CPC 2024: Authentically Me
The Hilton Chicago, where the Chicago Planner Conference took place.
I first learned about the Chicago Planner Conference from a post by Kimberly on The Pen Addict blog. Intrigued, I followed the conference on Instagram and made note of when tickets were going to go on sale. I wasn’t sure if it was really going to be my scene, but I was still curious when the tickets went on sale. I decided to take the plunge and set up a weekend trip to downtown Chicago for the conference. Next thing I knew the summer was over and the first weekend in November was here. I had been doing planning in earnest since August with a printable conference planner from Lights Planner Action, one of the sponsors of the event and whose owner was a keynote speaker.
Ultimately, I wasn’t sure what to expect in the end, but was really excited to give it a go. And to go back to downtown Chicago. I’d been there for the first time in 2021, but was with some family members that weren’t too keen on the museums I wanted to check out.
I got in the morning of the conference, which wouldn’t start until 4 pm. First stop was Atlas Stationers which was very busy. I probably spent an hour wandering around the store. I touched a lot of notebooks and was looking for something to be my reflection journal (I grabbed the Life x Kleid A5 Notebook) and some A6 Hobonichi lined books. I ended up with the three notebooks, a new pen (Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Oinking Embers which really looks great with my other two favorite Carousels, Hearty Harvest and Brilliant Beanstalk), two inks (Lennon Tool Bar Bubble Tea and Ferris Wheel Press Leadcast Letters), a washi tape (Wearingeul Nightingale in Rose), and three of the Atlas stickers. I really wish there was an equivalent stationery shop in my town because I would be there all the time. The Atlas staff are also really welcoming and are super happy to talk pens, inks, and paper with you. (You can use my code DIME10 (affiliate link) through 12/1/24 to get 20% off instead of the usual 10%!).
I stopped at the coffee shop, Big Shoulders, nearby before going in. I love this location, it’s just right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city.
From Atlas I walked a few blocks to the American Writers Museum. It was a place that I had seen when searching for museums in Chicago, but didn’t really know what to expect. My museum professional brain had a lot of fun in there. There was some really cool interactive components for a museum that is about the written word and the people who created them. My stationery brain got poked a little as well because you could play with old typewriters and there were many little bits of ephemera around the museum. I also created a list of 19th century authors that I need to read now.
“I write, because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” - Flannery O’Connor
It was a really inspiring spot as a writer myself. Some of the absolutely savage early 20th century journalists’ quotes were probably some of my favorites.
From there I made by way to the Hilton Chicago, a hotel I didn’t realize was so historic until I set foot in it. It truly is a really beautiful building. I stopped by registration to pick up my badge and goodie bag, then checked into the hotel. I putzed about for a bit until it was time to go down for the first timer orientation. This was really useful for setting the culture of the event. As someone who went to a lot of anime and science fiction cons in my teens and twenties… this event has way more in common with those than pen shows that I have been to. It was more about the coming together and experiencing as opposed to shopping. Not that I didn’t shop, there were some amazing sticker vendors there and I might be set for the next year.
On Saturday, we gathered for a general session with guest speakers and sat at a sponsored table that we had been preassigned. I was at AM Paper and Art Co.’s table. I was really excited because I really liked her aesthetic and it was great to meet her on Sunday and chat about her designs. I have a LOT of her goodies so they will be making a lot of appearances in my journal spreads. After the swag bag that we received at check-in, I realized how much stuff I was really going to be hauling back home after people gave each other table-mate gifts and there were swag drops from the speakers. I really enjoyed Bess from Lights Planner Action’s talk. It really resonated with me about journals being tools. It is a sentiment that I share and it was just awesome to hear about her enthusiasm for what she does. Adriana of Little Words Project also shared the story of her company and a little word bracelet with the conference’s theme - Authentic.
The goodie bags at our table. Lots of washi, PET tape, and stickers inside!
After lunch it was time for the workshops. I was in one on visual notetaking with Ink Factory, which was such a cool concept. They had some really great tips and tricks for drawing quickly and really hammering in the concept of practice makes perfect. My second workshop was about ink painting hosted by Julia @hi.juliahere. It was really fun to splash some ink around (because I maybe… just maybe have a lot of inks, haha) and I actually used a combo of the skills I learned in the workshops for the title page of my 2025 Reflection Notebook.
An example of Ink Factory’s visual note-taking that was done during the Saturday keynote speakers.
After a dinner break it was on to the after hours events. The make and takes were fun, but it did feel a little picked over since I was in the last group. These weren’t really my cup of tea just because I’m not fond of socializing in loud spaces, especially with people I don’t know. That is one challenge I found with the event as a whole, it was loud. My hearing has gotten sensitive over the last few years and there were more than a few times I wished I had brought earplugs just to tone down the volume a bit. I came and looked around, did a little shopping, but then spent a quiet evening in my hotel room sorting through the piles of stickers. I ended up doing a few “free to good home” drops to give away things that I knew I wouldn’t use or wouldn’t be of use to any of my friends.
Sunday included the closing session with speakers Heather Kell of Kell of a Plan and Andrea of Coco Michele Illustrations. Both of them shared their stories of how they got to where they are today and it was really amazing to hear how they got started.
I spent the afternoon at the Chicago Field Museum, which is an amazing building and has a really amazing fossil collection (among other things). Seeing Sue the T-Rex was kind of special for me. Back in 2009, when I was working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom we conservation educators had to give a speech about the replica Sue they had there outside the Dinosaur ride. In the museum, I was so impressed by their use of projections to highlight different parts of the fossil.
Because I’m rather stubborn, I ended up walking from the Field Museum to the blue line to go back to the airport. My feet were not thanking me the next day since United then proceeded to send me across a full terminal to a new gate after I had just sat down. Since bed was my only plan after getting back home and I had to go to work the next day, it took me a little bit of time to reflect on the experience.
It was fun. I really enjoyed some aspects of it, like the workshops and the keynote speakers. I did feel a little bit left out of some of the messaging and group dynamics, however. Not the fault of the organizers, just part of planner culture. I’m not a wife or mother (nor do I intend to be) so I was kind of the odd girl out a lot of the time. I did, however, successfully penable several other participants and sent them right to the Hinze Pens and Vanness Pens tables.
I’ve always felt like pen shows are missing half of what they could be and now I see the planner conference is missing the other half. Going back to my fan con experiences - there needs to be a combo of vendors, small artists, and activities. When I was a college kid my friends and I could pretty much spend morning to well past midnight going to panels, contests, artist alleys, vendor halls, etc. etc. and it was fun! Pen shows have the vendor halls down and the planner conference did great with the panels/workshops. Now we just need to combine them and we’ll have the perfect stationery event.
Comic-con meets fountain pens. I would attend the heck out of that.
I wasn’t the only fountain pen fan that attended either! Well-Appointed Desk and the Gentleman Stationer were there too!
Currently Inked
Robert Oster Blood Moon - Kaweco liliput copper 14K B - This is such a fabulous dark red. I ended up with a bottle on accident, but I really don’t mind in the slightest. The shading and depth is just fun. I swapped my steel M stub for this chunky 14K B nib and haven’t looked back. This pen and my Art Sport Terrazzo saw a lot of love over the last week.
Anderillium Luna Moth Green - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - And the reason this pen also got a lot of love is that I adore this ink. This ink is definitely in my top 10 inky acquisitions this year. There’s just something about this soft green that just makes me want to keep playing with it. Definitely the favorite of my Anderillium inks.
Diamine Tranquility - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K BB CSI - Yet another inkvent ink that I haven’t tried and ended up really liking. Not sure if I love it in this pen or nib, but the ink is a pretty pink-purple with a shimmer that looks silver or blue in some lights. The only shimmer ink this week.
Colorverse Bow Shock - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - Another top 10 inky acquisition. Granted it’s kind of in between Colorverse Stars and Stripes (darker) and Colorverse Supernova (lighter), but it hits a sweet spot for me. The sheen can take some time to dry on some papers so I do have to make sure I’ve got some blotting paper around when I’m writing with it.
Bonus pic of the AM Paper Co. PET tapes I received and the absolutely awesome mug I got at the Field Museum.