Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 41 to 47 of 47

Thread: Barriers to participation

  1. #41
    Senior Member Detman101's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Lost...help.
    Posts
    718
    Thanks
    1,566
    Thanked 590 Times in 294 Posts
    Rep Power
    4

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Quote Originally Posted by SlowMovingTarget View Post
    One additional barrier I encounter (apologies if it's already been mentioned) is a disapproving spouse. Collections of any kind (books being the barely tolerable exception) are frowned upon and actively eliminated in our household. In part, this is to dissuade kiddo from developing the practice of collecting stuff, but it is also a large part my wife's behavioral DNA. That I have more than one fountain pen at all is often the source of arguments, let alone pursuit of the hobby which would include new pens or exploration. I've worked through all manner of justifications, some more reasonable and real than others. But, I avoid the pull of building a collection mostly for the sake of household harmony and keeping my word.

    This may be atypical as a barrier, but it is one for me.
    You're a kinder man than me.
    I went the "jerk" route and simply said..."I make the money, I spend it how I like".
    Though I don't go bananas with spending, I still like to enjoy my earnings.
    It didn't go over well, as you probably expect, but it drew a line in the sand that hasn't been challenged again...and with the passage of time, the issue (and vitriol) has settled.
    "I can only improve my self, not the world."

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Detman101 For This Useful Post:

    SlowMovingTarget (November 6th, 2021)

  3. #42
    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Gulf of Mexico
    Posts
    3,886
    Thanks
    4,128
    Thanked 3,788 Times in 1,642 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post
    We’ve been living on a boat since Spring this year and space is at a premium. But we have a vast back yard. ☺️
    What sort of boat? Did some cruising from New Zealand, rebuilt a couple wood sailboats, and am mad about boats in general.
    A Sea Ray 34 parked in the downtown marina. Very tight quarters.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

  4. #43
    Senior Member AzJon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Flagstaff
    Posts
    764
    Thanks
    1,204
    Thanked 826 Times in 352 Posts
    Rep Power
    9

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    There is definitely something to be said for accessibility, particularly regarding information. This might seem like a profoundly silly notion to this group, but I assure you it can be real.

    Just last week, there was a discussion on Reddit as to whether or not Goldspot Pens was a real company or a scam.

    Now, I can already hear the guffaws from the corners of the room, but you have to consider that if someone is coming into the hobby totally fresh with zero context to fountain pens at all, there can be a lot of confusion. I remember bookmarking Cult Pens very early on so I could remember them as a website, as if I wouldn't encounter them or their name again in the future.

    To their credit, the Goulet's have probably done the most for the fountain pen community in that regard. Right or wrong on all of their pen takes, they provide a spring board of information for pen newbies. After that though...it gets a bit more confusing.

    Discussions about how great/terrible Noodler's is happens regularly on the subreddit as does the perennial [insert pen company] QC issues. At a point, the information can be too loud and overwhelming, since a lot of information comes down to n=1 (or n=10) subjective experiences. I, for example, have owned three Viscontis and never experienced the typical QC issues that are so often talked about. There are a lot of "experts" out there that like to disagree with one another, sometimes unfairly, and without knowing more information about the pens, the companies, the styles, the whatever, sifting through that information (or knowing the right place to ask) can be its own form of barrier. I would probably not ask vintage pen repair questions on reddit, for example.

    I think that cost really is the other significant barrier for more people than we want to admit. Again, speaking from Reddit experience, which skews younger and newer to the hobby, the idea of a Lamy 2000 is a far-fetched goal due to cost. When a pack of gel rollerball pens are less than $10 in the store, even a $15 pen (plus, say another $10-ish for ink) could be considered positively lavish, depending on your background. For some people, that pay-to-play aspect of the hobby does stop people from buying other/more pens and definitely acts to influence their opinions of pens that cost more than a few bucks, both positive and negative.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to AzJon For This Useful Post:

    penwash (November 15th, 2021)

  6. #44
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Location
    Reno-Sparks, Nevada
    Posts
    257
    Thanks
    409
    Thanked 258 Times in 128 Posts
    Rep Power
    5

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Cost is a barrier to participation in many hobbies and pastimes. I don't know whether it's any higher a barrier than other pastimes. Over the years I've also spent a ton of money on my garden, a ton of money on fabric and supplies for historical reenactment groups, and a ton of money on spinning fibres and implements. My brother has spent a ton of money on trumpets. I'm not saying one can't get by on a great deal less expense, and one can enjoy any given pastime just as much. But for some, perhaps many, things just snowball.

  7. #45
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Hiya - sorry it's taken so long to reply, I don't often come back to this forum, but pensharing is now live in the US! One member, Lisa, has listed a LOT of pens for people to try. If you're interested, just contact me directly through the "contact us" link at teh top of the page: www.pensharing.com

    All the best - Jon

  8. #46
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Hiya - pensharing is now available in the US - the founding US member, Lisa, has listed loads of her pens. Let me know if you're interested! Best way to coontact me is using the "contact us" form: https://www.pensharing.com/en/user_feedbacks/new

    Happy to discuss the benefits and risks but I'm delighted to say we're now done around 800 hires and nothing has been lost or damaged in the post, and nothing has been lost/damaged/stolen whilst on hire )

  9. #47
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Barriers to participation

    Quote Originally Posted by PenInvestigations View Post
    I've been thinking about this a lot lately. No pen stores near me, nor pen shows - and w/ the pandemic, I couldn't go to pen shows anyway. I'm not that much interested in vintage pens, so the barriers around that part of the hobby aren't as important to me. I have ordered and returned some pens that didn't work for me, but early on, it wasn't very clear that I could do that - or that the cleaning/restocking fees were too high to justify it. I don't quite remember my rationale for that. I'm selling some pens now on here to recoup costs or fund new purchases, but I'm not making any money.
    Cost/money is definitely my biggest barrier. I wrote a half-baked blog post yesterday on how gold nibs are become so unaffordable https://www.peninvestigations.com/ho...m-on-gold-nibs . There's so many things that I'll never be able to try because prices have gone up - not just on pens but on necessities too, thus shrinking my budge for hobbies. But like you, my biggest barrier is not really knowing what works best for me. It takes a lot of time and money to figure that out, neither of which can be recouped. And yeah, the journey and trying new things is a fun part of the hobby, but it's also just not as tenable for some of us.
    I wish that the US had a pensharing program like the one that exists in the UK. https://www.pensharing.com/ I would willing pay a fee to borrow someone's pen and try it out. I don't know what it would take to get such a program up and running, but, in my opinion, it would help lower a lot of barriers. We would get to try out a wide variety of pens without having to cough up the money to buy it up front. It would help us figure out what works best for us.
    One of the main problems I see is that setting it up - and possibly using it - would require already being part of a trusting pen community. How do you protect against someone stealing a valuable pen?
    Thanks for the comment - I haven't nbeen on this forum for ages - pensharing is now live in the US - I posted a couple of replies but didn't use the quote function so they didn't reply to you

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •