Hubby and I visited the San Francisco Pen Show on Sunday and it was all I hoped it could be. And when I got home, I realized how much I missed. So here are my takeaways.
- Make a plan for who you want to see. I had three on my list, my husband found two more, and I missed at least two for sure. Is this catastrophic? Not at all! Did I miss seeing Drew from Goulet and Ashley from Yoseka? Yes. Next year, I plan to actually do a little more planning and map out my tour around the floor so I don’t miss anything. And bring more money!
- Decide on the items you are looking for. It can be very overwhelming – pens, fountain pens, inks, paper products, stickers, stamps, bags, oh my! And I recommend not just buying the first thing you see unless it is on your list. The reason I say this is you may find something more suitable later. However, if you love it, buy it as it will probably sell out.
- Go on Friday if you want the show specific items. We couldn’t go until Sunday and many of the show-specific items – notebooks, stamps, stickers – were long gone. I still found awesome stuff and got some things I hadn’t expected. We did go a little “seat of our pants” this year, and we had a great time just seeing what the show had to offer.
- If you are taking a class or workshop, set an alarm. I planned to attend the Bay Area Planners meetup but got so caught up on the floor, I missed it. It was a free event, so no money was lost, but the classes do cost, so don’t miss them. And do take one! We did last year, and it was fantastic.
- Take pictures and share them. This is the heart of Ink & Pen. While this was actually directly related to Ink & Pen, it’s also a road trip with my best friend and we truly enjoyed our time together.
Where have you gone lately? Share in the comments
