“Detroit Pen Show” opened today, offering specialty items, real-world support for collectors and impactful writers

As the world and State of Michigan advance through increasingly less tenative steps back into a direction of personal engagement, trade events are returning to reassert their singular value. [1]

With its return to the real world after having made its own necessary virtual adaptation for 2020, the current Detroit Pen Show serves as confident reminder on a great many fronts that there is no substitute for personal touch. [2]

Thirteen months ago, Temple University published an assessment of COVID-19 implications of people being universally “pushed into an online existence.” In it, Professor Tricia Jones with the Klein College of Media and Communications was cited as having cautioned: “We’re getting better at reading the people we live with. But we’re getting a lot worse at being able to connect and read people that we still interact with, but via these technologies.” [3-5]

Those invested in the art, technology, and reliance upon means for putting thought to paper via inked-pen have an arguable advantage in the face of this “new normal” challenge. [6,7]

Industry routinely returns to the question of handwritten versus digital in terms of examining means of maximizing customer retention, marketing ROI, and all sorts of matters related to the bottom line. Academia has made inquiries into the question as it relates to learning. [8-10]

Dr Stephen BRE Brown, developmental and cognitive psychologist — and popular fountain pen aficionado — has put the matter more succintly. “Yes, yes: People will say stuff like ‘Everything is digital, and computers, and there is, like, technology, and there is things, and texting, and—. [11-15]

Fantastic.

But, if no one would have the need to use fountain pens, they would be gone by now; and they’re not. In fact, the industry is booming.

The current Detroit Pen Show, which will continue tomorrow and Sunday at the Southfield Hilton Garden, reflects this along the two most important dimensions. [16,17]

First, the floor and seminar schedule have been developed to satisfy the widest spectrum of interests, from discriminating high-end collector, to newcomer. [18-22]

Just inside the exhibit area, The Pen Man provided a literal sampler of sized, inked pens, along with writing paper, to help visitors feel and see for themselves where they might benefit from starting with a new acquisition. Deeper within the show, Pilot, then, had provided space to show and differentiate offerings for anywhere from ten dollars or so, up to tens-of-thousands of dollars. [23]

None for sale, however. For purchases, visitors would head elsewhere down the aisles, to touch, try, and perhaps start out with a pen or pens from Don Castle, Ken Colombe, Myk Daigle, Eric Fonville, David Silber, turnkey. Or explore additional options, along with paper and inks from Federalist Pens and Paper. [24,25]

Second, for the more discriminating, Pen Realm is offering nib repair and customization here in real-time. Or see Michigan-based Opus Mechan for the line of exclusive writing instruments they’ve designed and produced, include one-of-a-kind pieces. [26,27]

This Sunday from 11:30am to 12:30pm, Tom Baley will deliver an expert seminar going in-depth on luxury Pelikan Pens and their distinctions. [28]

Pens, fountain pens, are of course readily available online; all of the vendors at this show will no doubt remain accessible by telephone if not online to support and do new business with customers well after this show has closed. But now, especially with the continued reduction in the number of brick-and-mortar operations, shows such as this are fulfilling an increasingly important need for in-person interactions.

It’s proving once again that a lot more than too many people realize simply cannot be replaced by ether. That’s a good thing.

References

1. “What does information age mean for future of trade shows?” Dell Deaton (April 27, 1998) Marketing News.
2. Detroit Pen Show (home page).
3. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
4. “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
5. “The coronavirus pandemic has made communication more important than ever” Edirin Oputu (September 16, 2020) Temple Now.
6. “Experts Say the ‘New Normal’ in 2025 Will Be Far More Tech-Driven, Presenting More Big Challenges” (February 18, 2021) Pew Research Center.
7. “The Difference Between Collecting Using, and Accumulating Foutain Pens” sbrebrown (July 6, 2018) YouTube.
8. “Why E-Mail Will Never Replace the Handwritten Note” Kristi Hedges and Jessica Kleiman (January 9, 2013) Forbes.
9. “Handwritten Notes Are a Rare Commodity. They’re Also More Important Than Ever” John Coleman (April 5, 2013) Harvard Business Review.
10. “The Benefits of Hand-written Versus Digital Notetaking in College Lectures” Abby Stephens (2016-2017) Volume V, Lexia.
11. “13 Reasons Why You Should Use a Fountain Pen” Mission Ink (December 18, 2019) YouTube.
12. “Electronic Connection: Handwriting vs Keyboarding, Fountain Pens vs PDAs” Robert Rivas MSW and Marshall L Smith PhD (Winter 2007) The New Social Worker.
13. S BRE Brown (home page).
14. “Let the Fountain Pens Flow!” Miranda Purves (December 26, 2018) The New York Times.
15. “Why Use A Fountain Pen?” sbrebrown (August 17, 2018) YouTube.
16. “2021 Detroit Pen Show – day 2 of 3” (October 30, 2021) Saline Journal.
17. “2021 Detroit Pen Show – day 3 of 3” (October 31, 2021) Saline Journal.
18. “Vendor Announcements & News Updates” (August 25, 2021) Detroit Pen Show.
19. “Additional Vendors & New Pay By Check Feature” (August 31, 2021) Detroit Pen Show.
20. “Even More Vendors Join in on the Detroit Pen Show!” (September 21, 2021) Detroit Pen Show.
21. “New Seminars and Vendors” (October 5, 2021) Detroit Pen Show.
22. “Seminar Schedule” (October 29, 31, 2021) Detroit Pen Show.
23. Pilot Pen USA (home page).
24. Noyesville Pens (home page).
25. Federalist Pens and Paper (home page).
26. Pen Realm (home page).
27. Opus Mechan (home page).
28. Pelikan (home page).