The Baltimore Washington International Pen Show of 2020

Wow! What a wonderful time. The Baltimore Washington International Pen show of 2020 was organized by Bert Oser, Corinne Litchfield, and the staff of Bertram’s Inkwell along with many volunteers at the BWI Airport Marriott hotel. The show was sponsored by The Chicago Pen Company, Federalist Pens and Paper, The PENguin Rick Propas, as well as Janet and David Wright. It featured many vendors of both new and vintage pens, pen makers, pen repairers, nib grinders, and much more.

I spent much of my time volunteering at the “Share the Wealth table” run by my friend Eric, where we took in donations from vendors and show patrons alike, and gave out pens and related items to anyone who wanted to share or to try something new. I was also one of the many workshop facilitators and co-taught Fountain Pens 101 with my friends Rachel on Saturday, and Evan on Sunday, with supplies donated by The Pen Boutique of Columbia, MD. It was a joy to see people enjoying their first fountain pens from the class. I had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people attending the show and made many new friends.

My first purchase was the special pen show exclusive ink from Rachel with Sailor Inks. I also enjoyed trying out some of the various pens at her display. From my home town of Baltimore, I got to meet Tyler of Organics Studio who showed me some new products. I met with reps from Yafa, who were across from where I was volunteering, and purchased some of the new Jowo nibs for my pens as well as the 20th anniversary Monteverde Innova. I also had the nib of my vintage Wahl pen repaired by Richard Binder. I have to give a shout out to Luxury Brands USA who without question swapped a pen I had an issue with for a new replacement, and to Nik Pang who made the lovely badge that I wore during the show. I tried new designs and nib grinds from Les of StyloSuite and from Gena of Custom Nib Studio as well as custom grinds by Damien of All In the Nib.

Pen show Jeopardy was a load of fun, as was Pen Show After Dark where we all had show and tell plus a few drinks. I even got to participate in a live broadcast of The Erasable Podcast. I as well as others had donated pens to a raffle and amazingly I also won one of the prizes! Fortunately, I did not win my own pen back. I had such a great time meeting all of the vendors and people at the show and greatly look forward to next year where I hope to volunteer again.

Just a few new things from the show!

I can’t wait until next year.