National Stationery Show One-Day Survivor Guide

The National Stationery Show is a paper-lover’s dream! Booth after booth of paper goodness, celebrating all kinds of styles and aesthetics. I attended last year for the first time, and though, I’m no expert, I am a fast learner.

This post is meant for fellow stationers who are not exhibiting and are attending the show for the first time. Here are some guidelines to do before and on your one jam-packed day.




The Javits Center is a huge place, and if you want to see absolutely everything you desire, your feet need to feel good about it. The fashion at the show runs the gamut. From track suits to business suits to well-suited casual, you will be able to find your own style of comfortable footwear to compliment your taste and the event.


Chances are that you have a list of people in your head that you don’t want to miss. Take that list and write it down. Now access the Floorplan. Depending on your age and your eyesight, the NSS Floorplan is a challenge to read. But it does give you the layout and an idea of the grandness of the venue. You can find exhibitors’ booth numbers here and be able to create a path for yourself to follow.


Twitter is a great and immediate tool to do any kind of research for the show. You can follow the stream under the hashtag #stationeryshow (it used to be #NSS, but I think that may have been adopted by another organization or hacked.) I found a lot of information last year by following the conversations and tweets. Plus, it gets all us paper nerds excited for the show.

Blogs are another great way to gather information about the show and its exhibitors. Kristen at Paper Crave always has a great round-up of paper people and my friend, Bridgett, from Perideau Designs will be doing her own post soon. Those are just a couple blogs to get you started!


One of the best things I did last year was to meet people for lunch outside of the show. It gave me a little natural light on the walk to the restaurant and some good conversation about things I may have missed. And a pretty good club sandwich.


If you know someone that’s exhibiting at the show, offer him or her a break from the booth. It’s kind and good karma.


You only have one day to explore the show, so you want to make the most of your time and meet as many of the exhibitors as you can. Your time is certainly precious. But remember that exhibitors have precious little time to talk to everyone necessary to make their investment of time and energy worthwhile. Make sure your timing is right!

Someone had a great quote last year that said, “The National Stationery Show is like Fashion Week for paper.” Couldn’t agree more! I feel lucky to be close enough to road trip to the show and take in all that paper goodness.

Next week, I’ll share my own floor plan of the stationers I most want to see. Stay tuned…