2025 SPECIAL EVENTS WILL BE POSTED AT A LATER DATE
2024 Special Events
All Special Events held in Junior Ballroom, Lower Level
VANNESS PEN LOUNGE
Hang out at the Vanness Pen Lounge
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Are you new to fountain pens or attending your first pen show?
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Feeling overwhelmed by all the different vendors and options, and don’t know where to start?
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Do you simply want a (relatively) quiet place to want to take a break and talk with fellow enthusiasts?
At this year’s D.C. Pen SUPERSHOW, you can visit the Vanness Pen Lounge, which will be located in the downstairs conference area under the main ballroom, where we will have fellow pen lovers volunteering each day. These awesome pen folks will be hanging out and ready to guide you through the maze of all things pens and stationery the entirety of the show hours Friday and Saturday. There will also be several mini-workshops and classes in the lounge running throughout the weekend. Just check the schedule below!
FRIDAY
11:00 Ink swatching with Ana Reinert of the Well-Appointed Desk
1:00 Fountain Pen Basics with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens (with other volunteers assisting through the weekend)
2:00 Notebook Systems Overview with Joe Crace of The Gentleman Stationer
3:00 Fountain Pen Basics
4:30 Meet up
SATURDAY
11:00 Fountain Pen Basics
1:00 Fountain Pen Basics
2:00 Notebooks Systems Overview
3:00 Fountain Pen Basics
4:30 Meetup with Your Favorite Fountain Pen Bloggers, YouTubers, Streamers, and Fellow Enthusiasts
SUNDAY
1:30 Fountain Pen Basics
Fountain Pen Basics Seminars (Sponsored by Luxury Brands US distributor for Platinum brand)
Learn how various types of filling systems work and how to clean pens as well as what nib might work best for you.
Friday 1:00 and 3:00
Saturday 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00
Sunday 1:30
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Ink Cataloging Workshop at 11 Friday
Are you collecting inks these days?
Join Ana Reinert of the Well Appointed Desk and creator of the Col-O-Ring as she provides tools to catalog your newest inks (and your oldest) this class will have a materials fee of $30.00
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Notebook Systems Overview at 2 Friday and Saturday
Join Joe Crace from the Gentleman Stationer for an overview of different notebook systems, including those from Traveler’s Company, Lochby, Midori, Roterfaden, and many more! Joe will have samples available to handle in person and will be available to answer questions. Due to the number of options available in today’s market, choosing a notebook system can feel intimidating, but it’s all about matching the system to your needs. Joe will also be bringing a limited selection of organizers and notebook covers for purchase at the Vanness tables.
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Friday Meetup at 4:30
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Want to test hard -to -find pens and paper?
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Want to share and trade pens, paper and ink samples with fellow show attendees?
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Coming to the show by yourself and simply want to socialize and meet other enthusiasts in person?
Join Dan Hoizner (@dandon) and our lead volunteers Trinita, Charlotte and Essandra of the D.C. Pen Club for misadventures in art and fountain pens
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Saturday Meetup at 4:30
The Vanness Pen Lounge will be hosting a post-show Meetup with influential (and knowledgeable!) bloggers, YouTubers, and more, including:
youtuber @FigbootonPens
David Parker
@wellappointed desk
Ana Reinert
@Gentleman Stationer
Joe Crace
@FountainPenDay Founder
Cary Yeager
FRIDAY, AUGUST 2
6 - 8 PM
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ERANO & LAX
present
THE GREAT DC VINTAGE PEN PANEL AND WRITE AROUND
One of the best part of fountain pen shows is the ability to try different pens while searching for that great writing experience. But when it comes older or vintage pens, however, many feel discouraged from pursuing the same experience we get from modern or contemporary pens. Not only can we use vintage pens, but they often offer a unique and beautiful writing experience that make an excellent addition to your modern pen collection.
To help bridge the gap, we hope you can join us on for a panel discussion on exploring vintage pens for use, followed by a “write around.” During the “write around,” our team of vintage pen enthusiasts will be set up with vintage pens around the room, and participants will be able to move around at their own pace to write with and sample these pens. We plan to have ink and paper available.
This is a social event and is BYOB. The purpose of this event is to create a positive experience to bridge the gap between modern/contemporary and vintage/old pen enthusiasts and collectors without the dynamics that sometimes play out on the pen show floor.
All vintage pen enthusiasts are invited to exhibit parts of their collection (perhaps ten to twenty pens are various makes) for which they are comfortable allowing fellow attendees to use without concern of “something happening” or the need for instructions. Please contact Joshua Lax and jjlaxpenco@gmail.com if you are interested in exhibiting your pens during the event.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3
8 - 9:30 PM
WAJIMA RECOVERY AUCTION
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4
11 AM - 12:30 PM
GOULET PENCAST
Join Brian Goulet and Drew Brown in-person for a LIVE recording of a future episode of The Goulet Pencast - a casual and informal, tangential and extraneous, superfluous and extemporaneous fountain pen show where they talk about what’s going on at The Goulet Pen Company and in their fountain pen lives!
Brian and Drew will attempt to do a shortened version of the show so that there's plenty of time to hang out and say hi afterwards!
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Be sure to enjoy the 2023 Goulet Pencast recorded LIVE at the 2023 DC Pen SUPERSHOW: