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Toy & Game Marketing PRO Quarterly Events! 
Q3 Focus: Toy & Game Awards, Activations & Plus-Ups

Learn - Share - Network
 

Thursday, August 18th, 2022

Most Panel Videos Posted!

This is your opportunity to Find Out What you Need to Know about Awards and 4 th Quarter Activations. 

The August 18 th VIRTUAL event will focus on the impact of recent calendar changes within the Industry and how to maximize participation for the best results; sessions will address the various international opportunities within the next 18 months while the other will focus on 4th quarter 2022 activations. Information and insights will be provided by panelists who represent each of the key industry awards programs while industry spokespeople and personalities will provide everything you need to know about different plus-up opportunities.

Virtual Moderators

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Karri Bean

Senior Manager, LEGO

Disney Consumer Products

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Tammy Smitham

VP Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility

Spin Master

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John Baulch

Publisher

Toy World Magazine 

Virtual Panelists

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Donna Moore

VP at TTPM.com and TTPM Influencer Talent Management

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Elizabeth Werner

Life-Style Expert and

Guest Host on QVC,

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Gisela Abrams

SVP Global Partnerships

Licensing International

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Christopher Byrne

The Toy Guy

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Adrienne Appell

EVP Marketing Communications The Toy Association

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Bob Glaser

Publisher

aNb Media and TTPM

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Mary Couzin

Founder, President

Chicago Toy & Game Group 

dba People of Play - POP

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Marissa Silva

That Toy Girl is Editor-in-Chief The Toy Insider

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Winchell Cheung

Director, Midwest U.S.

Hong Kong

Trade Development Council

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Jenna Stirling

Membership Specialist at American Specialty Toy Retailing Association

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Florian Hess

Executive Board Member

 Spielwarenmesse eG

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Rebecca Deeming

Communications & Events Manager at British Toy & Hobby Association

Conference Welcome and Committee Co-Chairs

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Michele Litzky

Founder

Litzky PR

Mary Couzin

Founder/President, Chicago Toy & Game Group dba People of Play

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Virtual Conference Agenda (panels recorded and posted soon)

1:00pmET  International Opportunities

Moderator: 

John Baulch, Publisher of Toy World Magazine

Panelists: 

Florian Hess - Executive Board Member at Spielwarenmesse eG

Rebecca Deeming - Communications & Events Manager at British Toy & Hobby Association

Winchell Cheung, Director, Midwest U.S. Hong Kong Trade Development Council

2:00pmET  4th Quarter Activations and Plus-Up Opps

Moderator:

Tammy Smitham - VP Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility At Spin Master

Panelists:

Elizabeth Werner - Life-Style Expert and Guest Host on QVC

Donna Moore - VP at TTPM.com and TTPM Influencer Talent Management

Chris Byrne - The Toy Guy

Marissa Silva - That Toy Girl Is Editor-in-Chief The Toy Insider

 

 

3:00pmET U.S. Toy & Game Awards

Moderator: 

Karri Bean - Senior Manager, LEGO at Disney Consumer Products

Panelists: 

Bob Glaser - Publisher at aNb Media

Adrienne Appell - EVP Marketing Communications at The Toy Association

Gisela Abrams - SVP Global Partnerships at Licensing International

Mary Couzin - Founder, President Of Chicago Toy & Game Group dba People Of Play

Jenna Stirling - Membership Specialist at American Specialty Toy Retailing Association

 

U.S. Toy & Game Awards Panel - Will be Posted Soon!

Networking in POP Pub UNO Room after Panels

Miss the Q2 Event? You can still watch and hear the content. JUST CLICK HERE! 

Special Thanks to our Marketing & PR Committee! 

Event Founding Committee Members

Michele Litzky (Litzky PR), Tammy Smitham (Spin Master), Karri Bean (Disney), Rachel Griffin (Playwise Partners),

Kathleen Tomes (Brilliant PR and Marketing), Lisa Wuennermann (PlayMonster), Genna Rosenberg (GennComm), and

Mary Couzin (POP)

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More Details . . . 

It is beneficial for attendees to have a POP profile*, but not required. There will be a hidden page just for attendees with contact information: one page for brands and one page for agencies/pros. We will feature links to POP Profiles. 

*What is a POP Profile?  POP hosts the most powerful search engine for everyone in the toy industry. In addition to bios, photos, media, videos, fun facts, and more bringing a person, brand, product or company 'to life' and telling their story on a page, Marketing and PR Pros can list include their skills and expertise on their profiles and Companies and Brands can search for them by skills, expertise, and roles. Examples include: #pr #pr agency #product launch #influencers #affiliate marketing #trends #doll launches #brand guidelines #entertainment #licensing. PR agencies can add videos of past campaigns and media articles. Agencies/brands can put their press releases on POP to both be part of their profile and be featured in the POP feed on the homepage and In the Bloom Report News Feed.  And, there are loads of other features to explore!

Thank you to our  POP Sponsors
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Blue Plate Media Services

What Past Attendees of our Events Shared...

“It’s an annual rite of passage for our industry. Keep doing a great job bringing the community together and promoting the spirit of play.” 

– John Bell, Director  of Product Design & Development,

Buffalo Games

"I attended CHITAG for the first time, and thought it was a fantastic event. It was great to connect with peers and learn from the quality talks. Look forward to attending next time!"

– Gabby Toniolo, Inventor, Bella Products, Australia

The Innovation Conferences are a must for anyone - inventors or company people - in the toy and game industry.  The information you'll learn, the pitching and the networking is incredible. Mary and her team are to be congratulated; there is nothing else like it in the world!"

– Tanya Thompson, Hasbro

We are not mere creators of trinkets and insignificant baubles and playthings. we are the toymakers, the shamans, the wizards, the blacksmiths, the court jesters and sometimes even the town fool, and what we do – the toys that we create, contribute to the ever-evolving ever-advancing forward motion of the civilized world.”

– Bruce Lund 

"This event makes me fall in love with the Toy & Game Industry each year!"

– Megan Hinterman Kanous, PSI, Inc.

"I don't think I have learned more about the Toy Biz since?... ever. I didn't want it to end." 

– Carle Wunderlich, Best of Best Toys, Inc. 

Thank you for putting on such an informative and comprehensive conference and show.  ChiTAG is an excellent way to meet fellow inventors.  Our company, 1015 Creative, grew out of it.  Michael Adams and I met each other three years ago and within a year we were working together.  In October of last year we formed 1015 Creative, LLC with Damon Brown, bringing together a combined history of over 25 licensed games and 80 years of experience in game design, illustration and product development.  Our new company of successful inventors collaborating together debuted at the 2016 ChiTAG show.  We owe our success to the event and environment you have created."

– Eric Foster, Principal at 1015 Creative, LLC.

Chicago Toy & Game Week’s Professional Inventors Track is not just fertile ground for making the connections necessary to do business, it’s the annual gathering of the inventor tribe. In the whole wide world, there’s not a better place for independent toy and game inventors to go to catch up with each other, build friendships and strategic alliances, and spend quality time engaged with others who truly understand the nuances of the toy and game invention industry and share the common goal of expanding and improving our business opportunities. No other convention compares in personal warmth, richness of content, generosity of information sharing, and glorious un-rushed bubbles of quiet time to meet in depth and set a well-considered course right before the show season swings into hyper-warp mode and calm clarity morphs into frazzle."

– Peggy Brown of Peggy Brown Creative

"CHITAG’s Inventor Conferences are timed optimally.

There is no better time of year for inventors to pitch ideas to us!"

 

– Ben Dermer​, SVP Creative Development and Innovation. Deputy Creative Officer, Spin Master Ltd. 

"I love the CHITAG events!

They're extremely well run with a great amount of thought put into them." 

 

– Carly McGinnis, Chief Operating Officer at Exploding Kittens

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