2018 La Pen Show Report

[BecauseItIs]

Thanks for the report

[LanceSaintPaul]

Thanks again. Sorry about the interruption midway through your presentation. I got excited. I appreciate the coverage & critique - I got to be close enough without waiting in line, having allergic reactions or spending too much. Of course I have no pens to show for it, but I'll make do. But I got to feel as present there as I could from your fine documentation.

 

The air quality issue - particulates &/or outgassing of solvents from new building materials & furnishings? Yuk! The Hotel Management Issues? Yuk! Right at the beginning of your description I started to wonder if fee accommodations would enter into the contract - I suppose not.

 

Part way through I wondered how Susan Wirth would have handled the hotel.... I'm sure those who knew her well could guess what she would have said & done.... Me? I never got to a Susan Wirth era pen show & I know I missed something from how others describe her & her impact.

 

Thanks for the great look!

[bleair]

Fantastic show report. I agree with everything you wrote. Love all the photos.

 

My personal experience with the hotel left me feeling far more displeased. Room rates are now quite a bit higher compared to last year. The fumes (paint, carpet, not sure) were a serious assault on my senses. The construction everywhere was not fun. Our room's widnows were wrapped on the outside in plastic (painting?) so little light and no air. Just checking in was grief because there is no longer an entrance from the parking garage (which costs more now) into the hotel and now instead you walk through the garage to the outside, up a few steps , then roll along for a ways and then up more steps. The two times I asked the hotel about something they couldn't care less.

 

These are all complaints stemming from the changes of the hotel and I guess not the fault of the show organizers.. At the same time when I asked the show organizers something they also had a "we don't know. we don't care" attitude. Was there going to be a day for the "traders" pass on Thursday? The answer was "yes"..... except delayed..."how much?".... maybe it will be delayed an hour.... well an unknown amount... maybe doors opening in 5 minutes (and then it was more than an hour later.... The ballroom stayed open a bit later on Thursday, but it was a very short "day".... Had this been my first pen show experience I would have been dismayed.

 

The new ballroom does have a lighter decor and that helps, though maybe next year the show will be downstairs?

 

I'm not a seller so they might have had a far happier and rosier pen show. I had a great time with friends, but almost all of the fun I had was due to friends and happened almost despite the pen show itself.

[Jaybeez]

Enjoyed this post. My son and I went Sunday and had a good time. As we are both relative newbies, it was an exciting but at times overwhelming experience. We will be back next year, but hope some of the logistics issues are worked out for all involved.

[LanceSaintPaul]

bleair:

 

This is disturbing - the fact seems to be that guests were asked to pay for marginal to uninhabitable rooms & spaces AS IF they were running as usual, as expected. Sounds to me like the honest thing would have been to close the hotel until finished, but that would disrupt cash flow. Perhaps luxury hotel margins are actually rather thin...? A dark mark on Marriott.

 

I would think for the show organizers this was a nightmare come true.

 

It also sounds like the usual pen show activities carried on regardless.

Edited February 20, 2018 by LanceSaintPaul

[DrDebG]

This was a great narrative. Thank you.

 

My sympathies go to the show organizers, as well as those selling and displaying pens. What a nightmare with the hotel!

 

Frankly, I am glad that I did not go. I am deathly allergic to aerosolized latex from paints and other compounds, so I would have probably had to leave anyway (possibly to a local hospital).

 

But, it would have been great fun, and I would have liked to meet some of the folks that i deal with throughout the year.

 

Thanks again!

[Parker51]

The condition of the hotel should have resulted in a full refund for the guests and a partial refund for the show organizers.

I am glad you had an over all good experience and appreciate the pictures and descriptions very much.

If the way you and the other weekend participants were treated is any indication of the general attitude of the way the hotel is going to be run, then I don't see how they are going to prosper.

And to have a dismissive attitude towards people who have the resources to participate in a pen show, especially someone such as yourself is both ignorant and telling.

They don't deserve your business or the pen community's.

But perhaps I am naive to the ways of L.A.

Here in the Ohio it seems to be typically considered good business to treat all customers well so as to preserve ones reputation, encourage repeat business and avoid antagonizing those that can ruin you by withholding business or worse, hold a grudge that borders on a vendetta for a decade or more, especially one passed down from one generation to the next.

[mpkandan]

Great report and pictures, Virtually taken us to the Show!!

 

Regards,

Kandan.M.P

Ranga Pen Company

[25_15_3]

Thanks for another year of posting these reports. I always find them great to read through.

[zaddick]

Informative, insightful, colorful, and thorough as always. Thank you for taking the time and effort.

 

The photos of your new pens you did share are stunning. I can only imagine the treasures in your full collection. They probably make the treasures of the Lonely Mountain seem inadequate by comparison.

 

I am looking forward to the well run SF show.

[pw1224]

Thank you for posting your wonderful photos and insight! It was also great meeting you and chatting while Mr. Koh worked on that nib. I followed you in line and got a Waterman Exception medium ground into a stub.

 

Since I'm local, I did not have to experience allergic reactions due to the incomplete construction. That part sounded horrible. As for finding another location that could host the show for reasonable rates, I fear that would be a difficult task. Yes, there are a lot of hotels in Los Angeles County but finding one that hits the sweet spot for a large number of folks is like finding a unicorn.

 

Since Marriott's still the brand name behind this location, though, they should make more of an effort. They should respect a repeat convention. Because of the incomplete renovations, Marriott missed out on a boatload of food & drink revenue.

 

I would also put forth the idea that attendance was down because of the flu outbreak. It's not that everybody is LA is dying from the flu but enough people know folks who are ill.

 

As an attendee/customer, I liked the fact that Fri. and Sat. were low key. I've been on the other side of convention tables, though, so I know that can be frustrating -- but this attendee is already trying to figure what I'll purchase at next year's pen show!

[Toll]

Thanks for the report it is a lot of work to post so many photos but they add so much to the virtual experience. I am now looking forward to the Baltimore Pen Show, in two weeks, with new anticipation!

[shuuemura]

Thanks for the report, Ricky! Would you mind sharing some photos of the pens you bought at the show? I would love to see them!

[AltecGreen]

Columbus Pens

 

 

Other Italian

 

Large Company Japanese

 

Obscure Japanese

[da vinci]

Wow!

 

Could I ask who made the large "red ripple" pen in the obscure Japanese section?

Edited February 21, 2018 by da vinci

[tenney]

ohhhhhh ahhhhh droolllllll

not just for the vintage pens, but for that Korean food too!

 

Thank you, RIcky!

[tenney]

Oh. For those who haven't run conferences... Hotels don't care (generally) if they're in the midst of construction -- they feel that if they provide some meeting space, with some food space, and toilets, that they've met their contracts. You don't like it, tough. (a bit over generalizing, but from having run conferences for 34 years, not my career though, I'm not far from how they tend to react).

[zaddick]

If I am not mistaken, the very kind Kazuno-san should be happy to be lumped in with the "Large Company Japanese." In the big leagues now.

[Jaybeez]

Oh. For those who haven't run conferences... Hotels don't care (generally) if they're in the midst of construction -- they feel that if they provide some meeting space, with some food space, and toilets, that they've met their contracts. You don't like it, tough. (a bit over generalizing, but from having run conferences for 34 years, not my career though, I'm not far from how they tend to react).

 

 

Prior to retirement, I ran 8-10 meetings / year for my company at hotels across the country. Generally the hotels paid less attention to smaller meetings and/or those that we booked directly. When we booked meetings through a major meeting services firm AND had them onsite, things went markedly better. The firms that handle events for major clients have a wide client base and effective "word on the street" such that running afoul of them runs the risk of a significant decline in RFP applications, the bread and butter of any hotel.

[billy1380]

Thanks very much for sharing. Some amazing pictures there. Looks like you had a great time.