Dallas Pen Show
The Dallas Pen Show this year took place on September 27th and 28th - this show is unique in that it is a two day show and Friday is a long 10a-8p, allowing locals to still attend the show later in the evening. I’ve only been to shows that also had a Sunday so this was interesting, but worked for me as I needed to travel back to Indy on Sunday!
This is a larger show with a lot of variety and dealers, making the selection great for making unique pen purchases. Big vendors this year included Vanness, Franklin-Christoph, Bittner, and Dromgooles to mention a few! Tactile Turn is local to the show and not only brought their newly redesigned Bolt Action pen but also brought fun and hung out with us after the show for dinner!
My favorite part of any show is seeing friends, new and old, and catching up on pens and life over a glass of wine at the bar. This show has a great hotel with a fantastic bar and lots of space to spread out and play with pen purchases. I got to talk to lots of listeners to the Leaky Nib podcast, too, which was a super fun bonus to the show! I picked up two Franklin-Christoph Model 45L pens (both with SIG grinds by Audrey!), the Platinum Galaxy, a Tactile Turn Gist in black Delrin with a Damascus section, a Galen Leather 40-pen case from Vanness, and all three Vanness x Joey Feldman inks (Inktober, Good Evening & Mysterious Super Secret Writing Fluid)! We ate great food, including some great Mexican we went to TWICE, and had lots of good conversation. Dallas is definitely a show I’d like to go back to in future years!
Enjoy these photos from the show! (Taken by me!)
Lisa Vanness at her table, displaying many wonderful pens looking for homes.
Sandra (@wf_cupcakegirl) living up to her namesake with gourmet donuts!
Paul of Tactile Turn and @HeyMatthew comparing their Bolt Action pens with TiMascus accents.
Audrey Matteson, Nib Specialist at Franklin-Christoph, tuning my SIG nib for my new 45L.
Ana of The Well Appointed Desk in her inky element at the Vanness table.
Nib testing is a huge plus to buying a Franklin-Christoph because you can pick exactly what you want and have it tuned on site before you walk away!
Detlef Bittner himself, a master of penabling and facilitating epically gorgeous pen buying.
Michael Dromgoole, another master penabler, showing off some soon to come pens!
The men of Tactile Turn!
Mario of Toys from the Attic doing some serious pen business!
Ryan Krusac amongst a stunning showing of his pens.
Lisa Vanness & Ana Reinert had a rare moment at the Vanness table to pause for a photo together!
Franklin-Christoph Nib Specialists Mandy & Audrey pausing for a short moment to look up from their nibs!
David Oscarson looking snazzy with his gorgeous pens.
The epic beer flight from Braindead Brewing, visited on the day before the show!
