A Day At Scriptus Toronto, 2016

Wow! Wow! I would never have expected that taking part in Scriptus Toronto would be such a wonderful and fun experience!

Life has been very busy since September 12^th. Firstly I headed to California for twelve days. I’ll be honest and let you know that I needed a break, so bags were packed and Chris and I headed to Yosemite for some rock climbing. Ling packed her bags and headed to China. I was in U.K. on October 5^th for a work-related-do and didn’t get back to Canada until the 26^th. Scriptus was right around the corner and it was quite difficult to prepare from abroad.

Jason was on hand to take shipments of Diamine and KWZ for the show and I came back in time to receive J. Herbin inks. It was our first foray into having a table at Scriptus and it turned out well! We are very happy to be sponsors to help keep this wonderful event alive, but participating this year was fantastic!

Our first introduction to Scriptus was in 2015 when Ling and I headed down to see what it was all about. We sponsored the event and threw a prize into the raffle, then spent the whole day wondering around in awe! Pens, inks, paper everywhere! We met Philip Akin and David Armstrong and the array of amazing volunteers who put together the show. I’ll admit that I also accosted anyone and everyone and made sure they took home a Knight’s Writing Company bookmark!

We didn’t have to think about it at all this year – we would absolutely take part! Table number 30 was at the back right of the hall, and we were lucky enough to be stationed opposite our great friends from Staedtler. This provided lots of fun for both companies.

Our goal this year was to bring plenty of ink and just a few pens. Of our inks, we selected Diamine, J. Herbin, Noodler’s and of course KWZ. It was truly wonderful to talk to so many knowledgeable people about ink! And it was great to give advice to those first time fountain pen owners about what might or might not work in their pens.

You’ll see a huge variety of people plying their wares at the show. One gentleman refurbished old coin boxes and turned them into pen display cases. Another gentleman carved beautiful nib holders for calligraphy. There were artists, fixers, distributors and stores! An amazing mix of people with hugely varying pen paraphernalia.

I was glad that we had only selected a single table to work with this year. I like the more personal and intimate nature of a smaller space where we can warmly welcome guests and engage in the lost art of conversation. We didn’t feel the need to spread ourselves too thinly and run from one table to another, or hire teams of people to peddle the products. But I do love to talk to people, and I think we managed to create many new friendships and rekindle some old ones.

It was lovely to meet a favourite artist and give her a goody bag of ink samples. Last year a young lady wanted to purchase J. Herbin's Emerald of Chivor and couldn’t find a bottle anywhere. I just happened to have one in my pocket and so I gave it to her. She visited our table this year to say hi. And this year I had been conversing with lots of customers over email. It was wonderful to put faces to the names.

What can I say about Scriptus Toronto? It’s an amazing event! And I hope that it will continue for many years! I know how much work it is for the organisers and I for one am thankful for them putting the show together. We will certainly keep coming back because it is a fantastic place to get out and meet people! Imagine that! Getting off the computer and away from the digital world to be in one large room with lots of people! To talk, laugh and engage about a common passion!

The beautiful world of fountain pens, paper and ink.