Thanks to Susan's organizational skills, philofaxers from New York (and Boston) met for a 3rd time on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan's Midtown East. We had a good mix of old faithfuls and brand-new faces: Susan, Sheila, Pat, Jenna, Michele, Raquel, and Nan.
We spent an hour or so in Sam Flax, checking out not only Filofax organizers and Flex by Filofax, but also Kate Spade organizers and lots of cool gift items. The Personal, Compact, and Pocket were the popular sizes of the day, and everyone was captivated by colors, notably a bright orange Metropol (I think) that Pat took home for her daughter. Susan and Michelle were pining for the Osterley, but there were none in stock.
I was looking for a change from the red Finsbury I've been using for a few years, and found a stunning steel-blue* Cuban that, once I had in my hands, I could not bear to put back in the display case.
Then we retreated to our usual restaurant, Le Pain Quotidien, for their delicious sandwiches, baked goods, and other light dishes. After dinner, I brought out some Blue Bear items that someone sent me a few years ago when she decided to stop using 6-ring organizers. Happily, some of them have found new homes. There'll be more next time!
Yes, we did make a pile. I didn't take photos myself, but we had plenty of photographers, including a professional one, so I expect we'll see some pictures soon!
Here's a link to Susan's blog entry about the meet up (with pictures!).
*According to www.filofax.co.uk, the color is called Ink.
Thanks for the report Nan. I don't know many of the names, may be they comment under different names.
ReplyDeleteWe are all getting just a little excited about the next London meet up. All places allocated in about 20 minutes yesterday!
Also following the Mid West Meet Up on Twitter at the moment.
I looked at the UK website and the price of the Cuban is 68 pounds. I added 20 pounds for postage ( 88 pounds) which comes to $136.27 AUD. The price of the Cuban in Filofax Australia, is $229 + postage. I generally buy from Pens and Leathers - which is where I bought my Cuban personal.
ReplyDeleteWow—what a price difference! It's definitely better for you to import the Filofax than to buy it locally. Are there any tariffs added when you import? I bought the Cuban for $99 US at Sam Flax, which is the same price as from Filofax USA. I had to pay New York sales tax, which is probably a little more than shipping would have been. (Filofax USA has pretty good deals on domestic shipping.)
ReplyDeleteNo no import tariff but the Australian prices are just off the scale at the moment - I also buy refills from either the UK or USA rather than pay Australian Prices. I loved reading about your get together. We are just too spread apart fro that it happen here and I should imagine that I would be one of a very, very few (if any) that would use a Filofax in this part of Australia.
ReplyDeleteGreat report, Nan! And thanks for the link to mine.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone interested in future NYC meet ups, the next one will be some time in the fall. Watch Philofaxy for any news on that front as the summer ends.
The third meet-up on 3rd Avenue? NYC meet-ups should keep following this trend!
ReplyDeleteHa, sadly, we broke this trend.
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