June 30th marked the end of the registration period for Pelikan Hubs 2019.  A lot of new cities were chosen this year which is a testament to the buzz surrounding this event and the enthusiasm of the pen community.  With each passing year, the Hubs have grown larger and more diverse and this sixth annual gathering looks to be no different.  Perhaps the most important byproduct of this growth has been the ability to expand the Hub locations in order to provide access to more people.  While not everyone has a Hub convenient to them, each year makes it just a little easier to find a nearby location.  Using the most recent version of the map publicly available on Pelikan’s website (as of 7/3/19 at 10:00pm EST), we can get a feel for this year’s chosen venues and number of registrations.  These numbers will be subject to some fluctuation between now and the actual day of the event so the analysis that follows should not be considered a final tally.  Still, I’m hopeful that the insight the numbers provide will be of some general interest.  Nearly two dozen new cities have been added to this year’s line-up, representing a 10% increase over last year.  Growth continues to be steady with each year bringing more registrations than the one before it.  For 2018, Pelikan reported that there were 181 individual Hubs spread across 44 countries with 4,896 registered participants.  Based on the map data currently available, this year’s event will span 200 cities spread out amongst 46 countries with over 5,646 participants.  That represents at least a 15% increase in anticipated attendance over last year and an eye opening growth of 475% since the first Hub event in 2014.  The United States continues to play host to the most chosen cities and registrations with the Philippines, Canada, Australia, and India rounding out the top five.  Just in case you need a reminder, this year’s Hub event will take place on Friday, September 20, 2019 at 6:30pm local time.  Pelikan’s designated Hub masters should be reaching out in the next few weeks with additional details for each individual location.  Of course, if you are unable to attend this year’s event, you can follow along via the hashtag #pelikanhubs on your preferred social media platform.  Similar to last year, I have put together a series of maps and graphs to help better depict the information outlined above.  Read on to see this year’s line-up and where your city/state/country may rank.

Pelikan Hubs Locations – 2019:

Argentina:  Buenos Aires
Australia:  Adelaide, Bendigo, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney
Austria:  Vienna
Belgium:  Antwerp, Brussles
Brazil:  Sao Paulo
Canada:  Calgary, Cambridge (Ontario), Charlottetown, Edmonton (Alberta), Fredericton (New Brunswick), Hamilton (Ontario), Hannover, London (Ontario),  Manchester, Moncton, Montréal (Québec), Ottawa (Ontario), Regina, Saskaton (Saskatchewan), Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Chile:  Santiago
China:  Beijing, Shanghai
Colombia:  Bogota
Czech Republic:  Prague
Finland:  Helsinki
France:  Paris
Germany:  Berlin, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Mannheim, Munich, Münster, Nürnberg, Oldenburg, Stuttgart
Greece:  Athens
Hong Kong:  Hong Kong
Hungary:  Budapest
India:  Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Davanagere, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Palakkad, Pune
Indonesia:  Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya
Ireland:  Dublin
Israel:  Tel Aviv
Italy:  Isernia, Mailand, Palermo, Rome
Japan:  Tokyo
Luxembourg:  Luxembourg
Malaysia:  Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Penang
Mexico:  Mexico City, Puebla
Netherlands:  Amsterdam, Den Haag
New Zealand:  Christchurch, Hamilton
Norway:  Oslo
Pakistan:  Islamabad
Philippines:  Baguio City, Cebu, Davao City, Makati, Mandaluyong City, Pasay, Quezon City, Taguig, Vertis North
Poland:  Gdańsk,  Katowice, Krakow, Lódź, Poznan, Toruń, Warsaw, Wroclaw
Portugal:  Lisbon, Porto
Russia:  Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Saint Petersburg, Troitsk
Serbia:  Jagodina
Singapore:  Singapore
Slovenia:  Ljubljana
South Korea:  Seoul
Spain:  A Coruña, Barcelona, Granada, Madrid
Sweden:  Stockholm
Switzerland:  Zürich
Taiwan:  Kaohsiung, Mialoi, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei
Turkey:  Istanbul
Ukraine:  Kyiv
United Arab Emirates:  Abu Dabi
United Kingdom:  Cardiff, Edinburgh, Fleet, Glasgow, London, Preston, 
United States:  Albuquerque NM, Anaheim CA, Ashburn VA, Atlanta GA, Austin TX, Baltimore MD, Boston MA, Boulder CO, Cedar Rapids IA, Charleston SC, Charlotte NC, Chester NJ, Chicago IL, Cincinnati OH, Cleveland OH, Colorado Springs CO, Columbus OH, Dallas TX, Dayton OH, Denver CO, Des Moines IA, Detroit MI, Evanston IL, Fort Lauderdale FL, Fresno CA, Hagerstown MD, Honolulu HI, Houston TX, Indianapolis IN, Kansas City MO, Knoxville TN, Lincoln NE, Los Angeles CA, Madison WI, Mesa AZ, Minneapolis MN, Nashville TN, New Orleans LA, New York City NY, Oakland CA, Oklahoma City OK, Orlando FL, Palo Alto CA, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA, Portland OR, Pretty Prarie KS, Raleigh NC, Richmond CA, Richmond VA, Rochester NY, Sacramento CA, Salt Lake City UT, San Antonio TX, San Diego CA, San Fracisco CA, San Jose CA, Santa Maria CA, Savage MD, Seattle WA, Spokane WA, Springfield MA, St. Louis MO, Tampa FL, Tucson AZ, Tuscaloosa AL, Washington DC, York PA

This graph depicts the growth of the Pelikan Hubs event over the past 6 years.  Note that these numbers are approximations and should not be taken as absolute (Click to enlarge)

Number of Hub participants by country reported as of 7/3/19 (Click to enlarge)

A map depicting the countries hosting a Pelikan Hubs event in 2019 (Click to enlarge)

The top 30 Pelikan Hubs locations based on the number of reported registrations as of 7/3/19 (Click to enlarge)

Hub registrations in the United States broken down by state (Click to enlarge)

A map depicting the states in the USA hosting a Pelikan Hubs event broken down by the number of registrations as of 7/3/19 (Click to enlarge)

Check out Pelikan’s Hubs Overview for the most up to date locations and number of participants.