CHICAGO, IL (OCTOBER 9TH, 2024) - People of Play’s Inventor & Innovation Conferences, the largest and longest running toy and game inventor conference in the world, has announced toy industry movers and shakers as keynotes!
This year’s conferences, sponsored by Mattel, Moose Games, Longshore, The Michael Kohner Corporation and TradeShowBooth.com will be held November 6th through 9th at the Embassy Suites in Rosemont, Illinois. Attendees and registered inventors can get ready to learn, pitch and network their way to success with some of the most recognizable brands in the toy and game industry, with more than 50 companies and 20 countries represented so far.
Azhelle Wade, the Toy Coach, will be this year’s emcee. All attendees will receive a reusable gift tote with treats from Moose Games.
The conference kicks off on November 7th at 9:00am with Keynotes:
- Sharon Price John, Chairperson, TA BOD, President & CEO, Build-A-Bear Workshop,
- Geoffrey Greenberg, Vice Chairperson, TA BOD, Co-CEO, Just Play
- Anne Carrihill, TA BOD, Director, GM, Category Leader, Toys & Entertainment at Amazon
- Greg Ahearn, CEO and President of the Toy Association - Moderator
Other speakers include:
Dougal Grimes – Founder of EightyTwo
Leah Zalinski - Operations Consultant & Growth Strategist
Rachele Harmuth - Head of Commercial at CrunchLabs
Amy Friedland - Executive Vice President at Freeman Public Relations (recently acquired by Carve Communications)
Christopher Byrne - The Toy Guy
Azhelle Wade – The Toy Coach
Jason Keener - Intellectual Property Attorney with Irwin IP
Reid Huefner – Senior Attorney at Irwin IP
Mentoring Day:
Each New Inventor and University Desing Student is paired with one of the Product Acquisition Executives as well as given a list of mentors to schedule meetings with including industry experts such as Nancy Zwiers, Steve Rad, Joe Campos, Amy Friedland, Robert Coleman, Rachel Griffin, Rob Yusim, Lisa Wuennermann, Jason Keener and many more to be announced.
“If you have a product idea, you need to be at this conference. We pride ourselves in creating the right environment so that both new and professional inventors can learn from each other, make the right connections and move forward, whether they have a winning idea, or if it’s a stepping stone to the next one,” said Mary Couzin, Conference Founder.
Conference participants can choose from four tracks:
- New Inventor/Innovation Track
- Professional Inventor Track
- Product Acquisition Executive
- University Design Student
Conference Committee Chairperson Hasbro’s Angus Walker said, "I look forward to the POP Inventor Conference and the TAGIEs every year. The toy and game community is an amazing group of people. This event amplifies all that is great about it. Where else can creators, inventors, manufacturers, retailers, and toy & game companies all come together for a few days to learn, share cool ideas and, if lucky, make that connection that leads to the next big thing? The energy is so positive, and it reminds us of how lucky we are to do what we do. The POP inventor conference is not just about feeling good and celebrating our great industry though. It’s an essential component of Hasbro’s external innovation strategy.”
The Conference Committee Members include:
- Angus Walker - Head of Inventor Relations & External Innovation at Hasbro – Committee Chairperson
- Azhelle Wade, The Toy Coach
- Dan Klitsner - Founder, KID Group
- Shannon Swindle - Inventor Relations Manager at Moose Games
- Tara McGrath - Creative Director, Inventor Relations & Innovation at Mattel
Registration details can be found on the ChiTAG website. Conference tickets also include The Toy & Game Innovation Awards (The TAGIEs) on November 8th at 6pm at Joe’s Live, a gala celebrating the outstanding innovations by people in the toy and game industry.