Editing The Pen Addict 677/transcript

{{Infobox podcast transcript
| name            = The Pen Addict
| number          = 677
| title           = I Don’t Do Ratings. 9/10
| date            = August 6th, 2025
| hosts           = [[Brad Dowdy]]<br>
[[Myke Hurley]]
| guests          = 
| link            = [https://www.relay.fm/penaddict/677 Episode 677]
| audiolink       = [https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/mgln.ai/e/613/clrtpod.com/m/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thepenaddict/The_Pen_Addict_677.mp3 Audio Episode 677]
| length          = 73
}}

* From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode 677. Today's show is kindly brought to you by Enigma Stationery and HelloFresh. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by the pilot himself, Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad.
* I don't know how to take that. Am I the pilot of the plane or am I the pilot of the pen? I follow you on Instagram, so I know you spent a lot of time on planes. I did. A lot of unexpected time on planes, which I think we'll talk about later on in today's show. Yes, and in airports. Yes, yeah. Airport Brad was in full effect, at least for a day last week, which I am back from the Washington, D.C. International Fountain Pen Super Show, all caps. I think that's the official name, which is one of my favourite, favourite names going in. It is just so extended. That is unnecessary. It does seem like a show that can, like, warrant the name Super Show, though. Agree. Right? Like, of all the pen shows, it does it. Yeah. Yes. For what we do, like, outside of, like, some of the Japan stuff that are just massive on a different scale. Like, this is one of the ones. Might be the biggest. But we'll recap all of that in this episode. I actually have a lot to talk about. The short version, it was a great trip, of course. So, but first, we have a couple of little bits of news. Myke, usually by, like, this episode, beginning of August, we are, like, knee-deep into planner season. And that's always, like, a funny joke that I think is hilarious because all of the planner companies are launching their 2026 products now. Yeah. It makes me feel like a bad business owner because, like, I am just not in any way focused on this. But this was just a smart decision for me. I won't date anything. I ain't dating it. So, you can't catch me. I ain't doing it. So, you know. Yeah. And it's the buying things now for not to hold for the next, you know, three or four months till you start to use them. I always find kind of funny. But, like, I get it. It makes sense. It's like, these are not ephemeral, like, evergreen products they're selling. These are usually, like, to your point, dated products. But my point being, I'm usually, like, pretty dialed in on the start of planner season, which I usually think is August 1st. That's when the news starts coming out, even if products aren't launching till, like, September. Yeah. And I think part of that is because it is when Hobonichi does their preview week. And that's the biggest, right? Like, everyone's watching what Hobonichi does. And they're starting to do some of their pop-ups are getting scheduled for, like, the pre-release stuff. Like, last year, I got to go to Yoseka Stationery Fest. And they did a preview. The Stationery Fest happened to be the week before the official, like, public launch. So we got preview stuff of it. And, like, there were NDAs, like, we were signing and stuff like that. But it was great. Like, it's cool seeing all this stuff. So, and I, like, look, I'm a stationery lover, even if I'm not using, you know, a planner or, you know, which we'll do in a whole other episode on planners and calendars and stuff, you know, maybe in September or something like that. Once I see everyone's work come out. But I wanted to talk about a link you sent me while I was away in D.C. And I'm a little perplexed. Do you want to read this? You want me to read this? No, I'll read it. It's a couple little screens. It's maybe, what, 300 words from Hobonichi. It was one of the Instagram posts from Hobonichi where they're basically, like, talking through the process of the products this year and buried in this. Not buried. That makes it sound bad. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, it was straight up buried. I had to comment about that. Straight up. It was like the eighth slide on a carousel. No, it's buried. Sorry. Let's, okay. It made me mad. I can tell. But let me just say, right, like, all right. It's the eighth slide on this carousel. And we are talking about the paper. Now, I would argue the people that truly care about the paper, they're going to go and look at it all. Right? Like, I know that there's a lot of concern about the paper. Right? I understand that. But my expectation is the vast majority of Hobonichi customers don't know. Right? I have no idea. I agree. Nothing. So I feel like, I feel like the people that wanted the information about the paper were going to go get it because they were going to be pouring through everything. Anyway. But yes, it's hidden. Like, it's hidden. But I think because, look, if I'm Hobonichi, I don't need to make this a big thing for 100% of my customers. Right? Well, maybe you write a better... Let me read it and we'll start. Yeah. Okay. As you can tell, I'm angsty about this. I can tell. I can actually tell. I can feel it. I feel like I'm talking to the Instagram comment section of this post right now. Brad is like the LLM of that comment section. You know?
* All right. Each year, we collaborate with the paper company that makes Tomoe River Paper, as well as the printing company in charge of printing and binding, to make various adjustments to things like the way the paper feels to write on and the durability of the book binding. For the paper we used, for the paper used in the 2025 edition we released last year, we heard from a number of users who experienced ink bleed through on the other side of the paper. We immediately contacted both the paper and printing company in order to investigate and carefully reviewed the situation. We confirmed that the paper was manufactured with long-time established quality control standards. But the fact remained that customers were contacting us with concerns about the ink bleeding through the paper and feeling disappointed in their experience with their tech shows, which we take very seriously. For the 2026 edition, we worked closely with our partners to make thoughtful adjustments to the paper in order to minimize ink bleed through as much as possible, while preserving the unique characteristics of Tomoe River Paper that so many users love. There's a delicate balance to the Tomoe River Paper's characteristics of being thin yet sturdy and smooth to write on. We did our best to maintain the balance while responding to the concerns we heard from our users. At the same time, we kindly ask for your understanding that the feel of the paper will vary across different writing instruments in the environment in which it is used, and that there may be some very slight differences between paper manufactured across different production runs. We have always strived to create a tech show that everyone can enjoy, and we will continue to dedicate ourselves to this. If you notice anything that concerns you with the new Tomoe River Paper, we would love it if you could let us know. Thank you for using the Hobonichi Tech Show. How much confidence do you have? Are you inspired by, like, I'm going to get a great product reading this from Abonichi? I think me and you are coming at this from a very different perspective.
* So I read this, and I think that this is perfectly fair, because I feel like I understand what has happened here. I think it's clear in what they're saying. They went to Tomoe, and Tomoe was like, no, it's all good. And so then what are you going to do? Because I've been in these experiences. I have no argument with that. Right? I have no argument with that. And so you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Your customers are telling you it's not good enough, but your paper manufacturer is telling you, no, it's fine. And so then what do you do? And so now what they've attempted to do in the intervening time is work really closely with Tomoe to create a product that tries to address some of these problems. They know it's not going to, 100%. You just know that because you just can't, right? Like, there's been a change. If the company is not willing to go back to the original paper, which we know, it's always going to be different, but maybe you could tweak it. And that's what I get from this. And they're just like, look, essentially, we've done the best that we can do. And we can't prepare for every scenario. And what the thing that they're not saying is we're building a product that's better for all users, the best for all users, rather than trying to cater to one specific. That's how I read this. And I can't complain about it because of my experiences in this kind of stuff. Yeah. What this implies to me is a lack of confidence in the product that I'm creating. So if I took a sticker on every, if I was required to put a sticker on every notebook that said, we kindly ask for your understanding that the feel of the paper will vary across different writing instruments in the environment in which it used, and that there may be some very slight differences between paper manufactured across different production runs. If that was a sticker on the front of every notebook, how many notebooks do you think they would sell? How many less notebooks do you think they would sell? Way less. But this is also not different to any other notebook that's ever made by anyone.
* So it's just, they're stuck. This is just the truth of paper production. Right. It does differ in the environments that it uses then. It does differ depending on the tools that you use. And it's a science. It's a chemical science. Like you can, and I've experienced this, this is true. Some papers, they feel different on each side of the paper. So, yes. But the problem is, is that a single notebook, if you and I both buy the same notebook, we could have different experiences. Yeah, but it depends on how different. And that's the problem. No, but like, that's the problem. I agree with you if it's that simple, but I don't think it's that simple. They're just trying to cover themselves. That the amount of difference is going to be small, but will be perceptible to a certain type of person. Like, the amount of difference between notebook is not going to be like insane, is it? Right? Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's going to be perceptible to the minority purchaser, right? Like, the most nerdy of us are going to notice, and then the majority of the purchasers are not going to notice this. I just... Like, reminder, just real quick reminder. The most popular pen used in the Hobonichi Techos are the Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot Friction. So, those papers, those pens are going to be fine. Look, my... I kind of... I don't know. Look, people can do whatever you want to do, right? But like, I think people that are in the know to understand the benefits of the tomorrow paper, they know what happened here. And I find it frustrating that there is so much anger being taken out on Hobonichi. Yeah. There's nothing they can do. The company stopped making the paper. What do you want them to do? What I want them to do is say we believe in our production processes and we believe we're going to give everyone the most... But they don't. Right? Because they've been blindsided. You believe in the production processes of your products. I believe in the production process of my products. And... Barrett, let me tell you right now... That doesn't mean that they're not going to work for everybody. If Munkin tomorrow said, we're not making links anymore, I would... And I had to produce a thousand notebooks tomorrow, I would not feel comfortable in my production processes. Right. Because I would have to pick another paper that I have not had enough time to test. Right? Right. And that is the situation that Hobonichi were put in. Yes, I disagree. I think they've had enough time. Yeah, but still, until they ended up coming to a solution, right? Like, they had a solution. It just wasn't the same. But, like, what are they supposed to do? You know this. No one makes a paper like Tomoe River. Yeah. Right? No, yeah. What they're supposed to do is say, hey, we've tried and tested. We have full belief in the usage of this paper. Are there going to be instances where it's not, you know, perfect for everyone? Yes, but we believe in the product and the printer that we've chosen. And this tells me it's like, ah, you're going to buy this product, but you're on your own after that. And from a company, like, that just spells a lack of confidence in my own product, which means as a consumer, I'm less interested in purchasing that product because I don't know what I'm going to get. If I don't know what I'm buying, I'm less confident in making a purchase.
* That's how I read this. Yeah. Yeah. That is a read on it. I mean, I read it as a company that's been through a lot. Right? And their customers. Yeah, this is not easy. Right? I don't want this to be happening. Right? Yes. And I just feel like they are taking a route, which is like, they are not confident to make any assertions because they know as well as me and you know, you're not going to get what you want if what you want is tomorrow. So they don't want to say it's all good, gang, because it ain't for those people. Right. And like, realistically, if you want Tamoe River paper in a Tetra, just in a notebook or whatever, or like you didn't like the Tetra, you just don't buy the Tetra in 2026. Yeah. Because you're not going to be happy. But what else are you going to get? I don't know. Yeah. I'm going to go back, and this is related but unrelated to years ago when all this happened. And the biggest mistake anyone ever made, and by anyone I mean Sanson, was continuing to use the Tamoe River name. That was a mistake from the beginning, and it continues to just be a mistake to this day. Yeah, the result wouldn't have been any different, though.
* Right? Yeah, they would at least have had a better out and a less just set expectation of what that word is. It would have been easier to say Tamoe River just doesn't exist anymore. Yeah. And now we're using T2 paper, right, or whatever. Yeah. It would have been easier for some people to understand. However, I still go back to the people that even knew the name. They know what's going on. Yeah. And that's also, and I think that's our biggest takeaway that we both agree on is that we're definitely in the minority paper nerd realm of how these products are going to perform. And I am confident that if there was a solution, they would have moved to it. I think this is the best they can do.
* And therefore, I will buy a different product. Yeah. And you should, right? That's my point. Yeah. But ultimately... Their marketing is making me buy a different product is my whole point to their commentary. But is it for them? Is it better that... I think it might be better that you do. Because for Hobonichi... Right. Right. If they have to shed that, a portion of their customer base, that might just be what they need to do. Rather than having to deal with this forever. I'm tired of dealing with that guy. Realistically, those customers will start to come back in 27 and 28 because this paper doesn't exist anymore. So, like, if you must have a Tomoe River Notebook Journal, you are on, like... This is like... I once went to a bar in London that we like called the American Bar. And it's like a cocktail bar in the Savoy Hotel. I have seen videos of this, yes. It is a wonderful bar and they make great amaretto salads, which is Zidina's favorite cocktail. And so, she likes... We like to go there for special occasions. And the bar is very beautiful. It's very fancy. And the cocktails are relatively fairly priced for a place like that. They're not... Sure. You know, they're not expensive. They're not cheap. They're kind of middle. But they do have an expensive section in their menu. Right. And this is where there's alcohol that's, like, super old or whatever. Right. Sure. And I was once looking for a cocktail in the menu. And I saw something that said the cocktail name was Margarita Market Price. I was like, what does that mean? And then I realized, oh, this margarita is made of a tequila that's so rare. They can't print the price because it changes every day. All of this to say, that's where you're going with Tomorrow River. Eventually, you will buy a journal, a Tomorrow River journal. It won't cost you $17,000 because you're down to the last reams of paper. There's our next product is Notebook Market Price. No, Market Price Notebooks. Name that product. Market Price Notebooks. That was funny to me. I was so close to asking the waiter, what is in the margarita market price? Oh, God. Can you imagine? That would have been an embarrassment. I'm not sure I ever would have been able to live down. Yeah. You wouldn't have been joking. You were dialed into the words at the time before you realized the meaning. Because it was absolutely not clear that it was the price even. It looked like it was the title. It was all written in the same font. It was all bolded the same.
* Margarita Market Price. This isn't all, though. I think Hobonichi is doing something really interesting. They're making an app called Lifebook. Yeah, and I miss this. This got sent to me just last week.
* Because I think it was supposed to come out late last year. Or no, late this year. I don't know. I just got the notice of it. So what do you think about this app? So it's essentially, ostensibly a journaling app, right? Yeah, they're making a journaling app. I know it's on the iPhone. I'm not sure if it's on Android.
* Which surprised the heck out of me. No. Given the market. Because there's a good reason. Okay. Which I'll get to. Oh. So I'm looking now. I can't find anything that says where it is. But if it's on the iPhone only, then I understand why.
* Sorry, I'm looking through their post here. Yeah. It just says smartphone app. But I can talk about why I think they made this app. Which is, over the last couple of years, Apple built the journaling app, right? They have also since made an API that other journaling apps can use. Oh, okay. This API allows you to bring into a journal app a bunch of information about what your phone has done in a day. So your fitness information, the locations of where you've been, imagery that you've taken, what your calendar looks like, how many steps you've done, music you've listened to, podcasts you've listened to. So this is all collected on your phone and can be given to a journaling app, right? Gotcha. So it makes a lot of sense for them to create this app. Because what they're doing, I think she thinks is a really nice mix. You know, it is a journal app. You can just use it to journal. But they're using... Digitally without the paper products. Correct. But they're using it and they're talking about it in a few ways. So like, one, your phone's always with you, like me and you've been talking about. Sure. So if you've got something you want to say and you don't have your journal with you, write it down now and you can write it in your journal later.
* They recommend people that use the Techo or I guess... Is the Cousin also? It's just a different shape, right? But they're all journals, aren't they? Yes. Yeah. If you use one of the Hobonichi products, I'll say, they recommend using the Lifebook app as a way to prompt you for things that you might want to write about in your journal. Because they have a way of surfacing this information of the stuff that you've done in a day. They have a thing where you somehow can print images from the app from your phone. I guess to like a sticky label printer or whatever. You get those little printers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you will print them in a size that then they will fit in the boxes in the Techo so that they're like sized to the book.
* It's all good, I think. I think this is a great idea. I think they have a better overall product and marketing story here than other companies who make paper products that are now just making an app. Right? Because they're trying to make it as much a companion to the paper product as it could also be a replacement to the paper product. Yeah, that's super smart. Like Moleskine's always had like, they have like an entire app suite, but it never feels like I've wanted to use that in conjunction with like a Moleskine notebook or something. Yeah. And given the design of the app is fantastic. Yeah. Like it looks so good looking. Like the typography is good. The way that they're showing like metadata in the app is good. They've done a really good job. Yeah. I was looking in the app store just to download and play with it just to see what it's about, but it doesn't look like it's quite available yet. But it looks like later this year. I think it's going to be like 4-2026, right? But like launch later this year. Yeah. It's coming in December. Yeah. So yeah. Interesting. We'll see how that goes because, you know, I like to use journaling, the Apple journaling app. I don't use it like all day, every day, but like there's definitely needs. I have it like when I travel, sometimes I'll put things in there that I want to handwrite in my journal later. And like seeing what other external applications, like a lot of people who journal and do like creative journaling or travel journaling will use like the little sticker printers. Like I have a little Kodak sticker printer that, you know, syncs to my phone where I can put the pictures in. So yeah, I'm interested. I'm interested in just seeing what it is. I don't know that I necessarily have a use for it, but I'm super compelled. And if anyone can, you know, if anyone can make this make sense as like a combined product, right? To where, oh, we'll, we'll use these things together. I could see Hobonichi pulling that off. So it looks pretty cool. Yeah. Never forget the creator of Hobonichi used to be a game designer. Yes. Yeah. And never forget that Hobonichi is a public company. So they're never going to say the things that I want them to say.
* I don't even know if it's being a public company, Brad. Yeah. Like you got to protect, got to protect the shareholders, Myke. I don't know if it's as simple as that. I really don't. And that kind of, I don't know if you're joking or what, but like that kind of stuff can be frustrating to me sometimes. Like I know I am kind of joking. Hey, pilot and sailor are both publicly traded companies too. So I'm just playing. I just think that like, it would be lovely to live in a world where businesses could talk freely and openly to their customers. And like that work. But it just doesn't like, I wished it would. I wished it did. Oh yeah. Realistically. It just, it just doesn't work that way. Correct. This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh. You probably have heard about HelloFresh. They send chef crafted recipes and fresh ingredients to your home. But this summer they made their biggest menu upgrade yet. This isn't the HelloFresh you remember. It's bigger because HelloFresh has doubled its menu. You can now choose from a hundred options a week, including new seasonal dishes and recipes from around the world. You can dig into bigger portions that will keep everyone satisfied. It is healthier. You can feel great with an even healthier menu filled with high protein and veggie packed recipes. HelloFresh now helps you eat greener with new veggie packed recipes that have two or more veggies and it's tastier. You can get steak and seafood recipes delivered every week for no extra cost. There's three times more seafood on the menu now at no extra cost. You can discover new seasonal produce every week from snap peas to stone fruit to corn on the cob and more. Over the last decade we have used HelloFresh so many times at home and it's always such a great experience. The quality of the food is always great. Their instructions are fantastic. And we've also really valued that like you get the recipes. Like we've once you've cooked something you can just recook it at home. I've said so many times and it is absolutely true. HelloFresh gave me the confidence to learn how to cook. Like I can cook things because HelloFresh gave me the confidence and the ease and the experience to do it. As well as because I made it as easy as possible. They sent me all the ingredients. They sent me everything pre-portioned. Took a lot of the stress away of trying to get it right. I could learn the kind of the techniques and then I know that forever. It's fantastic. I love HelloFresh. I really recommend it. The best way to cook just got better. Go to HelloFresh.com slash TPA 10 FM now and you'll get 10 free meals. I think the FM is for free meals. So that's how you remember. Nice. And a free item for life. One per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as a discount on the first box for new subscribers only. It varies by plan. That is HelloFresh.com slash TPA. I'm going to do that again, Brad. HelloFresh.com slash TPA 10 FM. And you will get 10 free meals and a free item for life. There will, of course, be a link in the show notes in case you need to click that. Go click that and go check it out. Our thanks to HelloFresh for their support of this show and all of Relay. Yeah, that's crazy good and crazy, crazy good deal. We've been using HelloFresh, you know, for the last, I mean, we've used it ever, like, I don't know, maybe five years, unlike you, maybe 10 years. But I've been using it quite a lot. And we've actually had a couple of boxes delivered here in the last month or two. Just as a mix it up. Like you get stuck in a rut with like your normal dinner production, especially like with us, my wife and I, and having two kids. It's like, oh, what are we having for dinner? It's like, oh, that again. It's like, well, we can get some HelloFresh in and have something different. So, yeah, we definitely mix that in with our regular eating. So, Myke, we got a shout out of the week. Shout out of the week. Don paper. Can you believe it? Don paper. Still going out there. Chad, I talk to you every once in a while. I'll see Chad pop his head up. But what caught my eye this time. So, Don paper, if you've listened to the podcast for any length of time, or especially in the beginning, I was a very, very active user of Don paper. Yeah. I was my go-to notebook, especially for like gel ink pens and things like that. It was my work notebook for years. Something new is cooking. And I follow, of all places, Don paper on Tumblr is still like in my RSS feeds. And this image just like randomly popped up. Newly imagined large, newly reimagined large idea journal. So, the large idea journal has always been my favorite product. So, there's something cooking. We'll see what Mr. Don is up to. And I look forward to seeing what this turns out to be. So, compelled, Myke. I'm interested. You sent me this next link. This is the last little topic. And this just kind of expands on some of the things I've been saying recently about Lami and the Mitsubishi Pencil Co. acquisition of Lami. Holy cow. This Karomi edition. What more do you want in a product, Myke? I don't understand what's happening, right? Like, I don't know this character. I don't know, like, what the deal is here. And I don't know if there is precedent for this. But what this does indicate to me is the Japanification of Lami is coming, if it isn't already here. Like, these collaborations with characters to this degree. I mean, there's always been an element of this, right? Like, I'm looking at two Pokemon Lami on my desk. But, like, Pokemon is worldwide. Maybe whatever Karomi is, is too. But I don't know. I think it's a Sanrio character. It's a Sanrio character? Okay, then. I mean, I probably should have guessed that. But there you go. Okay. Yeah. It's beautiful. So, we're getting this from Ink House Hong Kong. They have an in with somebody. Because they get a lot of this really cool Lami collaborative stuff. They did the Pokemon ones, right? Ink House? I think they did the Pokemons with, like, the Bulbasaur and, like, the Charizard and that whole set. There was, like, four of them. Yeah, yeah. I think this was the company that did that. Last year, they did. With the greatest ink cartridge packaging of all time. Yes. Where it looked like little Pokedex. Yeah. And, like, last year, they did these little, like, a blue edition and a white edition. Like, when these light light up boxes. I forget the exact name of it. But they do some, like, really interesting collaborations that they have a direct line with Lami somehow. And it's just really, really good stuff. This is, like, top tier level stuff. And they are way into this one. So, yeah. Like, this is just super cool. So, I love it. So, I did not see any of those at the Washington, D.C. pen show. Myke, are we ready to get into this? Yes. It was awesome. I had a really good time. Just overall. So, D.C. has had, like, up and down times over the past decade that I've been going there.
* For the pen show. You know, sometimes it's generally always, like, really good. Like, the people in the vendors are always really good. But sometimes, you know, there's, just like it could happen with any show. You know, just hotel issues, layout issues, process issues. I thought D.C. ran really well this year. And that's just from my perspective. And I'm wondering, you know, I've gotten some other feedback from other people. And I haven't really heard, like, a lot of negatives. Sure, there's, like, going to be some small things. But there was no deal breaker type of stuff. And in general, I think it was just super, super positive, if I can say anything about this show. I had a super positive experience.
* It was well run. It was huge. And I think let's, I'm going to break this down a little bit by day. But it's really just kind of a one day recap, which will make sense as I go through this. But, you know, like Myke mentioned at the beginning of the show, I had some trouble getting there. Um, weather at the destination airports in D.C. Ended up having to close them down for a few hours. Ground stop from thunderstorms. So we rerouted and sat for a little while at a different airport. In the end, I didn't have that bad of a travel day compared to a lot of people. Like, I was delayed by about five hours or six hours, I think. I think I was supposed to get in around 3, 3.30. I got in about nine. So, and I could see the whole time, like, I was going to get there. Like, I didn't ever have any fear that I was going to get canceled or, you know, held over, like, even longer. But a lot of people did. So a lot of people did have some issues. And I bring this up, like, the travel stuff is, like, the least important part of the show. But it actually did affect a couple of, it did affect my show and a couple of other things in a very oddly positive way. Even though, like, some people were very, very delayed. So some people didn't get in there until Friday night. Is that why it was positive? Was there someone you didn't want to see? No, no, no. And you were like, excellent. This is so much better. The delays led into some change of plans. And it ended up being good.
* Yeah, it was Hobonichi. It was Hobonichi. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they didn't make it. No, I'm just kidding. That was a joke. They weren't on the list.
* So Thursday, I literally, I had planned on going to the show hotel Thursday night, getting my badge and getting all that stuff taken care of. I just went straight to my hotel. So that's, I was at the off-site hotel. We'll go to the, at the end of my little recap here, we're going to do a little pros and cons list. That's one of the cons was the hotel situation, but it's not the hotel's fault. It's more of a me problem. That's a Brad problem. Brad didn't put the hotel quick enough. Right. We'll talk about that for sure. So, yeah, that was a me problem. But anyway, so I just went to my off-site hotel, which was like five minutes away, like by car, like super, super close. So I just went and then got up early and went Friday to get everything done, to get signed up, signed in, to see a couple of the vendors that I had mentioned in our preview episode. First thing Friday morning before my first class, which is at 1030, I think, Friday morning. So as I mentioned in the preview, one of the things I wanted to do this year was to take more classes. So I had booked myself three classes for the DC Pen Show, two on Friday, one on Saturday. So with my first class at 1030, it was 10 or 1030, whatever. I had about an hour. So the show opened at nine for weekend pass holders, which I was one. Show opened at nine. So I wanted to be there to get my badge first thing and go see the vendors I wanted to see. So the front desk, the registration desk didn't open till nine. You couldn't really get yourself ahead. But it only took like five or 10 minutes. Very short line, very efficient. They had like three or four stations where you could get you checked in and get you on your way. We we've seen in years and you I think you were there one of the years where the lines, you know, down the hall and out the door type of situations. Yeah. So there's been some bad set up, but they seem to have that dialed in. I don't know that there was any real issues. I never saw like an overwhelming line that looked like it was going to take like an hour or two to get through. Right. So it's so props to that. So like that, the check in registration was good. So I went immediately to Hanabi Glass, which I mentioned last week that I wanted to see the glass dip nib pens and see if I wanted to get one. I was pretty convinced I was going to get one, but I still you got to see these in person. You got you have to check the feel of like these glass dip nib pens. And because I my idea with wanting to get one is that I wanted a writing glass dip nib pen as opposed to like an ink swatching glass dip nib pen to where I could write a control more controlled line. And so I knew Hanabi had some pens and there weren't many options for glass dip nib pens. And I'd already seen Hanabi and met the maker Lucas at last year's Yoseka Stationery Fest. So I was familiar with the products and like the price point, which I think they're very expensive. So I wasn't prepared to buy one last year, but I'd done some more thinking and done some more research and more planning and spent some time there testing out several different pens and came away with one. Like I bought one. It was great. Super happy about that. And, you know, I'll be using it and taking the pictures of it. It's it's beautiful. And it writes a really, really nice line. I just broke it out yesterday for the first time. Yesterday was the first day I unpacked. So as we're recording on a Wednesday, I didn't unpack any of my pens until Tuesday. I've just been busy. So it's really great. I enjoyed it. And like that was my goal right from the beginning. And then after that, I just kind of looked around. I wanted to get a lay of the land. And there were new rooms in the layout of the hotel for the show. So this show is definitely already outgrown this hotel and added on to that this year with a let's see one, two, three, fourth room kind of. But the room worked out great. And we'll talk more about like the layout in the pros and cons section of this. But I thought it was generally positive. And the flow worked good and getting people to these other rooms. So I did that. Just walked around, kind of saw some people, talked to people, and then went to my class, which was wonderful. It was sketching with fountain pens. I wanted to do some more like creative classes. Like, I mean, I guess most of the classes you take at a fountain pen show are of the creative variety. But you know what I mean. I wanted to explore like drawing and playing with color or journaling. So those were the classes I focused on. So with the Cloudy Desk, Claudia did an amazing job. The class was full and engaged. And they are an amazing teacher. And I really, really took a lot away from that. So that was like an hour and a half class. And it just flew by. Like, Claudia just did such a good job teaching. And I recommend their classes if you ever have the opportunity to find the sketching with fountain pens class. I learned so much from that that I'm going to take away from it. And then it was showtime. It was just walking and seeing the other things on my list, right? So it was seeing the new Shone Design Monarch Evo, right? That was at the top of the list. So it was great. It was. So when you look at pictures, and we'll put a link in the show notes of what we discussed last week about it. So my biggest question was weight and diameter of the pen. Like, is it too heavy? Is it too wide in what I'm looking at? And it was neither. It was balanced very, very well. The weight was excellent, right? It didn't feel like too heavy. He had some pattern ones. Like, he had a guilloche one. And then, like, kind of a hammered one. They looked beautiful. The nib has the kind of integrated Monarch tipping on it, right? So it has that really firm Monarch shape into there. If you're not familiar with that, go look at that online. Like, I have a Monarch nib. It's a wide and wet nib, generally, even the finer ones. So I thought they were fantastic. And I got to talk to Ian about them and the manufacturing of them. And he was showing me, like, all the stress testing videos they were doing. It was pretty wild.
* In short, it was impressive. Like, it's really, really good. And I think they sold, like, really well. It's a very expensive pen. You gave me a nice shout-out for predicting the price well last week. So, but I think for people who were looking into, like, cutting-edge type of stuff, like, I think that kind of checked all the boxes for what people were looking for. And I know he had a pretty good weekend selling those. By the way, it's like $1,000, right? $1,100 for the standard. And then when you get to, like, the pattern barrels, like, the machined barrels, like, with the guilloche pattern, $1,300. So, and I had guessed $1,200 last week. So I was right in the zone.
* So, yeah, they look great. And, you know, got to see other cool products, like, from Analog Notes. Launched a new pen there. Got to see Bruce from Bungu Box. Kairu wasn't there. But I got to see Bruce. And Inky Rocks was there helping Bruce, which, if you're not familiar with Alyssa's work on YouTube and Instagram. I know I've linked to them several, several times. And just awesome, awesome people finally got to meet her for the first time, which was great. And then, Myke, the ramifications of travel kicked in. And I was asked to teach a seminar at...
* So, let me explain this. This is a larger, like, there's a little bit of explanation that has to go on here. So, I was asked to teach a seminar by Lisa Van Ness on planner systems, right? So, like, what types of notebooks or notebook systems, I guess, is really what it was. You know, the difference between, like, your standard, you know, journal-type notebook versus, like, a traveler's notebook or a plotter notebook or disk bound, ring bound. All these different types of systems, right? So, that was the impetus of the class. So, the part you need to know is that there is an area at the DC Pen Show called the Van Ness Pen Lounge. So, it's downstairs, which, like, location doesn't matter. But it's a large, say, like, gosh, how many people could fit in there? I bet you could fit, like, 100 people at, like, round tables and desks. It's, like, the size of our podcast room in Atlanta. I'm just painting this picture for Myke. But with round tables, right? And, you know, eight chairs per round kind of thing. So, what this space is designed to be is a chill space, which is very, very valuable. That's one of my biggest, like, recommendations. If you're making a... If you're creating a Pen Show from scratch, you want to have, like, a quiet chill space, right? So, that's what this room is for. And it's also for free seminars that Lisa schedules with people throughout the weekend. So, this one happened to be Notebook Systems. And it was going to be done by Joe Crace from the Gentleman Stationer, whose flight got delayed. So, she was panicking. So, she got me. She got Lisa from Olive Octopus Inc. in there. And she got our friend Sim, who goes to a lot of Pen shows, to explain some Notebook Systems to the people who were coming to this scheduled seminar. So, these are free talks, if you will. And they're designed to be educational for people to learn about something that they're interested in. So, I did that, along with Lisa and Sim. We did that for about an hour. So, that was fun. But, yeah. It was like, I saw Lisa and just like, hey, what are you doing at whatever time it was? 2.30. I'm like, nothing. She's like, can you help me do this? And I was like, sure. So, it was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like teaching. I like getting up in front of the people. And spoiler alert, there will be more. So, I did that. And then I just walked around the show a little bit more, figuring out who I needed to see, what I wanted to look at. And spoiler alert, even with Friday and Saturday, I never got everything done that I wanted to. So, we'll do that in the conclusion part of this episode as well. So, my last class of the day was at 5 o'clock. It was Inky Messes with Aziza. I spaced out the classes on Friday since I took two classes that day. I spaced them out one in the morning and one late in the day. So, I would have time to do show stuff, which was very enjoyable. And the Inky Messes class, Aziza from Gourmet Pens does that at many shows. And I hadn't taken this class yet. And it was really, really cool. So, I learned how to basically manipulate ink on the page to make it do different things and give it different looks. And it was a very creative and very messy class and very fun. All the teachers I had this week just made everything super fun and engaging. So, that was it. Went out to dinner. Hung out with friends at dinner for a while. Went back to the hotel lobby, which was packed on Friday night. I didn't leave the lobby until about 12, 12.30 and went back to the other hotel. So, there were a lot of people staying at the alternate venue. And so, it was easy to catch rides back and forth. So, just headed back over. Like, it was one of those days where I was at the show and including dinner, even though I went out. I was there pretty much from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. And it was like an epic, exhausting, like brilliant day. I have never been so tired on a single day at a pen show. But it was just like going around and doing things and talking to people. On the flip side, DC will do that to you, right? Just the volume and the pace and the brain power it takes just to walk back and forth. Like, I made a plan of people I wanted to see and what rooms they were in. And I was super inefficient, right? So, like I cost myself like a lot of time and energy going back and forth like the squirrel that I am. But it was okay. Like, I had a lot of fun. It's like, I want to see this. And it's back in that other room. And then I want to see this. And it's, oh, you were literally just in that room a second ago. And so, yeah, a lot of walking back and forth. It's a big, big, big space to get around in. But it was great. So, that was my Friday. Saturday started about the same. I didn't have to get there as early because I didn't need to check in. So, I just got there about 9, 930. My first class was at 10.
* So, I just chilled out. Saw some people that I didn't see the previous day. Did a creative journaling class with Tom from Sugar Turtle Studio. It was an absolute riot. Tom's the best. If anyone's taken any of his classes, you know how it goes. And his sense of humor is just, like, right up my alley. It's hilarious. And so, that class was from 10 to 1130. Before I started that class, Myke, I get a text from yesterday's friend, Lisa Van Ness. She's like, hey, what time do you get out of class? I was like, 1130. She's like, can you teach a class at 1130? Oh, my God. And on beginner fountain pens, like fountain pen beginners class in the room? I was like, yeah, sure. So, I was into it. Like, I didn't mind. Who was supposed to do that one? I think she was supposed to do that one. So, she was actually there. But they were so busy, right? She didn't have, like, enough help, right? At her tables. And her tables, you know the hallway where we got stuck in, the famous picture? Yes. Like, that's where her tables are. So, it's just, like, slammed the whole time. I have a funny picture of just, like, the crowd around her and her just going, like, you know, giving, like, the shrugged shoulders. It's like, what do I do? That's very funny. That's so funny. So, this one, actually, like, the planner one that Lisa and Sim and I did, we could just wing that, right? But the beginner class has to have a little bit of structure, right? Like, because you're going, this is a pen barrel, right? This is a nib. This is how the nib works. You're disassembling the pen. So, you got to have a little bit of order. And I just did it. Like, I just did it. And I had so much fun. Well, I mean, I would have said that this is the class that you can more easily do off the dome than the planner one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
* Yeah. So, we just, like, went from the beginning. And I had so much fun. Everyone was, like, super engaged. Like, the funniest anecdote, which, like, it's probably not going to land if I tell it over the podcast, but I'm going to do it anyway. So, we gave away, Pilot donated a bunch of Pilot Plumix fountain pens. So, everyone who was in this class got a pen and a fountain pen cartridge to play with. So, you know, they could learn a little bit on how to do this. And so, the Pilot Plumix is just a little plastic barrel pen. And you unscrew it and you put the cartridge in, right? And then, so we're going through all these descriptions. And everyone's, like, super engaged. And they're, like, they've never, some of them have never, you know, put a cartridge in a fountain pen. So, you have to walk around and help them, like, you got to be kind of forceful with this. Okay? So, then we get into more, like, anatomy of the pen. There were no abs discussions in there, just FYI. But the anatomy of the pen and writing with the pen. And then we get into cleaning. And so, everyone's, you know, was asking questions. And we're going through cleaning. And someone says, do you ever take the nib off to clean the pen more? And so, we discussed how some pens you can do this easily. Some pens you can't. And so, I took the Pilot Plumix. And if anyone's familiar with the Plumix, it's literally just, like, this easy friction fit nib. It just slides right out. So, we're talking about how some pens you don't want to do this. But some pens, like this one, are very easy. So, I took the pen in my hand that was already inked. And I picked it up. And I just pulled the nib straight out the front. And this lady in the class goes, like, she, like, freaked out that I just, like, yanked this nib right out of the thing. And we all just started dying. Like, dying laughing. It was, like, literally. I was, like, yeah. It's, like, that easy. It's, like, it's not magic, right? But that's how beginner we're talking here. Like, not knowing how to put in a cartridge in the pen. And, you know, not understanding that some of this stuff is disassemblable. And then, like, freaking out over, like, me pulling the nib off of, like, a pen that's designed to be removed. So, it was great. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. And would do it again. So, I had a blast doing that. But, the fallout from that, and I don't mean this in a bad way, is that I was in class from 10 to 1130. And then I taught from 1130 to 1. And then, so, I really didn't. And then I hung out afterwards for show and tell, right? Because people wanted to learn about other pens or see some of the pens that I had brought and why is this different and things like that. So, I really didn't get to the show proper on Saturday until almost 2 o'clock. So, I was just kind of, like, running around like a madman seeing the last few people I needed to see. And there was so much I didn't get to see. So, again, these bigger pen shows, and I said it last year at San Francisco, which is, I think, a little bit smaller in scale but just as crowded with people. So, it's definitely the two biggest shows in the U.S. Like, I might have needed, I might have to think about one more day for both of those events just because there's, I literally came back with a list of people who I never even laid eyes on. Yeah. Right? It was fun. Like, I got a comment. So, I came back and I put up a giveaway on the blog. If you're listening to this this week, I'm giving away Papier Plume's showing. They always make a great DC pen showing. So, I bought that because I wanted to give it away on the blog. It took me, number one, it took me forever to find them. Like, the maps were great, but sometimes you just kind of get in the loop and couldn't find them. You know, or you just don't think about it at the time. Like, you get overwhelmed and there's a lot of people around and a lot of hustle and bustle. So, I eventually found and bought my ink. But I put up that post. And in the comments section of the post, it's like, how did you even find them at the show? I was there and I never laid eyes on them. And I thought that was kind of perfect because there are literally people there that I wanted to see. Like, relic pens. I saw a bunch of people posting their relic pens. I could not tell you where they were at. I never laid eyes on them because I would have stopped and looked at their pens. So, for me, maybe I think about doing a little more. Consider that a little bit of a success for the show. Because, like, you know, a lot of the shows that I've been to, I feel like halfway through day one, I've seen everything. Yes. I like the idea that there's a pen show where you would conceivably not see everything. Because that means that enough other stuff was going on or there's enough interesting things going on that you can kind of... Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's not a complaint. And it's like, yeah, I didn't... But, like, you know, halfway through the first day, I was like, well, I've looked at all the stuff, some of it twice. Now what? Right, right, right. So, yeah, I took three classes and I taught two classes or one and a half, whatever. But, like, so I enjoyed my time doing that. And the converse of that means I don't get to see all of the show floor that I wanted to see. And that's okay. Like, I got what I wanted, right? I bought three pens. We'll talk about that in a second. But, yeah, it was... I'm coming away, like, highly, highly positive. This was like... I don't do pen show ratings like Kimberly does. But just on a simple rating, this was like a 9 out of 10 or, you know, just... Right. I thought it just went super well. And the amount of vendors that they have and, you know, the different types of vendors they have, the amount of classes that you have. You could go to this show for three days and take a class pretty much the whole time and never having seen the rest of the show. So, yeah, like, we're actually getting a question in Discord, which I was going to cover. It's like, does this make you want to teach a class? It absolutely does. Even if it's just the, you know, the free, like, seminar classes. I don't know that I, like, would definitely, like, bring a value for, like, a paid class. You don't want to do, like, paid classes for, like, beginners or, you know, just like, you know, here's a few things you can look at and type of things. So, yeah, it was one of the better shows I've been to in a while. And I think it's because I did a lot of things for me, right, which I also, like, have a challenge with. Like, we can... That's a different podcast, right?
* You know, but I really did a lot for myself this weekend. And I came away with just a huge smile on my face. And that was kind of my goal. And I'd say it was successful. So, to cap it off, I left Sunday. Didn't go to the show at all Sunday. And easy travel home. So, they made up for the travel. We got in early flying home. So, travel home was simple. All the weather was gone. And I don't know. It was just great. I had a great time. I had a great... I don't want to fluff it too much because DC has some challenges, which we'll get into here in a second. But, yeah, it was great. This episode is brought to you by Enigma Stationary. Enigma Stationary offer unique items made from in-house designs along with top brands and hard-to-find imports. Maybe you're sitting here and you're like, oh, man, sounds so good to go to a pen show. I missed it. Well, you can always go to look at Enigma Stationary's products. It's like a pen show that's happening 24-7, 365 days a year. And then we tell you, Pen's Desk Select is back. As the resident teenager of the Enigma family, 13-year-old Pen is always looking for new and exciting items to share with fellow stationery lovers. Pen's Desk Select is their curated box of new items inspired by a central theme. And the theme, Volume 3, is Cosmic Dreams. And it features 20 items that they chose while staring up at the night sky. Each box has a total value of over $150 but is yours for just $99. And there are 20 boxes available. So there's not many. You can go and pre-order now and your box will be shipped in September. If you want free U.S. shipping or discounted international shipping on all orders of $50 or more at Enigma Stationary plus a free gift, go to enigmastationery.com slash penaddict and use the code penaddict25 at checkout now. That's enigmastationery.com slash penaddict to pre-order your Pen Desk Select box, plus a free gift and free U.S. shipping on any order of $50 or more when you use the code penaddict25. Our thanks to Enigma Stationary for the continued support of this show and relay. All right, before we get into what I bought at the show, in the chat is mentioning having different people doing the intro to FP seminars worked out pretty well. So this is Lisa, also did a seminar Saturday afternoon. Then I think Myke Madison did one on Sunday, Ink Dependence Myke. So it is really cool what Lisa did with the lounge and then the free classes that they did there. So, and I actually have more on that in the pros and cons section, which we're going to get to here in a second. Purchases, I made three pen purchases.
* A lot of times it shows I'll make pen purchases then end up with like handfuls of ink and all kinds of notebooks. I think I bought like one fountain pen ink for myself.
* And then I had like a notebook delivery. So like I didn't really buy much more than these three pens, but they were enough because they were expensive. So one is the Hanabi Glass Dip Nip Pen. I'll just put a link into Hanabi Glass's website. You can check out all the different styles and sizes. They don't necessarily have like a shape name or a product name, but I talked to Lucas, the maker. And I said, hey, I'm going to talk about this pen. Does it have an item name or does it have like a descriptive name for the shape or whatever it is? He's like, no. He's like, but the one you bought, I just, I just gone to see the Barbie movie with my daughter. So we made it blue and pink. So we just kind of jokingly call it the Barbie pen. So I'm very into that. So I got the Barbie pen and I don't think I've taken pictures of it yet. So I will share that, share that out there. And then the next two were pens that have been on my radar for one shorter than the other. But I'd seen this Bun Gubox Sailor Wajima Makie pen series that they did. And so there were a couple of different models working with artists from the Wajima region that got affected by the earthquakes. And, you know, damaged some of a lot of the classic Rushi and artisan workshops there. So this is the Night Parade of 100 Spirits model. It's got some classic Japanese folklore. Like there's a skeleton guy. There's a frog. There's slinky neck on there. This is just, you know, I know we can't cuss on this episode and I'm not going to. So you don't have to beep this out. But this pen is awesome. Like this is my kind of pen. It's like cool and freaky and weird. And it's just kind of rad. And it's a gold nib. It was an insanely fair price. It was around $300 off the check with the gold nib. And all this artwork on here. Like I'm kind of stunned. It's fantastic. So I've been looking at that one since they launched that one at Bungu Box. The last pen I have had on my radar forever. And it's a Pilot Custom 845 in Vermilion. So it's the red barrel. It's a Rushi coated Pilot Custom 845. So it's a little bit bigger pen. It's like the size of the 843. Which is about as big as I'll go in Pilot's lineup. They make a bigger one than this. They make several bigger ones than this actually. But this is one of those pens that if you go and look at the current price. They're astronomically high. Because they've just been hit with the gold upgrades. The Rushi upgrades. And just the prices increase. But this is a pen that's been in their lineup for a long time. So every now and then you can find one at kind of the old price. Which is in the ballpark of about half of what the current retail price is. And I couldn't turn that down. This is a beautiful pen that I've always wanted. And the price. It was never going to get any better than what I got it for. Shout out. I got jimmied. But it's just really, really killer. And it's going to be like this. I don't know. I got to say. I'm definitely having my first initial reactions to it. This might be a better all-day writing pen for me than the 823. Which seems like blasphemy. But it just feels that good in the hand right now. A little bit lighter. But the same size. So it feels good. All right. So that's it. I bought a bottle of ink. I think it's called Sanctuary Blue from Bungu Box. It was just kind of like a nice bluish teal. And then I got the Canopus paper. Which we spoke about. I think we spoke about it. It's like a new paper option coming out there from Yamamoto Paper. So just getting to test that out. But that's kind of all I bought for me. Which is good. Like that was enough. Like I spent a lot. So those were three expensive pens to be sure. So yeah. I'm very, very happy. So there you go. That was my haul. And then I got, you know, I got a ton of gifts. And I got some review products. And those aren't really counted in the things that I bought section. So we'll be covering those as the days and months come along. I got some cool stuff to check out. One note. Or a couple notes from things I saw at the show. Funky Town is definitely one of them. The new Estabrook Funky Town. It was a, it was basically a drop they did on Saturday at the show. And I was supposed to be there for it. But I was teaching class. So I was okay with that.
* So yeah. I was asked to be there. I did not there. I was not there. But it was, it was cool. So basically these are Neon Barrel Estes. Which I'm here for. Like I know they're not everyone's cup of tea. Like these are like glow stick, fluorescent, pink, orange, yellow, and green. They're sick. There's a video that you put in the show notes, right? Yeah. And what I find so funny about the video is watching how the content creators are creating the content. Yeah. They asked me to be a content creator there. I'm sure they did. But like it's very funny to watch it in action. Yeah. That's, that's right. I like that a lot. That's hilarious. Yeah. That was hashtag pen fluencing right there. Yeah. I was supposed to be, I was supposed to be in that lineup. But you know, y'all go watch the video. Anyway, I like this pen. Like I said, this is a definite. I like opinionated products. And this is definitely one of them, right? Like some people probably looked at this and went, oh my God, this is horrible. Like wild neon. Yeah. Like the extreme neon. So I'm apparently getting one for review, you know, pen fluencer.
* So I'll get one at some point in time, but whatever. I, it would be hard to pick a color. Like I know you want to give me orange or me pick out orange, but I actually like them all, but I don't need them all. So the second biggest question, uh, that wasn't really a question. People weren't, you know, people like seeing the funky town, but I did have a lot of questions about pilot doing some paper testing at their table this year. And I came to learn through talking with them and through other people there.
* Um, that pilot actually bought a company called Mark's, which, uh, Mark stationery has been around for a while. We've reviewed, I found, I, I put the link to the, all the reviews we've done for Mark's. We've reviewed Mark's products. I think it was since 2017 or 2019, we've started reviewing different pens, different paper goods, different things like this. And apparently pilot took an ownership stake of Mark's back in 2023, like a 67% ownership stake. I couldn't find any like direct links other than just seeing like some titles and some of their press releases and things like that. But this looks like it got finalized back in 2023.
* And now pilot is looking at using some of their products in future paper product. Um, products for pilot and be pilot branded type of stuff. So got to test out some of the paper there. They were doing a little marketing quiz, right? Where you would just go and answer questions like what type of format do you use? What type of size do you use? How often do you use, you know, your notebooks? Do you're using a planner type of thing? So they were kind of doing some of that market research there. And then they had two different paper samples, paper sample a and paper sample B. For you to test and write on with different pens. I thought they both performed pretty well. I was looking back at some of our older Mark's reviews on the pen addict and the paper didn't look amazing. Like it looked like it would show through pretty good on the, um, fountain pen testing that we were doing. But I will say both the A and B paper did not have any of that like show through or bleed. And that's some of my older reviews, uh, or like, I think Sarah and Jeff, I think mostly did the paper reviews on those. Um, it looked the paper we tested didn't look anything like those. So, you know, slight positive, uh, to see pilot doing this and we'll see what the results are. Um, just if in case anyone's asking and they did take the paper test, I preferred a over B, but it was actually really close. They weren't too dissimilar, just a little bit of feel thing, but, um, I'll be interested to know. So last thing, Myke, and then we can wrap it up. Uh, well, I want to wrap it up with a question, uh, or a follow up from the question. We can't wrap it up then. Okay. We can't wrap it up. Pros and cons. So I just did a little quick bullet list, pros and cons. Pros. The check-in process, at least for me, was good. And me witnessing not huge lines in different parts of the days. Um, granted, I wasn't there for like public opening Saturday. If you were there and it was a nightmare, let me know. I just didn't happen to see it. The signage was good. It was everywhere because since the rooms are kind of far apart in the hotel, I thought they did signage good. And then on top of that, they put people, vendors in these rooms that got you to these rooms. So for example, the new, the new pool room is what I call it. The downstairs room in the old pool area. Yeah. They had the Leuchterm, um, the, like the free gift for weekend pass holders. Leuchterm was down there for you to go get your free gift. So you had to go down there to see them. And then they had other like anchor vendors down there. Like Hanabi was down there. And then on Saturday, Farnie's pens was down there. Uh, maybe don't put Farnie's in front of the stairwell. You know, when everyone wants to see Drew Brown, that's probably not the best idea. Maybe put them in the back of the room. But that room was new this year and it was really, really good. Great feedback on that. Um, the further room down past the restaurant had Galen leather and the Tono and Limbs ink experience. So that brought a lot of people down to that room. So they did a good job of the side rooms having like anchors in there that made people want to go to the rooms. And I didn't, I did, I never saw those rooms were always just as busy as like the main floor or the maker's room. You didn't go into like the mass of, you know, the maker's room or the main room and go, why, why, why is there no one in these rooms? And I thought they were always busy. There were, um, there was water available everywhere. I've never drank so much water in my life. I was pretty, that's one of my big takeaways. I was really good. I was proud of myself. I just pounded water all day long. And every time like the, um, uh, the water, what do you call those things? Like the fountain, like the, the, yeah, not the fountains, but like, you know, where they have like the, the ice and the, the clear containers out there and thing, you know, whatever. I can't get bucket out of my head, you know, like bucket. We'll call it a bucket. Sure. You know, where you just fill, you refill your bottles constantly. And so carry a water bottle. I was definitely hydrated. Um, I thought the overs, yeah, like a cooler. Yeah. The overall space was good. Like I thought, you know, there was definitely some pinch points. Like the maker's room is always a challenge. Uh, I thought it flowed a little bit better. Some of the people in the middle, I think had a challenge in there. Um, but like the, the space overall was good, you know, even though it's big and packed, uh, the classes were great. Um, there's the variety. And like I said, you could go to the show and be in a class the entire time. Um, and then the Vaness lounge, which is actually on both lists, the pros and the cons list, which we'll get to the second part in here in a second. The concept is perfect. I think this is much needed. We would be in there hanging out and you would just watch people walk in, go sit at a table and play with some of the pens or inks that they got during the day while they took a break, had some water. You know, some people would just come and eat lunch in there. Um, it's just a nice quiet space. I actually heard people like walking past going, Oh, this is cool. Like it's literally just a room. You can come sit and hang like a quiet space. Beautiful. Um, but let's kick off the cons list with this. And I've already relayed this message to Lisa. There were a couple of paid classes in that room and that should not conflict with what the idea of the space is, should be right. This should be a nice quiet space or a hangout space. And it doesn't serve the room, the idea of the room, nor does it serve the people who paid for classes having to, you know, be in there with, you know, people eating their lunch and things like that. I don't know. It's just a little bit of a conflict. So like the paid classes should always be in like paid classroom areas and like the free classes I thought went fine in there. People could just gather in like little spaces, but other people felt comfortable coming and going, uh, in the spaces. Um, the hotel booking that's on me. That's my con. Um, this hotel sold out in February, so I couldn't commit to even coming to the show in February. So maybe I should have just bought the hotel and canceled it later. Um, but you know, whatever. Um, another, another con, which will be a full episode down the line, my traveler's notebook. I'm not getting on with it. Oh, okay. Yeah. I don't think it's going to be my pen show or travel notebook. This is more of a U con than a, than a show. Yeah. I, I think the only show con I have is like the paid class thing in the lounge. Every other con is for me. Right. I didn't have enough time. That's a con, you know, but I did have enough time to do things I wanted. So is it a con? I don't know, Myke. Um, I also didn't get a brown pen, which is just kind of a funny joke that was on my list to shop for a brown pen. Um, so there's, there weren't a lot of cons. So yeah. Um, so all in all, it was pretty great. So let's wrap it up with this, Myke. So last week we had a pen show question on, Hey, I'm a new vendor. Yep. What? Give me some advice. Do you want me to read this? Yes. We got a followup from last week from Jeff and Susan at red branch craft. So we'll link to them in the show. And, uh, I, I got to meet them at the show. So let's, let's go for the followup to last week's question. I wanted to thank you for stopping by and saying hi, Brad, and make sure that you knew that your advice was very helpful in easing my anxiety and helping me set realistic expectations for my first time selling at a pen show. I also wanted to share with you some followup. Please feel free to share it with others, which we are. Uh, it was a lot of fun. Susan and I really enjoyed the experience and any nerves quickly disappeared after such a warm welcome from our neighbor, Zach of Scogsy pens and the other folks in the room. You often talk about how inclusive the pen community is and to experience it firsthand was really amazing. I had some great conversations with other makers sharing their experiences and advice, particularly Logan of Little Hollow Customs and Ronnie of Analog Notes. It was also great to interact with pen enthusiasts, especially when they're excited about my pens. Those conversations led to some new ideas, color requests, and new designs that have made me excited to get back into my shop as soon as I can. As far as hard numbers, we did great. We met our modified, per your advice, goal and sold enough to cover our costs for the drive table and stay. We gained followers, made connections that are excited. We are planning to go to the Commonwealth Pen Show. And I feel that the next time we appear at the DC Pen Show, we'll be familiar and a must stop table. So thank you, you and Myke. Oh, thank you. That's nice of you. Through your podcast, your interviews of makers and your own experiences starting businesses have been a great guide and inspiration from Jeff and Susan at Red Branch Crafts. Yeah, wonderful. They were great to meet, great to talk to, and I'm glad they had such a great experience. This is not easy, right? Like, and jumping into like the DC pool is pretty intense. So I'm glad they had a great experience and it does go to show to their point. The community overall as a whole is just really positive, welcoming, curious, right? Everyone is very, very curious about what you're doing, why you do it, how you do it, things like that, which makes for great conversations, makes for great experiences, makes for great stories, which is what I love the most. And hearing their story really, really makes me smile. So there we go. Why is the, why is this pen show called the Commonwealth Pen Show? It's Boston. Yeah, I don't know. What is that? Do you want to get, do you want to get into some tea party conversation? I mean, because Commonwealth to me is those who remain kind of with the king as the head of state. So I'm not sure I understand. How much more time do we have today? I'm not sure I get it. I don't get it. Maybe I don't need to get it. I did bring home some loose leaf teas from Smrooty Pens. So shout out Smrooty Pens. Thank you, Akilah and Nirmal. I got some tea to check out. I'm just trying to save you here, man. Trying to save you. Luckily, you didn't go through customs because they may have not let you back in.
* Luckily, you didn't have to do that.
* Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Pen Addict. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com. Knock, doc. No, I did it again. Spokedesign.com. There you go. I found it. I found my way back. Spokedesign.com. Twitch.tv slash penaddict. You can also find me here at Relay at theenthusiast.net. And my products at cortexbrand.com. I need to come up with some old thing for myself that I throw in every time I mention Knock. The bro show. No, we don't talk about that.
* We don't talk about that. We can talk about all the Commonwealth links we now have in the Discord. Yeah. You know, I'm going to allow that. I'm not going to edit that out because I said Knock Co again, but we don't reference that.
* Thank you to Enigma Stationary and to HelloFresh for their support of this week's episode. But most of all, thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad.
* Volcanor.
* Goodbye, Brad. Bye, Brad.

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