(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I have always had a great time at the Baltimore Pen Show in years past and was eagerly looking forward to this one, especially with Omicron numbers on the decline. Would it measure up to past experiences? Let’s find out!

Size

Prior to the pandemic, the Baltimore Pen Show (BWIPS) would be considered a medium-sized show, not too big, not too small. It has a wide variety of vendors including plenty of vintage and modern dealers as well as a wide assortment of local vendors too. While there were several absences due to the timing of this show, which was about 2 weeks later than usual, there were folks I hadn’t seen in a long time including Coles of London and Dromgooles and also folks who made their debut at BWI.

*The Coles of London crew (Mark (not Coles), Michael and John) showed me some beautiful pens including this one that just came out…*

*Oiran is the latest addition to the Visconti Van Gogh series and would’ve come home with me but they aren’t quite available yet. Soon though…*

Dromgooles — It was great to see Michael (left) and Larry (right) after not seeing them for quite a few months. For good reason too since Michael recently became a dad to a beautiful little girl and Larry is now a grandpa! Congrats!

Leonardo Pens — *Finally got to see the Leonardo Mosaicos in person at the Dromgoole’s table - I still can’t pick!*

*Marty and Kimberly Henderson had an irresistible display of Retro 51s that they were selling on behalf of the Dromgooles. This was only half of the pens!*

*Trenche Designs* *came all the way from Puerto Rico to make their pen show debut!*

*The big buzz had to be at the* *Magna Carta* *table where they debuted their steel Bock 8-compatible nibs with ebonite feeds. Should be interesting to hear how they perform since a lot of people were buying them.*

You know I love all the pens and stuff but I also love accessories and there were plenty of accessories and other goodies to be found at the show. Leather accessories, pen holders, and yes, even chocolate!

*New York-based* *Garny & Co.* *makes both leather and wood products including wallets, notebook covers and pen holders.*

Writers Shoppe — *Shawna Kissell (and Kurist, not pictured) of* *WritersShoppe* *came all the way from Idaho and brought their cool ink swatch books.*

*Scott B Jones drew every day for 365 days and* *published them in 3 volumes*.

Jingi — *One of my absolute favorite, must-stop spots is Baltimore-based* *Pure Chocolate by Jinji. Jinji makes the most amazing chocolate (the chocolate covered medjool dates are heaven) and Guy Fraser (Jinji’s dad) is the sweetest gentleman you’ll ever find.*

Kanilea Pen Co. — *Speaking of locals,* *Kanilea Pen Co* *was back with their beautiful pens (silly me, always staring at the pens and forgetting to take pictures of the people like Hugh and Karol!)*

*And you can’t say Baltimore without thinking of Evan and Julian Rosenberg of* *Penquisition* *with their cool 3D-printed pen accessories, pen cases from Rickshaw and their exclusive Retro 51 Susan pens.*

For a show of this size, there really was a good variety of everyone. And for folks like me who are fortunate enough to go to several shows a year, I always like seeing vendors that don’t usually go to other shows. Score - 7/10

Location

The show is very easy to get to from the BWI airport and train station. It’s approximately a 10 minute drive from the airport and train station. I haven’t done a lot of sightseeing in the area, so it’s tough for me to call it a “destination”, but it isn’t far from the famous National Aquarium and Washington DC is about an hour away. Score - 7/10

Hotel

The BWI Airport Marriott hotel is a decent hotel, with little seating areas in multiple areas of the lobby and bar. There is also a restaurant across from the bar. I discovered that there is a small shop next to the registration desk for snacks and incidentals. The hotel bar and restaurant staff were generally friendly and the food was good and at typical hotel prices. I appreciated that they did not kick us out when the bar was closed. I didn’t make it to the gym this time but I heard it was decent though a bit stuffy. Parking was more difficult on Friday and Saturday as Amazon had a hiring event as well. The show rate for the rooms was $109/night (before taxes/fees), which is on the lower end compared to most pen show hotels. They sold out of the room block at least three times (so book early next year!) but Bert was able to get refundable rooms adjusted to the room block rate if you contacted him ahead of time. The show isn’t close to a lot of food options if you don’t have a car but there are some decent options a short Lyft ride away (I quite enjoyed a Sunday meal at the Guiness Brewery about 10 minutes away). For the airport proximity, after-hours hangout spaces and low rates, I gave this a higher score. Score - 8/10

Hotel Bar — *This little corner was easy to miss as it was behind the bar. The Pen Shows After Dark event was held back here.*

Tickets

Tickets for general admission (GA) were $10 for 1 day, $15 for 2 days or $20 for 3 day weekend pass with no early hours. They also offered a limited number (75, I believe) of special VIP Passes for $50 which includes the weekend pass and early bird access on all three days (getting in an hour earlier), custom name badge & lanyard, t-shirt, bottle of ink and a guaranteed spot in all free events. I liked that you can buy tickets online ahead of time and pick them up at the registration desk. Really good prices for both general admission and VIP pass. Score - 10/10

Classes/Seminars

There were quite a few free and paid classes and seminars ranging from a free session on A Beginner’s Guide to Fountain Pens and a seminar on Pelikan limited editions to paid classes on Italic Calligraphy, American Cursive and Zentangle and even a nib tuning class with Richard Binder. I’m glad things are in a better situation where classes can be held again. Score - 8/10

*Jessica Davies is a certified Zentangle teacher - I took her class in 2019 and loved it!*

Nib Worker Availability

Need nib work done? Well, you came to the right place! There were no less than 8 nib workers that I knew of at this show (in first name alphabetical order) and that didn’t include those at Franklin-Christoph who also tune and offer in-house ground nibs.

Damien Alomar of All in the Nib
Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio
Jack Hairston (working for Bertram’s Inkwell) who also does vintage restorations
JC Ament of The Nib Tailor
Joshua Lax of JJ Lax Pen Co
Kirk Speer of Pen Realm
Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance
Richard Binder

The nib workers were spread out between the front entryway and the ball room. This is an insanely high number for a show of any size and I know most of them were busy all weekend. Score - 10/10

All in the Nib — *Damien working on a customer’s troublesome nib.*

Custom Nib Studio — *Gena was busy all weekend long.*

*JC Ament of The Nib Tailor working on a grind.*

Indy Pen Dance — *Mike and Linda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance.*

Overall sense/vibe

The bulk of the show is in one large ballroom, with some vendors and nib grinders outside and along the hall to the ballroom entrance. The aisles were fairly wide. Overall tables and aisles were well-spaced out. There were several tables and chairs set aside in the ballroom to allow people to rest or play with pens. The county had dropped their mask mandates approximately two weeks prior so there were no mask requirements for the show. I would say at least half of the folks (both vendor and attendee) wore masks during the weekend.

You can tell Bert Oser, the show organizer, really cares about this show from making sure folks get the discounted room rate (as mentioned above) to organizing a Pen Shows After Dark Event with Cary Yeager, to gathering volunteers from the DC Metro Pen Crew to make the show run smoothly and offer help to anyone who needs it. It really makes it feel more friendly and approachable. In addition, there was a Share the Wealth table, where folks can donate their pens, papers, inks and things in hopes that they find new homes; it was so good to see this generosity from the pen community.

*Friendly faces in bright yellow shirts were available all weekend throughout the show - ready and willing to answer questions and make sure you’re having a great time.*

*Eric Aycock* *and others from the DC Metro Pen Crew staffed the “Share the Wealth” table all weekend.*

*I love seeing small makers like Brian Weaver of* *Ironfeather Creative*.

Carolina Pen Co. — *And of course, Jonathan Brooks of* *Carolina Pen Company* *sporting his new colorful hairdo to match his colorful pens!*

Stylosuite — *Les of* *StyloSuite* *is a must-see if you want to try modern flex pens.*

Vintage Pencils — *Vintage pencils, anyone? If so,* *Jonathan Veley* *is your guy!*

This is a great show for both beginner and seasoned pen fanatics alike. It’s not too big nor too small and really has something for everyone. All of these things put together really make it an all-around great show. Score - 9/10

Food

As mentioned above, there is a restaurant and bar that serves food for lunch and dinner. The food was pretty good and is what you expect to pay at a hotel restaurant. I went out for Mexican food one night - I think it was less than a 10 minute drive and as I mentioned before, to the Guinness Brewery and restaurant on Sunday night. While not as plentiful as some other shows nor many within walking distance, having a restaurant in the hotel as well as other options not too far means you’re likely not going to go hungry. Score - 7/10

After hours/socializing

This is one of my favorite shows/locations for after hours penabling and socializing. As I mentioned above, there are lots of tables and chairs and couches for gathering and pen play. People were really excited to hang out with each other after a 2 year hiatus for this show. And the Pen Shows After Dark event brought out a lot of folks who were eager to win pens and things that were donated from several of the vendors. Score - 9/10

*Bert Oser thanks the crowd for attending the show and the Pen Shows After Dark event Saturday night.*

Pen Shows After Dark — *One of the highlights of the weekend for me was hanging out with friends during Pen Shows after dark and playing with all the pens.*

Other

BWI is typically held during the last weekend of Feb/first weekend of March and this was two weeks later than usual, but that didn’t stop the weather from having an impact on the show. A big wind and snow storm was slated to pound the East Coast on Saturday, so attendance on Saturday, especially in the afternoon, was low. The weather cleared up on Sunday, making for a slightly more crowded Sunday than usual, which was great, since Sundays can often feel like a long drag, especially for vendors. We saw a steady trickling of traffic all day on Sunday, with folks still coming up as we were packing.

As I mentioned, there was no mask requirement so I was nervous heading into the show, but made the decision to keep my mask on during and after show hours. For the most part, people respected each others’ masking decisions.

Unlike Philly and LA before this, I did not hear of any thefts at the show (or if there were, it was certainly not to the degree as those shows), which is good to hear. In fact, all I heard throughout the weekend was how good it felt to be back, what a great show Bert was running, and how “almost normal” it felt. For me, it was the first time behind a busy table since SF 2021, and it really was good to see so many people at a show again. I’m not sure if it was as well-attended as BWI 2020, but I don’t think it was too far off. There were some lulls on Saturday which gave me some time to wander around the show.

I also loved that people brought their children to the show and that we were able to give them some extra attention. Score - 8/10

Report Card

0-50 Oof, do not attend

51-70 Show is alright

70-80 Show is solid

80-90 Show is pretty darned good!

91-100 REALLY good show and not to be missed

The 2022 Baltimore Pen Show scored 83/100, which sounds like it’s lower than all the raving I’ve been doing about the show. It comes down to the location, which is convenient for travel, but not really a destination, and the lack of nearby food options. Due to scheduling conflicts, several vendors weren’t able to make it and that combined with weather this year also affected some of the rush and energy. Still, it really was a great show and I can’t wait to come back next year.