The Pacific Northwest Pen Show is only in its second year. Last year, the show was hosted at a hotel downtown which had its pluses and minuses according to attendees. For those staying the weekend, there was easy access to food and entertainment. However, the hotel was pricey, small and there were issues associated with any event in an urban metro— greater potential for crimes, vagrants and pricey parking, food and other conveniences.
This is my first year attending this show so I will be comparing it to other shows rather than how the PNPS compares this year to its previous year.
The Hotel and Accommodations
For 2024, the PNWPS was relocated to a suburb called Clackamas, about 20-30 minutes from downtown or the airport. This locale made the event more conducive for regional visitors (more parking), nearby restaurants and a Target (better for vendors and weekend guests).
The hotel was not the most modern in aesthetics which is not a big deal. However, many folks mentioned the lack of communal visiting space for after hours. The hotel had a restaurant and a speakeasy bar but neither was designed for the sort of communal hanging that often occurs among pen show attendees and vendors after the show closes in the evening. There was one sitting area just to one side of the registration desk and just outside the restaurant which didn’t feel as comfortable for hanging out as other hotels. All these places to meet and hang out were either dark (not conducive for writing or pen sharing) or loud (not conducive for chatting).
The Show
The PNWPS is one of the few shows I’ve attended that is only open for two days — just Saturday and Sunday. The only other show I know of that is two days is the Dallas pen show but it is Friday and Saturday and both days are packed to the gills with attendees.
The actual pen show was held on the lower level which had only one elevator access and a set of stairs to access it. This made loading products in and out a bit challenging for the vendors and slowed entry a bit on Saturday morning but didn’t end up to be as big a deal as I would have expected. The St. Louis show is also in a lower level ballroom but there is direct access to underground parking lot for vendors and the elevator bay had multiple elevators which was more convenient but they had their own delays as well.
When the show opened, on Saturday morning, it looked like there were about 30 vendors from across the country. It is not a ton of vendors but they were all top notch products and a nice assortment of nib grinders and retail or online shops from a nice spectrum of the pen community.
Strangely, there was a lot of space between each of the tables which created some weird traffic flow. I would have preferred the tables to have less space between them to help move traffic a little more directly and a little less chaotically. The extra space could have been used for meet up tables, ink testing stations or places for bored significant others to park and wait.
The tables were also shorter in length than the tables at most conferences and shows (6 foot instead of the standard 8 foot tables at most hotels). The shorter table lengths are an annoyance to vendors as many plan their table set up based on the length of the tables so being 2 feet shorter means folks needed to squish up or put fewer items out.
Overall, Saturday was very busy and we were run off our feet from the moment doors opened until about 4pm. The show closed on Saturday at 5pm so a one hour lull at the end of the day is welcome.
Sunday, there was some major confusion about the time that the show opened and closed. On the official web site, the hours were listed as 9am-4pm but an Instagram post went live Sunday morning with the hours listed as 10am-4pm. While an hour difference isn’t huge, it was confusing to attendees and annoying to vendors who could have had a more leisurely breakfast or not at attention for an hour for an empty room.
Generally speaking, Sundays at pen shows are generally slow and the PNPS was no different. For attendees, they certainly had more opportunity to browse and chat. For vendors, it can often be a little disappointing. Because the PNWPS is only open for two days, the hope was that Sunday would be busier than it was.
My Final Comments and Recommendations
My overall feeling is that it is a pleasant albeit small show. If you live within a few hours of the show, I definitely recommend attending. If you would need to fly to this show, I’m not sure it’s quite up to the task to appeal to folks who travel long distances for pen shows.
The social and evening activities are not as robust as shows in other cities. If the show remains in the same hotel, a one-night stay is fine but, for visitors, the show doesn’t offer enough classes, activities or vendors to warrant a two-day or longer stay. If the organizers build up the classes, workshops and evening activities and create more of a conference environment over a traditional pen show, I think it could be a really great way to grow and differentiate this show from other mid-sized or small shows.
There were more attendee-specific aspects to the show which I don’t have as much information. There was a VIP pass and I’m curious to know if it seemed worth the additional fee since, unlike other shows, 3-day passholders or VIPs at PNWPS did not get early access. I am sure there will be other recaps listed in the next week or so that I’ll be sure to include in our Wednesday Link Love.
Stay tuned! Later this week we will have a special pen show giveaway!
