Staff Picks and a Fountain Pen Quiz Amongst Friends

Last week I got to relive my teacher days by handing out a test to the staff. We did another staff show and tell, with everyone bringing in a pen and ink, but instead of just a regular go around and sharing, we filled in a little questionnaire, using our pen and ink of choice. It was brought to my attention that it had been a while since we did a staff show and tell, so we planned to have one for the following staff meeting. As an extra special bonus, we put our pens to good use: I handed out the test, put some Puccini on the shop Spotify, wandered around examining my plants, looked over people's shoulders as they were writing. It really was just like the good old days: people drawing outside of the box, others challenging my questions, someone finished ridiculously early and started looking for things to do.

Our staff pick were (left to right): Amber: Platinum Cool with Diamine Cobalt Jazz Elaine: yStudio Classic with J. Herbin Rouille d'ancre Brendan: Faber Castell Loom with Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow Jon: Pilot Vanishing Point with Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses Celene: TWSBI 580 AL Orange (discontinued) with Noodler's Violet Josh: TWSBI ALR with Kobe #6 Bordeaux Not pictured above, Caleb's pen was a Charcoal Safari with Pelikan 4001 Brown   Now that we have two shops, we occasionally have to pipe someone in over Skype - you can see the top of Amber's head on the laptop. This was actually a lot of fun to do as a staff - it's interesting and funny to see what people think, especially with something as personal as stationery. Even people you think you know so well because you work with them everyday surprise you. Here are a few sample answers from our team:

And, while the staff quiz that I gave had a few particulars related to our own shipping operations and people on our team, I thought I would include one here for you all, in case you wanted to print it out for your local pen meet-ups. It's a great way to break the ice, or just something fun to do to warm people up - it can be surprising and hilarious and even border on contentious when pen people get together to share their opinions on stationery. You can find things out about people that can be shocking and permanently changing to your relationship with them forever. I mean, who doesn't like bubble tea?* You can share answers by a show of hands for some questions (orange or purple?) or go around and read answers aloud. Fountain Pen Quiz If you click on the link above, it'll open the quiz in a new tab that you can print out from. If you don't have a pen club or group, you could still fill it out and mail it to us here at the shop! We would love to see your answers. Wonder Pens Stationery Shop 290 Gerrard Street East Toronto, Ontario M5A 2G4  

  *Not to name names, but apparently Josh and Brendan.