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HOBONICHI TECHO 2018

HOBONICHI TECHO 2018

We took part in PlannerCon Europe in Belgium!

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Part1

We took part in PlannerCon Europe in Belgium!

On October 28-29, Hobonichi staffers Naoko and Makiko went to Brussels, Belgium to attend PlannerCon Europe. PlannerCon is an event created by planner users for planner users — it’s like a fan event on a massive scale! 1,000 attendees took part in the first PlannerCon last March in San Francisco. When European planner users saw it they decided to make an event of their own happen, and PlannerCon Europe was born.

▲The glass building in the center is the venue. The surrounding area was gorgeous.

PlannerCon Europe had 300 attendees from over ten countries, including Belgium, France, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Italy, England, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, the United States, and Canada.

Although the attendees were all different nationalities and ages, and spoke numerous different languages, they spent hours chatting and showing off their planners.

We’ve always admired how users outside of Japan are so good at organizing, actively participating in, and making friends at these events, from informal meet-ups to formally organized events. It’s wonderful to see people so proactive and skilled at communication.

There were many special events planned to ensure attendees had a fun and fulfilling two days. Guest speakers shared tips for using planners and held workshops, while planner companies from around the world set up booths, sold products, and handed out gifts. At open tables, attendees would gather to chat, exchange items they’d brought from home, participate in drawings held by the PlannerCon organizers, and even sing songs they’d written especially for this event.

▲During the convention’s opening ceremony, a speaker called out the places attendees had come from, country by country. The crowd welcomed each other with infectious excitement.

This is actually the first time in the history of the Hobonichi Techo that we’ve set up a booth and participated in a convention. We didn’t have any special tools for building or running a booth, so we gathered what we had from our office and made this set-up.

We put our full lineup of books and covers on display, and set up a stamp station for visitors to use as they liked. We also set out a Hobonichi Planner and asked attendees to share messages about the techo with us. We received many wonderful responses!

Because we weren’t licensed to conduct business on the ground in Europe, we were unable to do more than have our products on display. Many attendees talked with us about how much they’d like to have more opportunities to see the lineup in person, as import fees are quite expensive and there are still few shops in Europe carrying the Hobonichi Techo.

We’re very sorry that we haven’t been able to solve those concerns quite yet, but we’re well aware of our customers’ requests, and will continue doing our best to provide a better shopping experience.

We were so happy to see that most attendees already knew the Hobonichi Techo, and many were already using it! It was amazing to have so many attendees come show us their techos.

Attendees told us all kinds of things, such as:

“It’s so handy to have a book that’s so compact but can stand up to watercolors and fountain pens!”

“I love my cover so much! It’s been 3 years and I still can’t bring myself to change it.”

“I’ve used the Hobonichi Techo since 2005. Maybe I was the first user ever in France?! (laughs)”

“Everyone’s been talking about the Hobonichi Techo at a table over there, so I came to see what it’s all about.”

“Everyone in the Facebook fan group asked me to take pictures of the Hobonichi 5-Year Techo. I also have a ton of questions. Do you mind if I ask?”

“I love the messages in the daily pages. It shows how we have happy days and sad days, days we write entries and days we don’t. That’s what LIFE is all about, and the Hobonichi Techo makes me feel like I can really be myself.”

▲On the right is the guest speaker Theresa Hall, who shared her Hobonichi Techo and the way she uses it like an art journal.

From morning to night each day, there was never a slow moment at the Hobonichi booth. People who had never met before PlannerCon became fast friends and visited the booth together; others brought new acquaintances along so they could recommend the techo in person. We even heard people saying, “Your Hobonichi Techo is so cool! Can I see the other pages?”

We were overjoyed to see people making friends through the Hobonichi Techo before our very eyes. We could feel first-hand that the Hobonichi Techo wouldn’t be what it is without the  support of our users from all over the world.

Thanks to the hard work of the amazing volunteers, we had a successful two days at PlannerCon Europe. Weeks have passed since the event, and  people are still posting on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other websites to gush about the event. There’s so much content it’s impossible to see it all, but feel free to take a peek at some of it through the hashtags below.

Instagram
#plannerconeurope
#pce2017
#plannerconeu

YouTube
PlannerCon Europe

2017-11-24-Fri

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*Please note, these exchange rate estimates based on Xurrency.com are intended as a guide only. The actual rate for your order may differ, as exchange rates change constantly, and international purchase costs vary by credit card.

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