Episode #18: 3 Virtual Networking Opportunities For Toy People
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Are you feeling isolated on your journey of creating your own toy or game product? If you find it hard to connect with other passionate toy people from varying specializations, then this is the episode for you. In this episode, Azhelle Wade shares a valuable new virtual networking initiative just launched by Women in Toys Licensing and Entertainment.
This initiative introduces a portal in which members of the organization can connect via video and messages, share ideas, contacts, and educate one another.
These 3 new virtual networking opportunities will help elevate your toy career in 5 key ways.
Improve your communication with toy industry colleagues
Provide access to organized discussion boards
highlight toy career opportunities
offer even more educational webinars
most importantly provide the virtual means to building relationships online.
There is also a special offer for listeners of MITTI so you can join this amazing organization and take advantage of the wonderful benefits right away.
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This episode is brought to you by thetoycoach.com
Click here to join the Ruth Handler Mentorship Program for WIT.
Click here to visit the WIT Website.
Click here to become a member of WIT.
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Azhelle 0:00 You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, Episode Number 18. Intro/Outro + Jingle 0:07 Welcome to Making It in The Toy Industry, a podcast for inventors and entrepreneurs like you. And now your host Azhelle Wade. Azhelle 0:17 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. If you've been following along with all of the episodes that I've released this month, then you know that so far, this has been a month all about women in toys, licensing and entertainment. Two weeks ago, I introduced you to this nonprofit organization and clarified the biggest misconception out there. I told you then and I will tell you now that you do not have to be a woman to join and better benefit from the offerings of this amazing organization. You only have to support the Advancement of Women in the toy industry. And by joining, you're doing just that. Okay, so a quick recap on all of the things we learned about wit. First, I told you how being a member could benefit you as an inventor. Then we talked about the education and networking opportunities that they have, and continue to grow. Then we heard from real members that work in all aspects of the toy industry. And last week, we got down to the nitty gritty details about their virtual mentorship program. The Ruth Handler mentorship program is the first ever virtual mentorship program for our industry. And because you are a listener of MIDI and because of Got some friends in some high places, you get three months off of an annual women in toys membership, and that includes this awesome virtual mentorship program. Now that deal is going to run until I get a call from the executive director of wit to shut it down. So I suggest you get in there and enroll today. As always to get that deal, head over to the toy coach comm forward slash podcast forward slash 18 for today's show notes and you'll see a bright yellow button right at the top that you can click to take advantage of that deal right away. Okay, okay, so for today's episode, the last of my three episode love letter to the women in toys, licensing and entertainment organization is all about networking. Now, making it in the toy industry. Not this HOD cast, literally making it in the toy industry is all about who you know who they know, and how willing they are to help. So it is extremely important that you get out there and involve yourself in as many toy related communities, nonprofit organizations, and inventor groups as you can. But if you're anything like me, you've always been strapped for time. And this stay at home order during this pandemic is no different. You've got 1000 things on your to do list and adding another activity or another commitment just seems impossible. Well, while the negative impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic are painfully clear, one of the largest positive impacts is that organizations and companies have been forced to focus on their online offerings. What's even better than that? engagement is up, which means these online offerings are becoming as filled with resources and as effective as their in person counterparts were just a few months ago for the nonprofit organization, women in toys, licensing and entertainment. Now their main push for online connectivity between members was the virtual mentorship program, the Ruth Handler mentorship program for wit, but what I want to talk about today is how they didn't stop there, which is expanding their virtual programming with the launch and enhancement of their online networking initiatives. The first new initiative is with chat, and the second new initiative is with virtual and the third is the expansion of wit webinars. Now, all of these three initiatives are designed to bring members of the wit community together, expand their networks, build relationships, and just as true networking does increase your access to leadership and educational opportunities, and yes, this is all included and offered to you for free, if you are a wit member, which online networking initiative is hyper focused around providing value in five key areas, and I think these are really important areas to the professional development of anyone in the toy industry. Now, whether you're an inventor, or a product developer, a toy designer, a lawyer or even a marketer, these five areas will help advance your toy career. So let's talk about the five key areas that this online networking initiative is going to improve. One communication. The online networking opportunities offered by wit will allow members to communicate easier with industry colleagues. They can share ideas, maybe even form partnerships. Number two, information. A big part of networking is the exchange of information. And this platform, this new platform is designed to collect the perspectives of all members and keep those responses organized in a topic by topic library that can be easily searched later on. Number three opportunities. Now whether you're looking for a new job, or advice on your resume, with online networking platforms are going to make it easier to get and get advice and uncover career opportunities in our industry. Number four, education, which continues to build their library of educational resources. And as a member, this entire library is available to you at any time. And finally, number five, relationships, connecting virtually can actually be a lot of fun. And this networking initiative is going to introduce things like chat forums and zoom calls designed to break the ice and start conversation with with members from across the globe. So at the start of this conversation, I said there are three parts to Wits online networking initiative, with chat with virtual and with webinars, and we just went over the five ways that are going to help advance your toy career. And now that you know how these initiatives are going to help you With communication information opportunities, education and building relationships. Let's talk a little bit more about what those three parts are. How do they work? And when will they become available. Now, which chat is a private online community on slack? Now, if you've never used Slack, it's a platform that allows you to quickly communicate with a defined group without flooding their inbox with messages inside of which chat members from around the world are going to engage in dialogue, get advice, give advice, share resources, perspectives, information and so much more. That sounds pretty cool, right? Well, if you're already a wit member, and you're wondering, how do I log in, don't worry. I have got you. I've got all the information right here. Now during the week May 18, all current members will receive an invitation to join with slack also known as wit chat. Now, if you're already a member joining with slack and with chat will be a part of your onboarding process as a new wit member. Once you sign up and join with Slack, you will get immediate access to people and information, you'll have the opportunity to share what you're working on, or what you need help with, with other with members that are across the globe. Now, I mentioned before that there was a topic by topic library and guess what this is it. You'll find that inside which chat slack organizes topics by something called channels. Now you simply click on a channel that you're interested in to see the Related Posts by members and administrators of the platform. Now, just to give you an idea, signed into which chat via slack and pulled a few topics or channels to give you a preview of what you can expect inside. So inside the Slack channel, you're going to see topics like advice and recommendations with announcements, job opportunities, inventors, marketing and PR productivity tips. There's even a channel for the Young Professionals Network. So every single channel inside which hat is going to evolve into a library of information around a specific topic. This is going to allow you to go directly to the topic that you want to see without needing to filter through a bunch of unrelated information or posts. This will allow you to go directly to the topic you want to see without needing to filter through a bunch of unrelated information. or posts. All right, so let's now the second part of the online networking initiative is with virtual events. Now this is the offering of online experiences via zoom, and online forums. This is where you're going to find your opportunities for personal and visual education and engagement. Now until we can meet again in person, this is the new home for chapter meetups. There'll be Speaker Series events, panel discussions, and even career opportunities all within wit virtual. What's great about this virtual offering is it's gonna feel a whole lot more personal than communicating with just online messages. With with virtual and that the zoom integrations, I think you're really going to be able to feel like you were a part of the community, which is really important if maybe you just joined wit, and you definitely can't go out and participate in chapter meetings. You can build relationships, share, and learn with other members in real time while you're seeing them face to face. Now I reached out to the executive director of wit to find out what some of the upcoming wit virtual events will be. And here's what I found out with virtual events will include chapter meetups, cocktails and conversation events. What's new with wit, events with the president Janice Ross, a wit, Wonder Woman nominee showcase and opportunities for executive coaching. Now the third part to the wit online networking initiative is with webinars now with webinars have been ongoing for some time now. And they will continue to happen. But with more webinars than ever before, I am talking three to four amazing educational webinars per month. And remember, what is very picky with who gets to present a webinar. So these are leaders in the industry giving you advice, recommendations, telling you how to make the most of your product development process, your marketing initiatives, how to identify and use industry trends, and I mean so much more. As a member, you have access to their entire library of webinar archives, and I'm telling you, they cover a wide range of topics. You will find help in everything from marketing, to design to law, licensing, really, they have something that touch on every aspect of the Toy Biz already. Now, I told You guys about webinars in Episode 16. And I just focused on three topics that I thought would be super helpful. If you were just getting started in the toy industry. those topics that I pulled out then were around toy safety, product development, and turning your toy into a TV show. But there are so many more topics that are covered in these webinars. So here's a few more, you'll find webinars including how to perfect your product pitch, how to identify industry trends, how to perform and use market research, and learning more about safety and compliance. Now webinars are a huge educational benefit, that wit is going to be ramping up even more as a part of this overall online networking initiative. And I really want you to take advantage of it because education should be your first step when wanting to get involved in this industry for the first time, or even wanting to make a change and move to a different part of this industry. Look, I know it can be really hard to feel connected to the outside world when you've been stuck at home. So I really feel that bringing these new virtual offerings to your attention right now is extremely important. These online networking initiatives that we talked about today that are brought to you by wit are going to help bring members of the community together, even when we're apart. Now we have to be honest here, there is going to be a new normal when this all passes, and it will likely involve a lot more virtual connections and less physical ones. So regardless of how we connect, the important thing is that we do it, that we continue to expand our education and our network and that we cultivate relationships and support each other. As we advance in our toy careers. We know things are going to look different moving forward, and the more we can share our thoughts and ideas on what that will look like, the sooner we can all prepare for it, and set ourselves and others up for success. Now, that's all I have to share with you today about the virtual initiatives with women and toys, licensing and entertainment. I hope you decide to join and take advantage of these virtual initiatives that they've put into place. They're really fantastic and they could not have come at a better time. A huge thank you and shout out to all of my listeners. I know there are a lot of podcasts out there. So the fact that you chose to listen to this one means the world to me. If you are not a member of women in toys, licensing and entertainment, and if you love this podcast, then you are definitely gonna want to head over to www.thetoycoach.com/podcast/18 to get the three months off and annual women in toys membership. And I want to see you guys back here next week on Wednesday, where I will be interviewing a very special guest, the creator of the well known family game Pictionary. That's right. Rob angel is going to be on the show next week and he is going to talk to us all about how he broke the rules with Pictionary and created the runaway hit. I love reading your reviews I get a little notification on my phone when they come through. And sometimes I take the reviews from iTunes and put them right on my podcast page under testimonials. And if you want a chance to show up there, you're definitely going to want to leave a message for me to see. I want to take this time to officially announce my upcoming digital course called toy creators Academy. Now this course is for anyone out there that has a great idea for a toy or a game, but you're not quite sure where to start. Now this course is also great if maybe you have launched a toy idea or two before but you just found that you were distracted or maybe you didn't take the right steps. This is the type of course that is going to keep you on track so that you create a pitch ready toy attic product. This course is going to offer you step by step visual guidance in the form of videos, audios and simple PowerPoints, you're going to get access to a network of reliable partners to help you with your sample making needs. But also you'll learn how to find your own reliable sample making partners. Most importantly, the biggest point of this course is to learn the business of toys, learning how to make your toys, something that buyers are interested in and want to put on their shelves, and then learn the different paths to monetization. So if all of that sounds super good to you, then head over to toy creators academy.com and sign up for the early access list. When you sign up for early access, not only does it mean you get access to the course before everyone else, but it also means you're going to lock in a special rate that only comes from being a founding member. Thank you again for listening to this podcast. Until next week, I'll see you later toy people. Intro/Outro + Jingle 20:05 Thanks for listening to making it in the toy industry podcast with Azhelle Wade, head over to the toy coach comm For more information, tips and advice
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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 the waitlist.