I've always wanted clear crystal glasses. Not just because, you know, I'm fascinated with Andy Warhol and he used to wear those style of glasses or not because I'm, you know, like a preppy deep down inside and love that style. But it actually looks really good on me. I think I can pull those off. And, you know, I like to do something a little bit different. So I've got the Nash clear crystal frames coming. And it should be pretty sweet. I'm kind of excited about this. It's going to be awesome.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because I guess the good thing is, right, with the home trial and you pick all the ones that you like, and maybe you wouldn't necessarily go with these, even though you've always liked them, but you can show them to your family. And they can tell you if you look good.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm laughing because Shireen said demonstrator glasses is what I'm getting. Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about that. That's hilarious. That's good. So, yeah, I got other people to take a look at what I had going. And it was really awesome. And then when I was done, the next day, I just threw them back in the box. They give you the UPS label, prepaid stuff. You just pop the label back on and drop it back off. Like I dropped it at the UPS store and it was gone. So, they make the process really, really easy and simple to do this. So, I'm looking forward to getting these glasses.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Awesome stuff. You should go and try this out for yourself. It's just, you know, there's no harm in trying. Once you basically can order the home try-on for free. Then once you place your order, Warby Parker will get started on them right away and have them in your hands within 10 business days. They usually arrive even quicker than that. Go to warbyparker.com slash penaddict to choose your five free home try-on frames. Send the frames back, choose your favorite pair and order. By visiting that URL, warbyparker.com slash penaddict, you'll get free three-day shipping on your final frame choice. Warby Parker makes your experience completely risk-free with free shipping all around. And you will also be contributing to a charitable course as for every pair of glasses sold, Warby Parker distributes the pair to someone in need. Thanks so much to Warby Parker for supporting this show. That URL again, warbyparker.com slash penaddict.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, so we've got a final few things from our favorite online follower, Mr. Toffer. Had some great questions for us, Myke. So, the first one we've covered. What was the pen you regret not buying at the show? I actually have no regrets and I'm really happy about that. I'm really just genuinely satisfied with what I went for. What I got, what I came home with, and what I'm using now. So, that was great. So, that's the last of the legitimate questions.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Now he wants to know, I saw a bunch of you went to a Waffle House. What other bad decisions were made?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That was one of the best decisions any of us made. And we made it daily and there were no regrets whatsoever. No regrets. From the Waffle House.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No regrets from Waffle House at all.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so that was Myke's first Waffle House experience. You know, he didn't get the full scattered, smothered, covered, chunk, diced, and topped. And apparently there's some new thing they're adding to the hash browns. But I think you did pretty good there, Michael. What was your take on the Waffle House? Five-star restaurant?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I enjoyed it. Like, the waffle was good, right? And I just, on two occasions, I had waffles with bacon. Because a lot of the other things did kind of intimidate me a little bit. It was in the parking lot of the hotel. Like, you know, you couldn't not do it. Oh, yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It was totally within stumbling distance.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Although, I did love the hotel breakfast.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, you were all about the hotel breakfast. I couldn't drag you away from it the second day. And I got some grief for being a Southern boy and choosing that over the Waffle House. But we did good. Hotel breakfast was good, too. Yeah. So, all right. Taffer also wants to know, I see that Jeffrey Seamster was there. What did he steal by hiding it in his beard? Or is that strictly for contraband?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I love Jeff's beard more than, like, I think, members of my family.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, there's a good story about Jeff's beard. And that was when we were shopping. I think I may have told this story once already. Jeff and I went. He wanted me to go walk around the show with him on Sunday afternoon. And at that point, he had his newborn one-month-old baby with him. So, he strapped the baby to, like, the chest holder. Like, the baby Bjorn is what kind of the normal term for it is. So, it's just a holder so that he can have his hands free. The baby's sitting on his chest. And it's got a cover over the top of it. So, you actually can't see the baby. It looks like he's just walking around with this patch on, the pouch on the front of his chest. And the beard's so long, it drapes over the top of that. So, as we were walking around the tables, I was telling the people that he's, like, stuffing stuff into there under his beard. Just so everyone can't see it. It's not really a baby. We're just, like, pretending and, like, swiping stuff. Which was obviously not true. But it was funny to walk around with him looking like that. Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly.

'''Myke Hurley:''' My favorite thing is to watch Jeff eat some stuff. Because you don't see his mouth open. So, it looks like he's just shoving things into his beard. Yeah. Like, chips. Or what I would call crisps. I was, basically, he was eating some crisps. And every time he ate one, I just burst out laughing every single time. It just looked so funny to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, everyone enjoyed the beard. And the beard's gotten so much love. I don't think it's going away anytime soon. Taufer also wants to know, did anyone overdress? You know there's always one person that does. I don't think there was. I think we were all dressed appropriately. It's super casual. Comfortable. You're going to be in those clothes all day. Which was unfortunate for me and Myke. Because it was a long day of being in those same clothes. So, you know, I might have to pack a little bit differently if there's another pin show. Because I was getting ripe towards the end of the day. Yeah, maybe we just need to.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm not afraid to say that. Maybe we need to institute mandatory t-shirt changes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. When we're going from like 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. It's going to get a little bit rough by the end of the day. But there was never any overdressing. But it was solid.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Taufer did say one more nice thing. And these other things are nice too. But he did have one more question. He said, did the NotCo table sell out? I hope it did. You all make great stuff. And I wish you the best. That's super nice. We sold out of some items. But we planned properly. So we didn't sell out. But we sold a crap ton. Way more than I would have imagined. And I had nothing imagined ahead of time. But it was a huge, huge success from Nox perspective. And I'll talk that a little bit more when I do my write-up. Just because a lot of people are asking how we did as a company there. So that was super. So I want to wrap it up with one more item, Michael.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was going to say about the selling out. Yeah. If we would have sold out, I don't think any of us would have lived to a tale. Because you brought a lot of stuff. And if you would have managed to sell out, I think that we would be having a very different kind of conversation right now. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We'd probably be hooked up to IVs like dehydrated.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't think I would have made it home. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We'd definitely need some fluids if we sold out because that would have been just crazy.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep.