This was the first year of going to the Washington DC Pen Supershow, and it did not disappoint. I went to help out in the Vanness Pen Lounge for the weekend, which is a respite from the crowds and also hosts some classes such as fountain pen basics, ink swatching, or notebook systems. Various people taught including me teaching two of the fountain pen basics sessions.
This was my first time formally teaching classes, but I have often helped new people either via comments left on YouTube, or at my local pen club meetings, but I kind of like the more formal aspect where I was able to help answer questions from the audience, as that adds a different aspect where everyone in attendance can benefit from the questions, which often led to follow up questions from the same person, or another person in attendance.
Aside from teaching, I was in the lounge most of the open hours throughout the weekend alongside Lisa of Olive Octopus Ink to help answer questions if people came in or just wanted to continue talking after the class. That was one of my favorite parts of the weekend when a few people sat down after a class and we just got to talk about pens, papers and inks. I love letting people try out different nib sizes, or grinds, or helping them to find new papers or notebooks that they often hadn’t heard about before.
Even though this was a pen show, I did end up taking two of my ultraportable typewriters with me, as lately, there have been more pen people showing curiosity about typewriters. I had someone reach out before the show, and I told her that I would have one or two machines with me, and that was fun to get to meet a fellow typewriter enthusiast at a pen show. While she was trying out the Olympia, someone heard it from outside the lounge and came in to talk, as they were also a typewriter collector. That is a great example of finding your community which is wonderful.
Along with teaching the classes and being available to answer questions, I was able to do some shopping as well, but it was the back seat item for this show, which was actually a pleasant change of pace. I was very strategic in my shopping, as I went to specific vendors that I had seen stuff from that had been posted on social media before the show, or in some cases, I had a chance to see things in person that had been on the list for quite some time. I ended up with 4 different pens and surprisingly, 12 bottles of ink.
Overall, I had a wonderful first DC Pen show experience and I owe a thank you to Lisa Vanness for allowing me to work in the lounge. It was a perfect way to experience the show while also feeling like I was able to give back some as well. I hope to return again next year to continue the DC Pen Show adventure.