Who’S On First - Dc Show?

[travberg]

🤔🤔🤔

 

DC SHOW - Whos On First

 

Abbot or Costello?

[kernando]

Is that show still super?

[City74]

I’ve never been, as this is my first year seriously collecting, but I’ll be taking the trip up for the show this year

[WLSpec]

Wonderful show. My favorite.

[langere]

It is worth it. Fallen a bit on hard times, but still the biggest, if I am not mistaken.

 

Erick

[TheRealMikeDr]

As someone who attends the show (not a vendor) I find it to be a superb show. TONS of pens and lots of vendors from all over the world.

 

I understand the troubles some vendors had with the change in venue a few years ago - but frankly (as an attendee) I think the negative attention is way overblown.

[shawnee]

This is going to be my first trip to the DC Pen Show this year as well.

 

Any pointers for a newbie? I can't tell if I'm excited or nauseous.

 

Also, should I be worried about the announcement on the front page of the site - has there been a curfuffle?

 

 

shawnee

[FarmBoy]

This is going to be my first trip to the DC Pen Show this year as well.

 

Any pointers for a newbie? I can't tell if I'm excited or nauseous.

 

Also, should I be worried about the announcement on the front page of the site - has there been a curfuffle?

 

 

shawnee

Probably just gas. It will pass.

[WatcherofTime]

When is the DC show? I hope I haven't missed it! My wife and I went a couple of years ago. It was our first pen show ever! We had fun, looking at pens from all over the US and the world.

[shawnee]

When is the DC show? I hope I haven't missed it! My wife and I went a couple of years ago. It was our first pen show ever! We had fun, looking at pens from all over the US and the world.

August. I think pencentral.com is the url for show details.

[inkstainedruth]

@ shawnee -- I haven't been since the venue changed because of the date. But DCSS at the old location was my first pen show and it was GINORMOUS! Be prepared to go for more than one day, because even with some of the vendors (unfortunately some of them being repair people) pulling out, it's still huge. And pretty overwhelming for a newbie.

If you decide to go, I'd strongly recommend you look at the list of vendors ahead of time and have an idea of what you're looking for and/or what you need to have done for repairs or nib work. The repair and nib people will have signup lists. Some people take credit cards but bring plenty of cash just in case. And have a budget (be prepared to have that budget go right out the window, but have one...).

Where comfortable shoes -- you'll be on your feet a lot. Keep yourself hydrated. Ask before you pick up a pen. Pace yourself. Bring a notebook (and of course a pen! ) to keep track of where you saw something you were interested in (so you can compare prices with similar pens if you're looking for vintage ones). I don't know about you, but I bring a basket (some people bring backpacks) to stash purchases in (although larger shows often give out tote bags with admission, which is good because some of the bigger shows have "swag" (freebies from the companies that do partnerships with the show as sponsors). Ask questions. Maybe take a class (the first year I went, I actually stayed home from my vacation one morning so I could sign up online for Richard Binder's nib smoothing workshop). Some shows have auctions at them, or parties (if you pay for a weekend pass, that will include admittance to them). Parties are a good way to meet other pen people; even if you don't think you can afford to bid on anything, auctions can be interesting way to learn about vintage pens and what people think they're worth (the last year I went to DCSS, I ended up getting a Red Shadow Wave Vacumatic for a really good price -- I was stunned that I wasn't outbid, and the next day there was a vendor from the UK that had one almost identical to mine for *way* more than I had paid for mine (not sure if it had the same date code, but otherwise the two pens were really similar in size, model and nib width).

Above all: Have fun!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mags]

The show is a definite must for anyone new to the pen collecting or just wanting to invest in a nice pen(s) and who wants all the choices under one roof along with experts and pen enthusiasts everywhere. Ruth has shared excellent advice above. I went to three DC shows and enjoyed each experience. This year the goal is Ireland though. Have fun everyone.

[shawnee]

Okay, I've got my room and I guess I'm going even though I'm on deadline. Still pretty nervous about the whole thing. I don't like being overwhelmed. LOL. Oh well.

 

 

What vendors are people particularly excited to see?

[Toll]

You will enjoy it a lot. It can be a bit overwhelming, especially on Saturday, with so many attendees, but it is worth it! I may not even buy anything this year but just walking around is worth the price of admission. Have fun!

[Tasmith]

Okay, I've got my room and I guess I'm going even though I'm on deadline. Still pretty nervous about the whole thing. I don't like being overwhelmed. LOL. Oh well.

 

 

What vendors are people particularly excited to see?

Bertram's Inkwell, Vanness Pens, Go Pens, Kanilea Pens, Fahrney's Pens.

 

Normally Anderson Pens and Indy-Pen-Dance, but looks like they're not attending.

 

Bring a list of what your're looking for as it is easy to get overwhelmed and forget things. Richard Binder has a series of articles about attending pens shows. His one on attending your first show really helped me a few years ago: http://www.richardspens.com/ref/shows/firstshow.htm .

 

When entering a show I'll first walk around once or twice taking notes of what interest me and write down the vendors name as it's very easy to forget what you've seen and where. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you can't find something as most vendors know who has what and are happy to help.

[Newton Pens]

I'll be there this year for the first time in a few years. Bringing the kids with us, too.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0iznJCBeTD/

[inkstainedruth]

When entering a show I'll first walk around once or twice taking notes of what interest me and write down the vendors name as it's very easy to forget what you've seen and where.

 

That is especially a must for a really large show like DCSS, which can be overwhelming. I haven't been to the new location, but I remember the old hotel in Tyson's Corners and the big ballroom was GINORMOUS. I think it was 8 or 10 rows of tables, front to back, with about 6-8 banquet tables lined up per side on each row (with a central aisle, from to back). Plus tables around the perimeter of the room. And that was JUST the big ballroom. There were three or four rows of tables in the smaller ballroom. PLUS a bunch of vendors in the lobby, along with the check in table and, off to one side, the ink testing station.

The ink testing station (if they still have it at the new site) is one of the best parts of the show, although it gets a lot of business; you can dip test pens (or even fill a clean pen) and they have samples of good paper (Rhodia, IIRC) to try the ink out on, and then cups of water to rinse the pen out between inks. I think other shows may have testing stations, but the only one I've ever been to that did was DCSS (there was a small stand at Baltimore-Washington last year -- I didn't make this year -- which had tester pens, but this is different in that you can bring your OWN pens).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[CraigN]

Okay, I've got my room and I guess I'm going even though I'm on deadline. Still pretty nervous about the whole thing. I don't like being overwhelmed. LOL. Oh well.

 

 

What vendors are people particularly excited to see?

 

Shawnee,

 

If you feel overwhelmed, just leave the show and take a seat in the lobby. After you catch your breath, jump back in!

 

Enjoy the show. I have attended most years since 2006 and somehow survived.

 

Craig

[shawnee]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Between FB and IG, my eyes are glued to my phone every 10 minutes as people make their DC announcements. I'm trying really REALLY hard not to buy pens because I have several that I want to have work done on including a couple of old Parker 51s and some hard rubber Watermans. I've also got 2 Sheaffer Snorkels that also need some TLC, but probably will leave them behind. Hoping that I get to see Mike for a Sailor adjustment. Going to fawn all over the Platinum and Sailor tables and try not to squeee every 10 seconds.

 

Now . . . I'm pretty excited about inks and paper. Especially ink. I sort of forgot about bring my own pens to test so thank you Ruth for reminding me!

 

xo

shawnee

[Newton Pens]

So what did you get?