#241: What This Bold Merger Means for the People of Play Innovation Conference with Greg Ahearn and Mary Couzin
Curious about what happens when major toy industry players team up?
In this episode of Making It In The Toy Industry, host Azhelle Wade cracks open the toy box on the epic merger between The Toy Association and People of Play. You’ll hear straight from the toy legends — Mary Couzin and Greg Ahearn—as they give us backstage passes on their big plans for events like POP Week and ChiTAG, and how this merger is shaking things up for the toy industry. The guests shared what sparked this merger and the opportunities that await toy creators, inventors, and enthusiasts in the long run.
You’ll also get to hear solid tips on how to make the most of toy fairs and events like pitching, networking, and thriving in an industry that's always leveling up. Whether you're a toy biz vet or just starting to dip your toes in the toy industry, LISTEN to this episode because it is packed with everything you need to level up your toy game!
Listen For These Important Moments
01:36 The Major Merger: The Toy Association and People of Play
08:27 Maintaining the Spirit of POP
13:11 Immediate Changes and Future Plans
20:00 Nostalgic Toys and Their Comebacks
21:35 ChiTAG and POP Week: Coming this November 2024!
24:15 Young Inventor Challenge and Industry Opportunities
25:57 Networking Tips for New Inventors
29:52 How to Make the Most of ChiTAG and POP Week
32:55 Encouraging New Toy Inventors
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
If you're excited about the world of toys and innovation, be sure to visit these resources online! Check out People of Play to learn more about their initiatives and events. Make sure to visit The Toy Association’s website for valuable industry insights and updates. And for all things fun and creative, head over to chitag.com to discover the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and POP Week. -
[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: You are listening to Making It in the Toy Industry, Episode # 241.
[00:00:04] Hey there, toy people! Azhelle Wade here, and welcome back to another episode of Making It In The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com.
[00:00:32] Our guests today are two incredible people in the toy industry, starting with my friend, Mary Couzin, a trailblazer in the world of toys and games, having created and licensed her honed own inventions before turning her focus to support other inventors through People Of Play. Sound familiar? Mary and I are like twinsies. As the visionary behind the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and the events like the TAGIE Awards and the Young Inventor Challenge, Mary has spent decades fostering innovation and creativity in the world of toys. Now with POP joining the forces with The Toy Association, Mary is steering into this new chapter for the future of play.
[00:01:08] Additionally, on the podcast today, Greg Ahearn, is a transformative leader and the current president and CEO of The Toy Association, where he champions collaboration, innovation, and growth within the toy industry. With a rich history of leadership at iconic companies like Hasbro, Mattel, and Toys R Us, so many synergies here, Greg now leads The Toy Association into a new era, driven by the recent merger with People of Play. So today we're diving in to that major merger, that toy industry buzz and hot topic that everyone is talking about since August.
[00:01:44] Mary and Greg, welcome to the show.
[00:01:46] Mary Couzin: Thank you for having us.
[00:01:48] Greg Ahearn: Yeah, thank you.
[00:01:49] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah. Thank you guys for being here. I'm so thrilled to have two titans in the toy industry on the podcast and two major organizations coming together. Now, whether you are an emerging toy creator trying to break into the industry or you're a seasoned corporate professional with a big brand, you've probably heard of The Toy Association.
[00:02:08] Since 1916, they've been the driving force behind the huge toy market. Their work not only ensures the health and growth of our industry, but they also spearhead some of the most important events in the industry, like the well known New York Toy Fair. or Toy Fair New York. I know , I always do that. They advocate for safety, innovation, and of course, play.
[00:02:28] But here's where it gets really exciting is when The Toy Association joined forces with POP. So we're going to talk about that today. So the first thing I want to dive into, I want to talk about this merger. Greg, can you explain why the Toy Association chose to pursue a merger with People of Play rather than the traditional form of an acquisition.
[00:02:49] What's the difference? Why did you choose this language? What does it mean?
[00:02:53] Greg Ahearn: Yeah. First, thanks for having us on. For us, it's part of the overall vision of what we're trying to do at The Toy Association, which is expand the ways in which we're engaging the toy community. And Mary has been a trailblazer within the toy industry. She is a Hall of Famer. There is nobody in the industry that doesn't know Mary and what she's been able to accomplish with People of Play. And so as you look at all of the different ways that Mary has constructed opportunities for the industry to connect in the network, whether it's through the Inventor Pitch And Innovation Conference, whether it's Chi TAG, The Young Inventors competition, the purchase and the running of the Bloom Report. It goes on and on and on in so many ways that she's touching the industry.
[00:03:41] For The Toy Association, it opened up a totally new way for us to engage different audiences that traditionally are not the manufacturer and the retail community coming together to do business in what would be the more traditional event models. This touches in areas like innovation, creativity, design, inventors, which are all cornerstones of what makes this industry so great.
[00:04:08] You know, having been on the manufacturing side for a long time, I've worked with inventors. I've worked with great designers, internal designers, and I know the power they have and the influence they have in making this industry what it is.
[00:04:22] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah. That's incredible. What synergies do you see with the two organizations? Where do you see that they align?
[00:04:30] Greg Ahearn: Oh well, it's complimentary skills— two things that we do incredibly well. One is the building and production of experiences and events, and that is a part of what Mary does. And she has been an unbelievable powerhouse, I think in terms of not only the concepting and inspiration behind these events, but also just the production side of putting these events on.
[00:04:57] And so I think tapping into her creativity and the connections and networking that she has, but maybe bringing the might of our production capabilities of putting on events like Toy Fair New York, where we bring in 600 different manufacturers all under one roof and what it takes to do that or what we just did in Los Angeles of putting on and leasing three floors in Los Angeles to create the first version of L.A. Fall Previews through The Toy Association. that's a great complimentary skill. I think also the safety and regulatory and access to that group that is not part of what Mary has in her portfolio, but is again I think an incredible resource for a lot of the inventors and designers that are out there and even small business owners or folks who want to get into the toy business.
[00:05:50] We have a ton of resources at the association that helps people get in or if they are small businesses, how do you go from being a small business to a bigger business?
[00:06:00] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. I think Mary, you are so great at fostering community and everybody knows you, but you position yourself not as the center, but as like the... the mother, like gathering everyone together and then, you know, having The Toy Association there to add more fire to the flames or, you know, I think there's an opportunity there.
[00:06:20] But Mary, I want to ask you, from your perspective, what made this merger feel like the right move for POP, rather than just continuing on your own independently, as you've been doing all these years?
[00:06:30] Mary Couzin: While I really wanted to grow the events, I needed a strong partner to grow the events. And organizations like TA realized they needed to diversify. So they were reaching out to me and we're a perfect complement for the TA, right? Just like Greg said, like what I do doesn't overlap with what they do.
[00:06:50] We can make each other stronger. And yes, bringing people together, community is like a big word. And, you know, I was in a lot of other industries, right? But this is like the one that I loved. And when I got here, I was so happy. The people, they're my friends, right? They're my best friends.
[00:07:10] And I just want to give back in any way I can. And Growing these events was a community effort, right? I mean, Azhelle, you've helped promote them, you know,
[00:07:20] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: I didn't know, as much as I know now, getting on one of your committees, I was like, wow, Mary has an army behind her. An army. Yeah.
[00:07:30] Mary Couzin: I think that's how you become friends, right? You get into the trenches with one another and you figure things out and it's those late nights and I don't think there's another industry like this one where you can become friends like that and where you cheer on your competitors, right? It's really, an amazing thing to see when you see as we're saying, "Go Mattel!" Or, you know, one inventor telling another inventor, "Wow, I'm really glad you got that contract."
[00:07:57] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Well, it's just that everybody supports one another. And I mean, that's lovely. I do feel at your events, especially the TAGIEs. As much as I am rooting for my husband to win or when it was myself to win, you know, I'm also equally excited when someone else wins. Often I can say, "Oh, I know them. Congratulations!".
[00:08:17] It actually gets hard when you're nominated for a TAGIE to promote yourself because you're like, "Oh, but my friends are in here." and you're like, "But vote for me!", you know? So that's beautiful.
[00:08:27] POP has a rich history of promoting inventors and creativity in the toy industry. How do you both permit plan to maintain that spirit and culture now under The Toy Association's broader umbrella? I'm sure people might be worried about that.
[00:08:40] Greg Ahearn: Yeah. So, it's so critically important. The analogy that I've used with people is, you know, think of a hotel chain. Think of like Hilton and the number of brands that are underneath that corporate umbrella is, they bring those brands in and they keep them to their core because they connect in a different way with consumers.
[00:09:01] And I think in working with Mary, it's very similar that she has a particular voice. She has a particular following. It's very grassroots. It's very neighborly. It's very welcoming. And I love the toy industry and I'm now head of The Toy Association, but hey, we can be seen as, you know, corporate.
[00:09:19] We can be seen as a little cold and it's not who we are. People know me. We're a unifying force and we want to have a better reputation in doing that. And I think working with Mary and allowing her to keep that personality is paramount to this relationship. But with that being said is what can we bring to the party for Mary where it helps her accelerate the growth.
[00:09:45] It helps her realize the vision that she's had for Chi TAG, and for People Of Play and The Inventor Conference. And that's our shared vision. That's our shared goal and it's not a one year goal. This is not a "we did a deal in 2024, 2025 is going to be the realization of that." This is a long term partnership where we've got a really strong vision, a shared vision of where we want it to go.
[00:10:09] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: And do you have a plan for how you will take feedback from the inventors as changes do come out? Because I'm sure some inventors may be nervous. "Oh, we love Mary's events. We don't want them to change." How do we make sure that we express what we like or what we don't like about some of the changes to make sure that we keep the heart of POP? Is there going to be a way to communicate that?
[00:10:31] Greg Ahearn: Yeah, I'll leave this one to Mary. I'll just say quickly. Mary, obviously, is incredibly open to feedback from this group, and we are as well. And so my email, my phone, my LinkedIn. Everybody knows how to reach me. And the same thing with Mary. But the goal is this People of Play is Mary, and she is the head of People of Play, now just partnered and merged with The Toy Association, and so her vision and our vision need to meet up, and then we move from there and making sure that everybody that's been involved, stays involved and has a voice in what's going on.
[00:11:09] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: That's great. Mary, do you have anything to add to that?
[00:11:12] Mary Couzin: Right. The whole board is coming out right to POP this year.
[00:11:16] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: The whole Toy Association board.
[00:11:18] Greg Ahearn: Yeah, we'll be having our Toy Association and Toy Foundation board meetings as part of POP.
[00:11:23] Mary Couzin: So it's a great opportunity for inventors to ask the board questions, right? They'll be there at the Wednesday night mixture. They'll be there Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So it's a good chance to meet the senior staff of The Toy Associations of both boards of, you know, the board of directors of the TA and the foundation and to really get to know them.
[00:11:43] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: I have a question. I know, Mary, you have a board, I think a less formal board for ChiTAG. Is that still intact?
[00:11:50] Mary Couzin: It is. Actually we have two. Tim Walsh formed the Young Inventor Challenge advisory board last year, so we have our regular advisory board that's, wow, I think 20 years now, over 20 years, and they're very active. I mean, you're on one of the committees.
[00:12:06] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Two days old, me joining the committee. Yes, I'm in there.
[00:12:10] Mary Couzin: That's our conference committee, and which has really been a lot of fun on the conference committee.
[00:12:15] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: I saw the email chain that I wasn't in, but it looks great. You know, I have to say, and this is to the credit of the TA for recognizing this, great. And now I feel, I can't believe we've been friends now, Mary, for two years, I think, and I didn't recognize this sooner, but being in that thread with your community, I was like, "Oh, this is what it's like to work with people."
[00:12:36] I was like, "This is so nice." Everyone is so supportive. They have ideas, they're excited. And it made me think " Oh, wow. Look at the support that you can garner from people that want to help see through the ideas that you have." I think that's a huge superpower to get people to rally like that.
[00:12:55] And the fact that the TA is going to tap into that with you is they're so lucky. They are so lucky.
[00:13:00] Mary Couzin: I mean, really could not have done these events without people like that. There's just no way.
[00:13:05] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah. It's really incredible. You guys, Angus and I don't know everybody's name on the committee. I just joined but no, they're great. What are some immediate changes that we can expect from this merger? Are there any changes that will roll out in 2025, Greg?
[00:13:18] Greg Ahearn: Wow. 2025? We're looking at 2024. So we're squarely focused on what's coming up and excited about this one. I would say one of the very fast things is just what Mary said is the engagement and integration of toy industry leadership into this year's event in what we're doing on the kickoff morning of having a toy industry leadership roundtable and bringing members of the Toy Association Board of Directors. Sharon Price John, who is the CEO of Build a Bear and Kara Hill, who is the head of Toys at Amazon, Jeffrey Greenberg, who is the CEO of Just Play.
[00:13:53] We'll all be on a roundtable to kick off the morning at 9 a. m. on Thursday to talk about the role of creativity, the role of innovation and inventors within each of their businesses but also talking about just innovation and where inspiration and creativity comes from for them within their companies.
[00:14:14] And it will be an opportunity for me as a moderator where folks who don't know me will get a chance to see me talk with me after, and I'll be there for the full weekend. You know, in just a very small fast way, Mary and I came up with the idea of how do we get leadership within the toy industry that historically may not have been there to be there, but also be a part of the content for something like this.
[00:14:37] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: No, that's great. So we should have preface this. The People of Play, if you don't know, if you're new to the industry, it was the first episode, 10th episode. We're talking about the People of Play Innovation Conference, happens every year. First day, it's November 6th, 2024 ends November 9th.
[00:14:55] And Greg's talking about day one, Thursday 9am, round table with the members of the board of The Toy Association, which are all just key players in the industry. A few are my friends, some, I don't know. But yeah, no that's fantastic.
[00:15:08] Greg Ahearn: But I mean, longer term and you know, Mary guides the vision. This is Mary's vision, and we're trying to be an accelerator and an amplifier in multiple ways, you know, size of event, people who are engaged in the event, sponsors that come to the event, number of people who attend. All of those things are things that we're just going to work on together.
[00:15:30] As you know, you look at 2025. I think we look at it and just say bigger, better. And keep the vision going. So that's our perspective.
[00:15:37] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: No, I think that's true. And it'll land credibility. I mean, Mary, you and I always talk about being an entrepreneur, and you're just hustling to get from day one to day two. And you're trying to build credibility while literally putting food on your own table and then making opportunities for other people.
[00:15:54] It's hard. So to have this association who is established and has that credibility to come in and say, "This is a real thing. And we're going to put our arm behind it.", that will make the rest of the industry perk up and take notice because even I've been surprised in the past, five years ago, I'd say when I'd mentioned ChiTAG and people would say, what is that?
[00:16:12] Like, how do you not know? But, you know, more people know now, but even more will know with this merger. So I'd love to get into some playful questions for you both. I love to ask this question. It's about the toy industry and something that surprised you about it.
[00:16:25] So Mary, please finish the sentence for me. The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was.
[00:16:30] Mary Couzin: That there are actually professional inventors. I had no idea that was a thing when I got into the toy industry, that you could actually make a living inventing. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. So I remember talking to Jeffrey Breslow at New York Toy Fair like for a long time, And not knowing he was a professional inventor. Like I had this booth, discover games, bunch of new inventors and then he left, and then someone from Hasbro walked up, and they said, "How do you know Jeff Breslow?"
[00:17:00] I thought, "Who?" I thought he was a new inventor. Had no idea he invented ants in the pants and got, you know, all the things that he had. And it was just the coolest moment of Ken show, right? Like where you learn something that is just mind blowing it changed my life for sure.
[00:17:20] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Wow. And Greg, please finish the same sentence. The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was.
[00:17:26] Greg Ahearn: Uh gosh. Like Mary, I’ve been a lifer in the toy industry but I did leave to work at Uber for a little bit and to run an ad agency. And it's funny, the Toy Fair in New York 2023 when everybody got back together, I was like, I want to be back in the toy industry, and I called my wife when I was on my way in for the first day, and I said, "God, it feels like I'm going back to the old neighborhood, and I wonder if anybody's going to care.", it was like I had never left, and I think the thing that surprised me the most is how caring and open and warm people are within this industry, and having been in other industries, it's not like that.
[00:18:07] You know, it's really not that there is something special about the people within this industry. I think it has to do with the types of products we make and that it's about fun and joy and play and it's about children. And there's a child-like nature. You have to be good at this. And I do believe of what Mary says, it's a very collaborative collegial environment. It's not the norm. I'll just tell this to everybody in the toy business. Don't leave this industry because it's not like this. It is not like this everywhere else and that that's what surprised me. It's the best. It's the best. It's the best industry out there. There's nothing like it.
[00:18:47] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Oh, man. So it's so funny that you say that because Jeffrey Breslow did this article on the peopleofplay.com saying nobody ever really leaves the toy business when he was announcing another game. That's so funny. So Mary, what toy or game absolutely blew your mind when you were a kid?
[00:19:04] Mary Couzin: Easy bake oven.
[00:19:05] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Oh, really?
[00:19:06] Mary Couzin: I love that and that little printing press thing where you put the little rubber letters. I used to make up newsletters. So it's kind of funny that I worked at sculpting cakes at one point as a as side hustle and then also now I do the Bloom Report, right? Like another newsletter.
[00:19:23] So those two playthings were key in my life.
[00:19:27] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: That gives me chills. It's that's the impact of the product that we're all making, right? You literally could define a child's future.
[00:19:33] Mary Couzin: true.
[00:19:34] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Greg, what toy or game absolutely blew your mind when you were a kid?
[00:19:38] Greg Ahearn: God, There's just the ones that I loved when I was a kid. There is nothing like riding around the neighborhood in your big wheel
[00:19:44] and and the one that had the handbrake on it. So when you really got going and you pulled that handbrake, it, you know, a couple of spins and you're off to the races again, that, that was fantastic.
[00:19:54] And then classic Nerf football. I tell people this all the time. There was nothing like being a kid. But hey, you knew it was a Nerf football just by the way it was wrapped, because there's no way you can wrap a Nerf football without knowing what it was. But then you would take that cellophane off and it was just it was perfect and you would go out in the front and you know, you would just be able to throw that ball as far as you possibly could.
[00:20:18] There's nothing like it as a kid.
[00:20:19] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Either of you can answer this question. What toy or game do you think completely missed its mark when it first came out that would do really well today? Is there anything that crosses your mind? You're like, that was a really good idea.
[00:20:32] Mary Couzin: I can't think of anything, but you know, they're bringing back a lot of retro items now. It's crazy how many they're bringing back. So I think maybe they're getting a second chance now.
[00:20:41] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Mm hmm.
[00:20:43] Greg Ahearn: That's a good way to say it. There are a lot of classic toys that are even bigger the second time around when they come back out.
[00:20:49] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Glowworm should be coming back I feel like a lot of people call out glow worms when I ask them what their favorite toy or toy blew their mind as a kid.
[00:20:57] Greg Ahearn: There's one by Moose. I think it's called Goo Jitsu. I mean, it's a second imagination of Stretch Armstrong. Stretch was awesome in his day from Top Toys. I mean, he was fantastic. When I saw that toy, I looked at it and I said, I know where it comes from because people have been in the toy industry for a long time. What's old is new again?
[00:21:15] It just gets a different imagination, a different feel to it and update it updates it. And the kids get to experience almost the same play pattern again, right? It's exactly the same play.
[00:21:25] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah. Yeah. I really love my skip it and I feel like it didn't really like it wasn't as big as it should have been So maybe that should come back.
[00:21:34] Greg Ahearn: That was pretty big.
[00:21:35] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Let's shift gears and talk about one of the most exciting and anticipated events in the toy and game industry, Chi TAG and POP Week. We've talked about it before on this podcast. For over 20 years, the Chicago Toy and Game Fair has been the ultimate gathering place for toy creators, innovators, industry professionals, and the public, attracting people who are seasoned inventors and people who just love to play.
[00:21:56] POP Week, being the People of Play Conference, is the premier event for inventors to pitch their ideas to toy companies, connect with industry players, go to the TAGIEs, dance on the dance floor, great times. And now, those two events, since I think last year, Mary, you combined them into one, week.
[00:22:13] They used to be kind of scattered through November, now it's one week and a half. This is the first ChiTAG since the August merger with the Toy Association. And while there haven't been major changes, we have done things like, "Oh, we're gonna have a panel on the day one." Is there anything else we can look out for at ChiTAG, at POP Week, that has changed since the merger?
[00:22:33] Mary Couzin: We willl be displaying the TOTY finalists. Actually, right when you walk into the fair, you'll see the TOTY finalists. They're actually in my front hall right now. I can't really, you know, divulge any finalists at this time? But yeah, they're all in my front hall. You should see it.
[00:22:51] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: So it's gonna be the debut of the finalists at ChiTAG?
[00:22:53] Mary Couzin: I don't know if it's a debut, but they'll be shown there.
[00:22:57] Greg Ahearn: Yeah, I think they've been announced at least I think to the companies and I've got to check whether or not we've done it public. I don't think we've done it publicly yet, but I could be wrong but yeah, Mary's right, is taking advantage of the consumer side of what she does which is new to the toy association, right?
[00:23:12] We're mostly industry driven. She has the entire consumer side of Chi TAG. And so we said, why not try to take advantage of that and use it as a way to introduce all of the TOTY finalists as really the ultimate wish list for kids.
[00:23:30] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Oh, I love that. And since the companies know that they're finalists, this is also an opportunity to say, "Hey, you're gonna be exhibited. You're going to be presented as a finalist. Maybe you wanna get a booth and exhibit and sell to the consumers that are gonna see this."
[00:23:44] Greg Ahearn: It's all part of the magic I think of bringing the manufacturers, creating a happening around what the hot toys are going to be and then layering on obviously all the consumers. There's so much opportunity. This happened in August, we're looking for low hanging fruit and ways to kind of just add a little bit of spice into it,with the panels and with the TOTYs and other little bits, but you can see if given the opportunity of a long runway and multiple years where this is going to go.
[00:24:13] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Oh, yeah, that's great. Greg, the Young Inventor Challenge is super important to Mary and the kids that participate in it. How do you see that evolving as part of the merger, or do you think it'll stay the same?
[00:24:23] Greg Ahearn: I'll just go back to bigger, better. I think there is so much more opportunity in terms of amplifying and outreach. I love the program. When I was on the manufacturing side, I worked at large places like Mattel and Hasbro, but I also worked at a small company called Ads On. And while I was there, I got to be in charge of inventor relations for about three years.
[00:24:47] And so all of the people that Mary talks about, there are some of those folks that I know really well, And so the inventor side of this, and then the youth side of that, of getting into the young inventors, again, it's a totally different component for The Toy Association of trying to get interest in our industry through young inventors, but also just the power of creativity and seeing how it changes kids lives.
[00:25:15] That's something we want to do more of, right? Beyond just the foundation of how do we touch people's lives. This is a great conduit in achieving that. So how do we create more of these opportunities? Domestically, and I know Mary has broader global aspirations for it as well, that is part of what wee can actually be an assistance of, is the backing and the amplification and even, you know, the capital sometimes it takes to be able to make those things a reality.
[00:25:43] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: 100%. Even if you had the people, the consultants or the team in place, you need the resources to invest in marketing, something like that, building the strategy and then implementing it. Yeah. And I know, Mary, we're head down entrepreneurs, you know, you can't do it all. Mary, for those new to the industry, what would you say to explain why POP Week would be so essential, even if they're a new inventor.
[00:26:07] Mary Couzin: Because I think what sets us apart is because I started as an inventor myself, I have the empathy with them. And we added components to our program that I wish we had when I started. I mean, we talked about community before, but the give back that these people are willing to give you at this conference, it's, there's nothing like it anywhere.
[00:26:29] I mean, you can come down to breakfast and be sitting next to, you know, Hasbro and Mattel, or right between them, they'll give you their honest feedback, right? And it's also the place many years ago where we introduced all the product acquisition expects to one another.
[00:26:46] It used to be a very competitive place and it's not any longer. so you'll get that honest feedback from people, they'll give you their cards. We have a big, huge mentoring program, and in the evenings, people gather in this big atrium, and they're just hanging out, chatting. And that's really what you want. You want this open and warm atmosphere to chat for sure.
[00:27:11] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: I'd like to paint a picture for people. The days at the People of Play Innovation Conference, Pop Week start with either opening like an opening talk or a panel. There are different keynotes, different speakers. And then by the time we hit lunchtime we all break for lunch and that is kind of your first opportunity to sit with someone you don't know and introduce yourself and then we have more educational sessions happening until we break at five o'clock and then have a reception before people break for dinner.
[00:27:45] But while all that's happening, there are individual meetings being booked where people are pitching their ideas. And would just love to give that kind of visual and then ask you, Mary, how would you recommend someone who's new to the industry who might not have all those in between meetings booked make the most of time at lunch?
[00:28:02] Let's say, they sit down at a table where they don't know someone and say what?
[00:28:06] Mary Couzin: Just before the podcast, I hung up with a new inventor and I said, you need to just say "hello", like just start the conversation and don't sit by yourself. Go to a table that has people. It's important. It's so important. And I also think we need to talk about something really important here, that you are emcee this year-
[00:28:27] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Oh, yes, I am.
[00:28:28] Mary Couzin: - at the conference, and you're giving your talk on AI again. It seemed like everyone came in too. Like aside from the keynote, it was one of the most attended talks
[00:28:37] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Thank you. And there's a lot of updates.
[00:28:39] Mary Couzin: Yeah you really now the topic well and it shows.
[00:28:42] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Thank you. Yeah, agree with that. Like, just go and say hello. And also, don't be afraid to reference things like even this podcast. Any articles you read about this event, if you reference something like that, and you can draw a connection with someone, they likely have read the same Bloom Report article you've read, or they've listened to this episode that you're listening to.
[00:29:02] If you can call back and make a quick connection "Oh, I heard about this AI keynote later from this episode. Are you going to be attending that?" That's an instant connection you can make with them because they may have heard about it or they read the calendar and that's like all you need to get that initial connection, right?
[00:29:18] Mary Couzin: Absolutely. maybe we should send out conversation starters. Got me thinking here.
[00:29:23] Greg Ahearn: Put them on the table, Mary, at lunch, right?
[00:29:25] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Not a bad idea. And there are a few companies, has like you cards, like designed to help people break through the awkwardness of like corporate events. But I'm sure there are other companies that have conversation cards that would want the promo and say, "Oh yeah, you can have a few samples to put on tables."
[00:29:39] Mary Couzin: Yeah, we can do that. Hasbro, Mattel, and Moose are all sending tabletoppers this year, all sorts of toys and games. It's going to be really fun, but we can include that.
[00:29:47] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Having ideas on the podcast. Look at that. Look at us go. Okay. If someone is interested in attending ChiTAG or PopWeek. Actually, before I say this, I need to explain what ChiTAG is and how it's different from PopWeek. PopWeek is the inventor conference. Inventors are pitching ideas.
[00:30:03] Inventors are learning about being inventors. ChiTAG is a public facing fair, so much like the Toy Association has Toy Fair New York, which is a private fair for wholesalers to buy product from toy companies, ChiTAG is a public fair for consumers to buy products from toy companies. If someone's interested in attending ChiTAG or Pop Week for the first time, Mary, what's the best way to sign up?
[00:30:27] Mary Couzin: So all the events that we host for the week are on ChiTAG. com, so CHI like Chicago, TAG like toy and game.
[00:30:37] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: And we will put the link in the show notes. And there are different levels of access. What's the lowest entry level for POP Week?
[00:30:44] If you're just like coming to walk the show, you've never been here before. You're not ready to make meetings. You're just trying to get a lay of the land. What's like the lowest ticket price for you? Like the entry ticket price.
[00:30:54] Mary Couzin: Oh, for the consumer show, for sure. We price the tickets quite a reasonable there so that people will buy products, right? They'll spend their money buying the products from the exhibitors and kids make up their wish lists there too. So exhibitors should definitely have a QR code or something for the parents to snap so they know where to go back to for their kids.
[00:31:18] So it's $12 to enter for an adult and $6 for a child. So that's very low entry, I would think. So what's really awesome is there's a lot of new inventors around the fair, you know, they're like, testing their products, getting feedback and we have heard from our consumers that attend. That's actually a big draw for them.
[00:31:37] They love meeting inventors. They love feeling like they're a part of the process. They're actually giving feedback on the product. And that's a way for manufacturers to engage their consumers. Make them feel like they have a voice. They have a voice in that product. It's awesome to watch.
[00:31:55] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah, so Pop Week is from the 6th to the 10th, as we said earlier. It includes the Inventor Pitch Conference, the TAGIE Award Show, Chi Tag, Young Inventor Challenge, and you can choose which of those events you want to go to, or you can go to all of them, like most Toy Industry Pros do.
[00:32:09] But if you're thinking, and I have people come to me all the time saying "Azhelle, this year's not the best year, I don't know." Listen, if you could make just the Toy and Game Fair work, at least go for the Toy and Game Fair. That's from the 9th to the 10th. Walk in, get a lay of the land, talk to people, because the inventors that go to the Inventor Pitch And Innovation Conference.
[00:32:30] Some of them stay for one day of the fair, just kind of walk around and schmooze. Most of them leave at the end of the pitch conference. But some of them do stick around for that fair. And then a lot of the industry executives stick around because they have booths at that fair.
[00:32:43] So for them, they're there the whole week. So there's still an opportunity to meet people, get a lay of the land and see if it's right. event for you to invest in as an inventor the following year. Okay. Is there anything else you guys would like to share before I let you go, Greg?
[00:33:00] Greg Ahearn: I'll say this, which is if you are interested in the toy business, going to this Inventor Pitch And Innovation Conference, the folks that are there know that ideas come from anywhere they come from any person. They can be big, small, little you can be in another profession and get hit by a lightning bolt and say, "Oh, my God, I just thought of the world's greatest toy."
[00:33:26] This is for you. If you want to understand what it takes or get some visibility or learn whether your idea has what it might take, this is a great place for you to spend just a little bit of time to meet the people who make that happen. Because they're all there, you're on the committees, you know the representation that's at these. Mary's point is exactly right.
[00:33:50] You can go to lunch and you can be sitting next to the Head of Inventor Relations for Hasbro. You may not know it. And if you just open to introducing yourself and putting yourself out there, they want to meet everybody. they know ideas come from everywhere.
[00:34:02] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: It's incredible. And I remember when I gave the AI talk, for example, Rob Furr. He heard that talk and he loved it. And I was like, "Rob, liked my talk?" I didn't know he was going to come into the room there. The people in that room are stress inducing because they're so big.
[00:34:17] Mary Couzin: Most of the biggestt brands were brought in by outside inventors. You think about Jenga, Bop It, Twister, Uno, Phase 10.
[00:34:27] Greg Ahearn: Super Soaker Koosh, they go on and on. Spin Pop. You know, they come from everywhere.
[00:34:34] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: That's a perfect segue to the new Inventor Challenge. Mary and I got together and we were like, we need to make this event even better for new inventors in the toy industry, because everyone listening to this podcast knows, that's who I focus on.
[00:34:44] That's who I help. So I was like , how can we make sure the inventor relations reps go to every table and really engage with them? So we're going to make it into a bit of a challenge. We're going to make it so if you're a new inventor at a POP Week, you're going to be set up in a table and in the main room where everyone can see your invention, talk to you about it. Like this is something that happens every year, but what's going to be different this year is there's going to be a rubrics, kind of a voting sheet that the inventor relations reps can vote on, your presentation style, the prototype itself, the idea. And the winner is going to get more than I told Mary earlier, because I decided that I'm going to do something a little extra.
[00:35:25] So the winner is going to get a free admission into Toy Creators Academy, which includes a one on one call with me. So that's going to be a pretty cool win for the winner. And this is a challenge that I'm sponsoring. So I want you guys to be part of it. I'll be building out that rubric. I'll be helping Mary coordinate this whole effort.
[00:35:44] And I want to make sure that the new inventors that attend People of Play Week are happy and excited and get the full experience of what it means to be a part of this community. Like people do care. We're going to nurture you and show you how to get in and how to interact with them, how to present your idea and then reward you if you have the best idea or you have the best one.
[00:36:04] Greg Ahearn: I'll say this. If there's anything more that you would want from the Toy Association in terms of who that person is and a little extra time or insider or whatever it is, we're more than open to spending time with that person because you want to encourage all of this. And again and we as the association we want to make sure people know that we're accessible and that we're not just this kind of corporate thing so if it's time with anybody that's on our staff, if it's time with me, we'd be more than happy to do that.
[00:36:33] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: Yeah, we'll work that out because you know what it is, it's hard when you're a new inventor and you go to this open room and you don't know if you did a good job or not, there's no like road to know if, am I getting closer to becoming licensed? You don't know. So this will give people a score sheet almost, like you almost did it, you're almost there or you did it, you're the best one and we're going to gift you this additional training to help you go even further.
[00:36:57] So yeah, this is going to be great.
[00:36:58] Greg Ahearn: Yeah, when I was back with Toys R Us at ToyFair New York, one of the things that we would encourage all of the people all the buyers at toys R Us is don't just go to the big players, right? Walk the show and come back and we almost had the same kind of competition.
[00:37:14] Whoever came back with the coolest new product that nobody knew about, right? There was a company called "Green Toys" way back when before everybody knew who they were. They were the first one that really put together incredibly well constructed beautiful toys made of recycled products and it was someone went and discovered them at Toy Fair New York. It wasn't an award.
[00:37:35] It was more casual than that.
[00:37:37] Yeah, we would come back and sit around the conference room table, and we would go around and say, What's the thing you saw that you think is really cool? And I think the same thing that you're doing here is how people get discovered. It's how people all of a sudden realize.
[00:37:51] Wow, that's a pretty good idea. Who is this person that's behind it?
[00:37:56] Azhelle Wade | The Toy Coach: But no, that's a great idea. We didn't talk about like having inventor relations reps have a moment together to be like, all right, what did you find? So maybe we have to talk about that. Cool. Cool. Cool. This was an incredible conversation. I hope that anyone listening to this podcast goes and checks out POP Week, go to chitag. com or go to thetoycoach.com/241 and scroll down to the mentioned in this episode section to get the links from today's episode. If you love this podcast and you haven't already left a review, what are you waiting for?
[00:38:25] Your reviews keep me an amazing guest. Like our guest today coming back week after week and every time a new review comes in, I get a huge smile on my face. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with us today. We know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there. it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one until next week.
[00:38:43] I'll see you later, toy people. Bye.
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