Pen Show Planning

Somehow — seriously, how??? — the DC Pen Show is a week away!!!! I’m so far behind in terms of getting ready.

I missed quite a bit of the show last year with my haphazard way of dashing from one person I know to the next. I don’t want to do that again. So I need to plan.

Schedule

First up is to figure out my schedule. Everything revolves around the show. What time do I want to arrive on Friday? What classes am I taking? What times are the classes I’m teaching? What scheduled plans do I have? And so on and so forth.

I’m not sure when we’ll arrive on Friday. Part of me wants to get there right as the show starts. Part of me wants the extra sleep. We’ll see which part wins.

I’m not taking any classes this year. The ones offered were either not to my taste, ones I’d already taken, or conflicted with other plans. Sadness.

I’m teaching two classes at DC, Habits to start early in the fountain pen hobby at 2pm on Friday and Fountain Pen Cosplay which I’m co-teaching with Alex Friendly at 11am on Sunday. I know they’re on the lower level, but I’ll need to find out which room(s).

I have a couple of socializing “plans” while at the show, so I have to figure those in as well. While I have everything in my Google calendar, I’ll probably also put everything into one of my Mini 5 binders for a quick reference.

Nib Appointments

Of course, nib appointments also factor into my schedule.

I missed out on an appointment with Kirk. I didn’t realize he opened his pre-bookings so early. I was able to snag an appointment with each Damien, Gena, and JJ Lax. Hopefully, I can get on Matthew Chen‘s list at the show.

I’m still on my quest to collect a cursive oblique from as many nibmeisters as possible. I also have a pen to get adjusted.

I always set a bazillion notifications in my calendar and sometimes also set an alarm so I can’t possibly miss them.

Shopping List

I don’t have a shopping list this year. Shocking, I know. But, there isn’t anything I’m dying to get. I’m going to bring some pens to sell, although I don’t hold out much hope that I’ll succeed in offloading any of them.

I’m sure I’ll end up with some ink, and probably some paper or other stationery. I have to pick up a pre-order, but that doesn’t count, right?

There are so many new vendors expected this year that I don’t know what I’ll find that calls to me. But, I’m only going to buy a pen if I feel like I can’t live without it.

Packing List

I have a tendency to overpack… and still forget something. Top of my list this year is a syringe so I can fill pens with new ink. Yeah, I forget that every year.

I started my list a couple of weeks ago, so I can add things as I think of them. I just use the native notes app on my phone and use checkboxes. I’ll likely finish the list up on Tuesday or Wednesday so I can pack up on Thursday.

I need to decide which pens I’m bringing with me. It’s always a hard choice, but I’ve learned the hard way that there’s no need to bring the whole collection. That’s just silly. I don’t know which pen case(s) I want to narrow myself down to. Probably something small for my mini backpack and something a bit larger for my regular bag. But, we’ll see.

I also have to make sure I’ve got what I need for my fountain pen cosplay looks. As things have gotten better over the course of the year, I’ve been wearing makeup more, and I think it’s time for me to get back to matching to my pens.

Class Prep

And that leaves class prep. The habits class is easy; it’s mostly a repeat of my Baltimore class. But, the cosplay class is mostly new. Alex and I are taking a more practical approach to the class than I did at Baltimore. I’ve started working on it, but I’m woefully behind, as I said earlier. Never fear, I’ll be ready to teach on Sunday. I just may need a late night sometime next week. Oops.

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I’m probably forgetting something, but these are the main items currently on my mind as I prepare for the DC show. I’ll also need to remind myself to slow down and look at every table rather than dashing to-and-fro, but that is less about preparing, and more about exercising control at the show.

If you’ll be at the show, make sure to say hi! I suck at names — thank you, ADHD — so please remind me, even if we’ve met before, but it’s always nice to see people.

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How do you plan/prep for a pen show? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.

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Attribution: The image I used in the share images for Instagram and Facebook is a combination of images by Hasan As ari, licensed through Vecteezy.com.