Episode #191: Game-Changing Connections for Toy Inventors at People of Play Week
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Are you "toying" around with an idea for a toy or game that you want to license? Don’t miss the chance to pitch and playtest that idea in 2023 at POP Week. In this episode of Making It In The Toy Industry, Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach, highlights a beloved toy industry event that is designed to create opportunities for toy inventors and entrepreneurs like you. Act fast because registration for this once a year in-person event is STILL OPEN.
Pop in your earbuds and listen as Azhelle explains what to expect from the 2023 People of Play Innovation Conference in Chicago, and why you need to be there. Founded by the Toy Hall of Fame inductee Mary Cousin, Pop Week is a week-long innovation extravaganza that has been connecting the toy inventor community for 21 years.
Your conference pass includes mentorship opportunities with industry professionals, a ticket to the prestigious TAGIE Awards, the Young Inventors Challenge, and the CHITAG public toy fair. What makes Pop Week stand out is its inclusive focus on the public, making it the perfect opportunity to create instagrammable moments and playtest your latest products. If you’ve been holding back on hitting the RSVP button for POP Week, after this episode that will all change.
Reach out to info@thetoycoach.com if you are on the fence, and we can decide which portion of POP Week is best for you to attend.
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2023 Inventor Pitch & Innovation Conference book here [need help? contact me at info@thetoycoach.com]
2023 Toy & Game Innovation Excellence Awards - the TAGIEs - book here
2023 Holiday Chicago Toy & Game Fair - book here
2023 Young Inventor Challenge book here
Learn more about Toy Creators Academy by clicking here.Looking for a fun family game that’s easy to play and quick to learn? Check out Gator Games! https://gator-games.com/
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Now then from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, you can book a time to meet with event experts, to get advice on everything ranging from manufacturing, legal advice, design shipping, retail, other shows, exhibiting social media PR pitching. financial and more, how can you get so much insight? You might wonder because there's a variety of experts that are going to be at this show and they're opening up 15 minute time slots to meet with you the attendees. I am one of the experts that you can reach out to and book some time with. You have to get yourself registered to have access, to do that.
You are listening to making it in the toy industry episode number 📍 191.
Hey there toy people, a Azhelle Wade here. And welcome back to another episode of the toy coach podcast. Making it in the toy industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by the toy coach.com. Today's episode is focused on an event founded by hall of Famer. Mary cousin. I got to give you a shout out. Mary, because there might be some new people new to the industry listening in and not knowing what a trailblazer you are. So Mary cousin was recently inducted into the toy industry hall of fame. And she is the founder and president of CHITAG and people have play a week long innovation event that's been going on for now 21 years in the toy industry. And that is the event we're going to talk about today.
Pop week, which is being held in Chicago, Illinois it's getting started in a few weeks on November 2nd, 2023. If you're listening to this episode after that date, don't you worry? This event happens every year. Still head over to the links mentioned in this episode@thetoycoach.com forward slash 1 9 1 to get yourself signed up for next year's event
we are going to dive into what pop week is, how you can get in on it and the different events that are put on throughout the week for inventors and entrepreneurs in the toy industry of all ages. By the end of this episode, you're probably going to have a new trade show to add to your list if you aren't attending already.
This conference is going down in just two weeks, but there's still time to register. I will give you the link in the show notes. So head over to the toy coach.com forward slash 1 9 1, but I am also helping out with the sales of this show. So if you email me at info@thetoycoach.com
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I can help you get your booth or your tickets. Get you set up for this show ASAP. Okay. So let's dive in the people of play week. You might be seeing it online being called pop week. What is it? The people of play week AK pop week is an industry wide event designed to help toy and game inventors and entrepreneurs of all ages and all levels gain the knowledge and opportunity to get their ideas in front of industry professionals. And. The public? Yes, this is one of the few maybe only toy trade shows that are focused on the public. Now there are four key events included in POP week. We are going to dive into each of those events in more depth as we continue on this episode. You don't have to participate in every aspect of pop week. You can pick and choose the events that are best suited for you. But I do encourage you to participate in every event that you can. the pop week event is most known for four things. As I said, one, a pitch and innovation conference known as the pop innovation conference and pitch event to the taggy awards known as the toy and game innovation awards, which are the only toy industry awards that focus on the people behind the products over the company three, the young inventors challenge, which is an opportunity for kids six to 18 to pitch their ideas for licensing at major toy companies and for the shy tag, public toy and game fair, essentially a trade show, but where parents and kids are welcome. Okay, let's go into each in detail. The people of play innovation conference is a portion of the week. That's held Thursday, November 2nd and goes to Friday, November 3rd. Who is this part of the event for? Well, if you have an idea for a toy or game and a prototype of that idea, this part of the event week is for you. The pop innovation conference is your opportunity to connect in-person with product acquisition, executives or the inventor relations executives at toy companies. Start relationships, grow relationships, show them your prototypes and your innovations and potentially land licensing opportunities.
Now on the other hand, if you have an idea for a toy or game, or you think you might develop one in the future and you might want to license it one day, but you're just not there yet. There's still an opportunity for you at this event to one, make connections you'll use at a later date, but to learn from the various speakers at this event, to learn how to get started. So day one of the innovation conference begins Thursday, November 2nd. With morning talks held from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM Eastern. The schedule of speakers at this time. Um, include the keynote, Andrew Perlmutter, president of Funko, a keynote by Michelle. Faler a NASA astrophysicist. And the talks continue with Robert for your Nicola's track narc. And the last talk of the morning is me with a presentation on AI. There's a little half hour break. And then from 12 to 2:00 PM, there is the new inventor and student design exhibition. So if you're a new inventor or a student who has never licensed a product before, this is where you're going to be exhibiting your inventions.
You're typically going to be at a table and the table itself is included in your price, your ticket for the overall event and product acquisition. Executives will walk the floor to see what you've got. Now I got to say, I got to give you a tip here from past experience. If you have a time where you're not seeing traffic at your table, don't just sit there. Okay. Get up and mingle. Talk to people. You can make things happen while at the show. Now at 2:00 PM until 5:00 PM, the educational talks will resume with speakers, including Rachel Griffin, Amy free blend, Chris Byrne, and they'll be covering topics on Q4 PR. And then there'll be another talk with Charlotte town. All about the legalities of protecting your toys and game ideas in the toy industry and an entertainment. Now, if you're curious about what previous talks have been like at this event, you can actually watch previous talks on the people of play website. Check the toy coach.com forward slash 1 9 1.
Scroll down to the mention in this episodes area and look for the link there. Now day two of the innovation conference begins Friday, November 3rd, with mentorship sessions with product acquisition, executive starting at 10:00 AM and going to 10:30 AM. You will get notified of where and when to meet those executives via email. So get signed up so you can be on that list to get mentored. And that is also for my new innovators and inventors. This is a major opportunity for you. Although this is written as an opportunity to get mentored.
Also think about it as the beginning of your relationship, you can think about it as an initial pitch, ask them what their wishlist is, what they're looking for in the future. Try to get contact information, really establish a relationship. Now then from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, you can book a time to meet with event experts, to get advice on everything ranging from manufacturing, legal advice, design shipping, retail, other shows, exhibiting social media PR pitching. financial and more, how can you get so much insight? You might wonder because there's a variety of experts that are going to be at this show and they're opening up 15 minute time slots to meet with you the attendees. So I am one of the experts that you can reach out to and book some time with.
So do that. You have to get yourself registered to have access, to do that. Now let's talk about that. Pro inventor track. The pop innovation conference does offer an invitation only professional inventor track to those that have previous experience licensing. An idea. Now pro inventors at this event are given an opportunity to book one-on-one calls with product acquisition executives. Throughout the entire conference. From what I've heard word on the toy street, a majority of those meetings are happening or scheduled to happen Thursday, November 2nd. And, um, Friday, November 3rd. And yes, there is a possibility that your one-on-one meeting with, an executive from product acquisition could overlap with some of the talks happening.
Right. So you've got to just block your calendar to make sure you attend any talks, maybe by the toy coach that you're most interested in now, while most companies. And inventors are booking their meetings on the second and the third, um, because that is the time for this part of the conference because the Chicago twin game fair, which will happen in the next next few days is located just across the street. I have found out that some companies are booking meetings that Saturday and Sunday, the fourth and the fifth.
So you can expect there might be opportunities to meet outside of the second and third, because really it's, as I said, a pop week, a full week of events. So let's move on to the next part of pop week. The taggy awards. So Friday, November 3rd, at 6:00 PM. The pop innovation conference is going to close out with a formal event of the season.
What is that event? You ask it's the toy and game international innovation excellence awards, lovingly known in the industry as the taggies this year it's being held at an impressive live concert venue. And the best part, your ticket to this formal event is included in your event, registration. What. I love the taggies. I'm a former honoree and my husband Christian won a taggy for innovative arts and visual. So we love our taggy statues, but this event is always a good time. It's so fun to congratulate people. The speeches are great. The stories from the expert innovators who have been patenting and trademarking over the years.
They're so insightful. Now if you haven't already voted for the taggies yet, please vote for relatable search party, a game that my husband worked on and also take for, uh, the game that, uh, relatable made in partnership with squish, mellow. So make sure you give us that book. Thank you. Okay, let's move on to our next topic. The third piece of pop week is shy tag. So November 4th and fifth kicks off with the CHITAG fair. And I feel like I need to give you a little bit of background on why it's called CHITAG, especially if you're new to the industry. CHITAG used to stand for Chicago toy and game fair. But after 21 years of this incredible fair, this innovation conference. It has evolved into a global event. So the fair was rebranded as shy tag and put under the umbrella of people of play. Now, if you are an inventor, who's currently developing a toy game and you want feedback from children, parents, buyers, or if you're an entrepreneur with inventory that you actually want to sell through in Q4. So that means at this point, you're selling direct to consumer this fairs for you starting at just $1,500, you can get a space to exhibit at shy tag and sell directly to consumers or to retailers walking the floor.
So there will be influencers on the floor as well to help your brand gain media exposure, including myself. I'll be doing interviews with select exhibiting inventors and entrepreneurs alive. If all goes well. Now I've got to give a tip here. Demonstrable toys and games do so well at this fair. Um, last fair, there was someone who had a product. I cannot remember the name of the top of my head, but it was, um, kind of like you build your own castle or Fort out of these, uh, cardboard. Boxes, the number of kids creating these large structures. For this company, knocking them down, creating Instagrammable moments for every media and buyer walking by was truly remarkable. So if you have a demonstrable toy, you've gotta be at this fair and make it big. If you don't have a demonstrable toy, think of a way that you can create an exhibit experience that is interactive. You want to create a crowd around your toy at this event, at this public fair kids and parents are looking for an experience. There's a lot of opportunity to create natural buzz, get great content for social media and draw in influencers and even wholesale buyers that usually quietly walk the floor.
Now let's go into the fourth element of pop week. That's incredible. And it is the young inventors challenge. Now this is the 18th annual. Will young inventors challenge and it provides an opportunity for kids ages six to 18 to develop and pitch an original invention to major Twain gain companies, industry professionals, members of the media and general public. This is an incredibly unique and educational experience. That inspires these kids to be the toy and gain creators of tomorrow. Their products will be on display at the fair and toy industry. Executives and professionals are going to be voting on those winners. Now there is an application fee of just $25, unreal, so affordable, and the opportunity to register has been extended to October 22nd. So even if you're just listening to this episode, the day it drops, you still have some time run and fill up that application.
Winners of the young inventors challenge have gotten their items licensed by major toy companies. The most recent example I can think of is chicken poop. Bingo. That was licensed by Goliath game. And that was an, a result of the young inventors challenge. Now the last thing I want to talk about here, um, which is not a specific event that we need to highlight from pop week, but it is an element that is included with your ticket that I have just got to talk about, and that is food and drinks. Okay. And unexpected, lovely perk of this innovation conference is the inclusion of breakfast each morning. And an evening reception each night. So the window to grab breakfast is typically around six 30 to 9:00 AM, but it's at your leisure. It'll be served in the atrium of the main event hotel. Which is the embassy suites. So you can go at your leisure and I have to say breakfast. In the. And I have to say at the last event, the breakfast time was such a great networking opportunity. Everyone was in a good mood when they're eating free food and drinking free coffee. So bring your business cards to breakfast. and then at the end of these conference days, there is an evening reception with appetizers available. And the option of getting two complimentary drinks you can choose from beers, wines, and spirits. Unreal that this is what's included in your ticket price. Let's move on to how to get yourself registered for this event. That is, y'all just got you totally hyped for, so by now you're probably wondering like, oh my gosh, there's, I'm worked up. I need to be there. And you want to know, how do I get started? There are three steps we're going to go over. First. Step is one. Getting yourself a hotel room. Now the conference hotel, as I mentioned is the embassy suites. But by the time of this episode, releasing, I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure the rooms in that hotel are all sold out. If they are, do not worry. The convention center is designed with multiple hotels attached by a Skyway, super easy to go back and forth between each. So you can stay at the DoubleTree hotel next door and come back to the embassy suites for the main events right now, the itinerary of events are all walkable from that conference hotel. So once you actually get to the event hotel, don't worry too much about how you're going to get from one place to another, no need to spend your money on Lyft's.
And Uber's just hop on the free airport shuttle. When you land at the airport in Chicago, get to the hotel and you are good to go. So again, I reiterate step one and get registered is to book your hotel because those go fast.
Now on the off chance that you know, this podcast makes this event blow up so big. Uh, that the DoubleTree is booked as well. Look for the Rosemont convention center, because the Rosemont convention center is where the Shai tag fair will be. So the connected hotels are all going to be walkable for you to get into that fair. And get to the embassy suites. Let's move on to step two. So once you get your hotel booked, you're locked in. You got a place to stay. We're good to go. Then you want to go get your ticket for the event. So if you've attended pop events, sometime in the past, as a pro inventor, I want you to , triple check your email right now for an email from Mary cousin, because there's a chance that you may already be on the pro inventor list and she might've already sent you an email.
If you're not. You're going to go to the event, bright link. That's going to be waiting for you at the coach.com forward slash 1 9 1. So you can buy a ticket on the new inventor, pitch and innovation track. Okay.
The price for this event is currently $850.
but remember if you're getting nervous about that price, remember it includes four days worth of events, which I just described in great detail includes breakfast and an evening reception every day. And if you need help signing up, I have a special request. Contact me. Okay, I will help get you all set up for this event. As I mentioned, I am helping with sales for this event. So contact me. Now step three, set up that pop profile. So you will need an APOC. Profile for this event, because that is the URL that is going to be shared with product acquisition executives. So if you want them to know who you are, you want an opportunity to get that mentorship. You need that pop profile.
There are monthly and annual plans for the pot profile. There is a basic plan that is free. There are a lot of limited features on that plan, but if you have to upgrade there is an individual plan for just $22 a month. Okay. And you can choose monthly or annual sign up.
Now, again, I have a little special something for you. If you contact me to purchase. Purchase your tickets for this conference. I will help you set up your pop profile. Yes. Contact me whether you're purchasing a ticket or you want to get a booth or a table and we will work together to get your pot profile. Once you're confirmed with your ticket. And, or your booth. Now the pop profile. You're like, why do I need that? It's like a LinkedIn meets IMD B for the toy industry. So this is a place where the toy industry is just growing. Their visibility. It's where industry professionals can connect network, find new talent. It's also a place where consumers can get updated on the brands.
They love. Find out the inventors behind products, share their favorite products and so much more. So if you've ever had that experience of looking up your favorite actor and I am DB, so you could learn more about them and the movies. They're in well, a pop profiles, just like that. It's going to be your. Full picture resume for the toy industry. You can have a headline profile picture, put your skills and expertise, make yourself look more appealing as a possible inventor or entrepreneur for toy companies to work with. And your pop profile is also an opportunity to build up your notoriety in the toy industry, by sharing articles and writing articles, which are all going to be linked to your profile as well.
Now a key reason why you might want a pop profile and especially why you would want the more advanced profile, which I mentioned was $22 a month is because those pop members have access to an advanced search feature that will allow you to search other pop profiles, and that can help you with recruiting and networking within the toy industry.
So that would be helpful in preparation for this event as well. If you can look up those. Different toy industry executives and connect with them through the pop. Website.
One more bit of tip. I'm going to share with you now in the pop website, there is this fun game called two truths and a lie, or it might be like three truths and a lie. I feel like there are a lot more than two, so. And what you can use this for is clever. Hear me out what'd you can use this game for is a way to get to know people in the industry, even before you've met them. Why would I want to do that? Michelle will say, this is your first time going to a people of play event. Well, imagine heading over Ted event and running into someone, maybe it's a product acquisition, executive whose pop profile you played the two truths and a lie or three truths and a lie game in. And you learned a few things about them. You learned some truths you learned to lie, you could start a conversation and say, Hey, I saw on your pop profile that you love to golf when you were a kid and share either a story that would connect you to in that way, or just share your interest in learning more about that truth about them and amazing icebreaker, which you can only utilize.
If you have that advanced access to the POP profile.
Okay. That is everything I have to share with you about the upcoming toy industry trade show and public fair. That is happening in just a few weeks. And it's kicking off November 2nd. It's going down going on until the fifth. I will be there. I will be speaking and be mentoring. So get yourself signed up so you can learn with me and from me at this event.
Before I jump into my summary of today's episode. I'd like to take a quick break and give a shout out to gator games. Gator games is an incredible client of mine. If you're looking for easy to play fun, wholesome family games, you've got to check out Gator games. You can go to gator-games.com to check it out. And if you want an intro message me info@thetoycoach.com, I would be super happy to introduce you to the founders of this incredible product. Upon launching. Upon launching their first line on their own, upon launching their first product on their own on Amazon power switch, they found great success, amazing reviews, and then started coming out with other games that they're bringing to specialty market first. So if you are interested in learning more about. Gator games and looking for fun family games in that 1999 price point, reach out to me. I'd be happy to introduce you info@thetoycoach.com.
Okay. Let's get into our conclusion of what we learned today. We learned that you need to be at pop week in Chicago. And we learned that there are just four key events that you are not going to want to miss one, the pitch and innovation conference to the toy and game innovation awards three, the young inventors challenge and for the shy tag, public toy fair. So let's get into your action item to do for next week. If you are at all interested in attending POP week, either the innovation conference and or the CHITAG, public fair. Shoot me a message. You know, I love me some Instagram, so you can message me at the toy coach on Instagram, or you can email me info@thetoycoach.com.
And remember if you work with me to get yourself all registered for this fair, I will help you set up your pop profile if it's your first time doing that. So you don't have to stress out. I know you've got a lot to prepare for it for this event. So I want to make it as easy on you as possible.
As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one until next week. I'll see you 📍 later. Toy people.
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🎓Learn more about how you can develop and pitch your toy idea with Toy Creators Academy® by clicking here to visit toycreatorsacademy.com and join.
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