October 11, 2023 • 46 mins
Want a play by play of what worked at Toy Fair New York, and what didn’t? In this new podcast episode, The Toy Coach breaks down every day of the trade show, including setup days, and provides tips and insights to make your next show experience better. Also, if you haven’t already read it on The Toy Coach Blog, you’ll hear in this episode that New York Toy Fair is relocating to New Orleans! Dive deep into the whirlwind experience of Toy Fair, its changes and evolution. If you’re planning to launch your toy or game idea to retail soon, this episode is a must listen.
In this episode we recap the recent Toy Fair New York which concluded October 3rd 2023. Uncover the best and worst parts of each day of Toy Fair and learn insightful tips and tricks to navigate Toy Fair like a pro. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the toy industry's biggest events!
Thank you to our sponsor Hasbro for being a sponsor and participant of the TCA Virtual Pitch Event! Check out Hasbro's Women Innovators Of Play Challenge by clicking here or visiting spark.hasbro.com/womeninnovators. Submissions CLOSE October 12, 2023.
For the links mentioned in today's episode, visit: https://thetoycoach.com/190
Popular Masterclass! How To Make & Sell Your Toy Ideas
Your Low-Stress, Start-To-Finish Playful Product Launch In 5 Steps
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You are listening to Makingit in the Toy Industry,
episode number 190.
Hey there, toy people!Azhelle Wade here, and welcome
(00:20):
back to another episode ofthe Toy Coach podcast, Making
it in the Toy Industry.
This week's podcast episodeis brought to you by Hasbro.
Thank you so much, Hasbro, forbeing a sponsor of the podcast.
On September 12th, Hasbroheld their very first Women
Innovators of Play event,and, announce their very first
(00:41):
ever Women Innovators of PlayChallenge, an opportunity
for you to submit your toyor game ideas to potentially
win a prize or get licensed.
Submissions have beenopen since September 12th.
We'll close onOctober 12th, 2023.
So if you're listening to thispodcast the day it airs, you
(01:03):
still have a day to submit anapplication for this challenge.
The top three innovators will beannounced in November of 2023.
Visit spark.hasbro.com/womeninnovators to submit
your idea today.
Again, that'sspark.hasbro.com/women
(01:24):
innovators.
Today's episode topic isall about New York Toy Fair.
Ideally I wanted to put outthis episode last week, but
being around so many peopledid get me a little sick, which
I'm sure you can hear, butdon't worry, I'm on the mend.
I'm going to be sharing myexperience at the trade show
this year, and we're going togo through the show day by day.
(01:47):
For every day, I'm going tobe sharing what happened.
What was the best part of thatday, what was the worst part of
that day, and of course, I'llbe sharing tips for you to make
your experience even better ifyou attend the next trade show.
We will also be coveringfuture Toy Fair dates,
dates that sent a ripplethroughout the toy industry
(02:08):
when they were announced.
If you are a listener ofthis podcast and I met you
at Toy Fair, hey again, andthanks so much for meeting
me, coming up and saying hi,I appreciate you to no end.
Now, by the end of today'sepisode, you will have a full
overview of my experience atNew York Toy Fair, where I
(02:28):
went to work with a client,helping manage sales.
And of course, within allthat, I'll be giving you tips
and advice for you to use ifyou happen to attend the next
and last New York Toy Fair.
Yes, you heard that right.
The last New York ToyFair has been scheduled.
We will get into all of thedetails of that toward the end
(02:51):
of this episode, so stick aroundand you will not miss a thing.
So let's dive in and get startedtalking about New York Toy Fair.
Now for me, the very firstday of this fair was set up
day number one, which was onThursday, September 28th, 2023.
My primary reason for attendingToy Fair was to be with clients
(03:14):
to network for new opportunitiesand to attend the TOTY's
in support of my husband.
Now set up day onlyapplied to vendors who were
exhibiting at Toy Fair.
If you were attendingthe show and you weren't
exhibiting, you weren'tcoming in for a set up day.
Vendors were all given differentdays to start setting up.
My client's date forsetup was September 28th.
(03:37):
I did hear there were somepeople that came in Wednesday,
September 27th to set up.
There were of coursepeople that were coming in.
Friday, September29th to set up.
Now, I want to talk a littlebit about decisions that we
made prior to the show that madethe setup day go so smoothly.
So prior to the show, I've beenmeeting with my client and their
(03:59):
team for weeks to finalize thetrade show booth design, make
sure we had everything in order.
And I'd introduced themto a company called
Airborne Visual Displays.
If you need that link again,head over to the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And once we decided to goforward with this display
company, you know, that was adecision that simplified the
(04:22):
entire booth setup processand is going to simplify
and streamline any showsthat they do in the future.
And why is that?
Because the process of settingup your booth is, is cumbersome.
And if you can figure out asetup or display system that is
consistent, easy enough to puttogether like Ikea furniture,
(04:44):
and also more importantly, canbreak down to sizes that work
for as checked luggage on anairplane, or to sizes that can
easily be palletized or sizesthat you can actually like roll
out of the convention center.
You don't just want to pickup any type of furniture or
any type of shelf or anytype of table to display your
(05:05):
product You've really got tobe thinking about how that's
gonna break down pack upship Transport travel so that
you can reuse that displayfor not only this show, but
other shows in the future.
So that was a decision madeearly on that helped ease
the stress of the setup dayBecause we had a high quality
(05:26):
professional display, that wasactually easy to put together.
Now another great decision thatwe made before the show was
choosing to create a catalograther than create sell sheets
for our individual products.
If you have one product, itis more likely that you are
going to think about having asell sheet be that takeaway.
(05:46):
And a sell sheet is just a onepage printout that will have.
Image of your product inpackaging and without packaging
sometimes with pricinginformation, wholesale and
retail, size information,case packs, all that.
When you have twoproducts, you're like,
okay, sell sheets, fine.
When you have three products,you're like, all right, I
can still use sell sheets.
(06:07):
If whether it's one sell sheetwith two products on it, or
it's two sell sheets withthree products, I can still
get away with a sell sheet.
When you start to get to fiveproducts or more, that's when
it starts to become hairy.
Like do we need a sell sheetor do we need a catalog?
There's not enough real estateon a sell sheet to really sell
(06:30):
and explain what a product is.
If you have to fit five productson that sell sheet or even three
products on that sell sheet.
So that's when you might startthinking about doing a catalog.
So I'm digressing toteach a little bit.
But with this client, we,we did eventually decide to
go the catalog route becausehaving so many individual sale
(06:52):
sell sheets will really justbecome cumbersome in the booth.
So for you really think throughyour selling process when
you're going to be at thisbooth to decide whether that
sell sheet or that Catalogis going to be ideal for you.
Now another thing I'd highlyrecommend you having on hand
when you're setting up is tohave a clipboard to store your
(07:16):
order forms, business cards,and your written orders.
So I'm going to share alink to one of my favorite
clipboards for tradeshows at the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And again, this will bean Amazon affiliate link.
So you're supportingthe show if you buy it.
So thank you.
And get this clipboardfor your next trade show.
It is amazing.
It holds pens andall your papers.
(07:38):
You will look professional.
It is perfect.
So let's talk about whathappened through the day on
the 28th the setup day gotup early Finished packing
all of my extra things.
I needed to bring to the boothI had a few extra samples on
hand that we didn't have timeto ship from the warehouse I
had to bring in my clipboard Ihad to print some last minute
(07:59):
order forms had all my catalogcopies all the things that I was
responsible for Bringing to thisbooth, of course, I packed a
few business cards of my own andthen made my way to the Javit
Center just before 9 (08:10):
00 AM.
Now upon pulling intothe toy Fair, I was hit
with major nostalgia.
The iconic Pikachu that youmight see in many photos of Toy
Fair who's hanging from theglass ceiling of the Javits just
triggered so many memories oftoy fairs of years before when
you arrive to any toy show.
(08:32):
During setup day, don'texpect to see like big
welcome booths or publicfacing badge pickup stations
or any of that to be active.
On the setup day at the Javits,there was a single check in
kiosk on the lower level of theconvention center where all the
vendors would go, show theirconfirmation email and their ID
(08:54):
in exchange for a yellow stickerthat said Toy Fair Setup.
That sticker would help yougain access to the show floor.
Guards would not let youin without the sticker
and that sticker wouldruin your clothing.
Now, once we were leavingsetup day, you could go and
pick up your badge as you'releaving that setup day.
There was a kind of a makeshiftbadge pickup on the show
(09:17):
floor and you could show youryellow sticker and again,
your email confirmation toget your official badge.
I highly recommend doing thatbecause the lines for collecting
your badge can get long.
So if you're a vendorand you get to come in
early in a setup day.
do yourself and do the eventorganizers a favor and just
pick your badge up while you'rethere to relieve congestion
(09:41):
of all the people also goingto be picked, who are also
going to be picking up theirbadges on the actual show day.
Now, the best part of cominginto setup day is that you get
to see the behind the scenes ofbooths that might be walled off
when the show officially opens.
And you get to see the setupprocess and behind the scenes.
(10:01):
of your favorite brandsbooths being built.
So what you'll learn and seepretty quickly is that
it's not usually the peopleworking for these individual
brands setting up the booth.
They often hire people to comein and help set up the booth.
There's also union workers thatwork for the convention center
that have to do key things inthe booth for booth set up.
(10:24):
So you will just notice that,Oh, you know, once I get big
enough with my toy company,if you're just starting out,
you know, it won't just beme here setting up the booth.
No, like not every companysets up their booth with
their founder, you know,sitting on the floor you
know, opening up boxes.
That's just when we startout, that's how we begin.
Now, the other greatpart of set up day is.
(10:45):
It has got to be thenervous excitement buzzing
within your own team.
When I look back at this mostrecent show or even the show
I did at Javits three yearsprior with my former employer,
I always remember the day onesetup day being this buzz of
nervous energy, excitement, alsopassion, everyone on the team
(11:09):
has 100 percent full battery.
Everyone's excited to buildthose walls, cut those foam core
signs, do emergency last minuteruns to Ikea, you name it.
You can't get a better energyor vibe from that day one buzz.
Yes, it can be stressful,but usually everyone's
in good spirits becausenothing's gone wrong yet.
(11:30):
Now the worst part ofset up day has got to be
avoiding all the forklifts.
So big tip I give youwear sneakers when you're
coming in on set up day.
Where jeans to protectyour legs a little bit.
It just feels like you're in aconstruction zone when you're in
set up day and we wouldn't wearleggings to a construction zone.
(11:53):
So wear jeans.
I would fully cover your legs.
You want to be agile, nimble,and protected as you make your
way around the Javits Center.
There are forkliftseverywhere, people going
back and forth carrying bigboxes, wooden planks on the
floor, bowls of plastics,mountains of boxes everywhere.
Do not be walking on thatshow floor on your phone.
(12:13):
Pay attention.
The ground is not clearand designed for you to
get, make your way through.
Just be aware of that whenyou're going in on a setup day.
So let's get into how to makethe most of your setup day
or set up day one I highlyrecommend that before the show
you do a test setup run and youtime it For New York Toy Fair.
(12:35):
I didn't do this for my clientsbooth because I wasn't the
one responsible for the setupof their booth However, the
last trade show that I didthat I set up was Astra and
I did a full full test setuprun of my booth and I highly,
highly, highly recommend it.
So that way on setup day,you already have a well timed
(12:57):
plan for how long it willtake you to do everything from
installing flooring, puttingup your backdrop, your signage
and laying out your product.
That way you can look atyour clock and say, okay,
we're behind schedule.
We're ahead of schedule.
You need to know where you'reat because you usually only
have a limited amount of timeon that show floor, regardless
(13:17):
what day of setup it is.
And you don't want to be stuckin a situation where you cannot
finish and they're kicking youout of the convention center.
We don't want any surprisesthat we can control
and avoid on setup day.
The setup day is the one dayin Toy Fair where you can
actually finish things early.
(13:38):
If you plan them well, you canactually go home or to your
hotel and get yourself somerest because the after hour
events haven't started yet.
And you can make finalcalls or emails to prepare
for the days ahead.
So the way to make the mostof setup day is again, to have
that timed schedule for setup.
(14:00):
And follow it to a tee, makeevery effort to attend that
day early, make sure afteryou're all done setting up,
if you have a team that yougrab a meal with them, you
thank them for their work.
And then you can go intothe actual toy fair, feeling
refreshed and energized.
So let's move onto setup day two.
(14:21):
September 29th was our day two.
We actually had theopportunity to use this as
a last minute errand day anda final touches booth day.
So one example, I ran to Walmartto grab some beanbag chairs and
some extra tech we needed torun some videos on the TVs of
the booth while the rest of theteam members were finalizing the
(14:44):
actual booth display and productplacement and all of that.
Now, not only that, butSeptember 29th was also the
day of the premiere event thatkicked off Toy Fair, the TOTYs.
So the best part of setup day two for me had
to have been the TOTYs.
The TOTY's, if you don't know,it's like the Oscars of the
toy industry and stands forthe toy of the year awards.
(15:07):
This event is a.
It's a formal dinner thatkicks off every Toy Fair in
New York, and it's the firstbig networking opportunity
at Toy Fair, and it's agreat time to reconnect
with people you alreadyknow and to meet new people.
Now, this awards dinnercelebrates the great
minds in the industry, andthrough the announcements of
(15:28):
nominations and awards, youmay likely learn about people
and even products that youdidn't know about before.
The 2023 TOTY Awards included17 product categories
plus new people focusedcategories, and they had
a total of 21 categories.
There were also Six inducteesinto the Toy Association's
(15:50):
Hall of Fame, two of whomgave speeches during the event.
One group of the inducteeswas the three founders of Spin
Master, Ronan, Anton, and Ben,and another inductee that gave
a speech there was Mary Cousin,the founder and president of
ChiTag and People of Play.
(16:11):
Now, the worst part ofset up day two also had
to do with the toadies.
It was a part of thetoadies where they played
people off the stage.
It was a little uncomfortable.
while our hall of famershad a great opportunity,
ample time to give theircreative speeches and were
(16:34):
not played off and had theirmoment and we all loved it.
There were key award winners inother categories that clearly
took the time to preparea speech in case they won.
And then when they won,they were just played
off the stage 15 secondsinto giving their speech.
It was bad.
(16:55):
Everyone was talking about it.
Now the first time thatthe audience, that we
heard the playoff music,it was a little funny.
The person that was givingthe speech at the time had
been speaking for abouttwo minutes, so it was a
little bit of a long speech.
And then in syncs,bye, bye, bye.
Started playing and a fewpeople chuckled and it was,
(17:16):
you know, it's relevant forthe time because N'Sync's
making a comeback and it waslike, Oh, that's so funny.
But as the night went on andas winners who were seated
further back in the eventspace struggled to make their
way to the front of the eventspace to get on stage, the
speaking times for thesewinners just kept getting
(17:39):
cut shorter and shorterto, as I mentioned a minute
ago, as little as 15 secondsbefore the playoff music.
Now, there were some peoplewho attempted, and rightly
so, to yell over the musicand just give thanks to those
that helped them because thiswas a monumental achievement,
(18:02):
but the music was too loudto clearly hear the names
of the people that they justwanted to thank regardless
of getting played off.
It was clear that the eventorganizers didn't factor in
enough time for the additionalawards and for the additional
acceptance speeches since theyadded so many categories, and
(18:22):
it was a really bad oversight.
All in all, the event had.
This cool red carpet to walkwhen you entered with a fun
chance to be interviewed bya Toy Association reporter.
There was a photo op with astep and repeat wall, great
food, great conversation,and a bustling, yet
crowded, cocktail hour.
(18:43):
So there were good, butthere was also bad, and
that playoff moment on stagereally dampened the mood of
getting this incredible award.
So let's talk about how to makethe most of set up day two, if
you can attend the toadies,it is an expensive ticket,
but you should get there earlybecause there are opportunities
(19:06):
to network and you shouldmake the most out of them.
Set yourself a goal totalk to a certain number of
people and figure out whatthey do, what you do, how
you might work together andexchange contact information.
So let's move on to show dayone, which was actually my
day three of the trade show.
But this was officially dayone of Toy Fair where all the
(19:27):
booths were set up and the floorwas open and Buyers and media
and service providers startedjust walking the floor to
visit booths This toy fair, theshow days were long and there
were actually four show days.
Now typically tradeshow days end at 4 p.
m.
or 5 p.
m.
on full days, but thistoy fair went on to 6 p.
(19:51):
m.
Now some manufacturers of courseare excited about this because
it gives them more time to selland it also gives buyers more
time to get to their booths.
However, it does make for alonger and more exhausting
day for those who are manningtheir own booths or manning
their booths with a small teamand it makes for a longer day
(20:11):
for buyers who have to do thattrekking up and down all of
these booths to see productsand hopefully place orders.
At the end of the show dayone, there were a number
of non official events.
There were dinner meetupshappening offsite bar
meetups happening offsite.
So during Toy Fair for methis year, Saturday was a
(20:33):
planned meetup for the alumniof Toy Creators Academy
and a few podcast fansjoined in the fun as well.
There is a great photo ofthis meetup that you can
check out at thetoycoach.
com forward slash 190.
Now, the best part of day one ofthe show being open has got to
be the character parade that ToyFair puts on to open the show.
(20:57):
If you were lucky enoughto be able to get away
from your booth when thisparade is happening, it is a
great photo op opportunity.
Now, this Toy Fair,unfortunately, I couldn't
make it to the parade, butmy friends did send me photos
of them at the parade Ahem.
The worst part of the veryfirst day of Toy Fair is just
the waiting to get buyersand media to your booth.
(21:21):
At the very beginning ofa show, especially if you
have a booth location that'sfurther back, maybe in a
corner, it'll take some timefor buyers to make their way
there to that part of the showand get to see your booth.
So, try not to get tooanxious or judge a show too
quickly based on the trafficyou just see in the first 60
minutes of the door's opening.
(21:43):
Judge the show based on thenumber of people that you
actually see walking by yourbooth and the percentages
of which of those people arebuyers, the people that we
want to get into your boothto buy your product, service
providers, people who are goingto sell you on their goods
and services, distributorswho will offer to resell your
products, sometimes to storesthey might not disclose or
(22:04):
suppliers who might wantto start doing business with
you and helping you developyour toy or game products.
Now let's get into how tomake the most of your day
one at Toy Fair to makethe most of your day one.
Ideally, you want to have a preplanned schedule of meetings
where buyers are planning tocome to your booth and walk
through your product line.
(22:24):
Now this meeting planningwork is work you'll have to
do before you attend a tradeshow, but one of my good friends
in the industry reminded meas I was booking meetings for
this last trade show to blockoff time for lunch, which is
definitely something I do inmy normal everyday calendar.
But Toy Fair is like a wholeother beast and I often will
(22:46):
book things through lunchbecause it's more important
that you get the meetingthan it is to take a break.
But don't do that.
Make sure that before youstart booking your buyer
meetings, that you doblock off time for lunch.
You are going to need thattime to recharge, to eat,
obviously, and to reset.
Before you attend theshow, if you want to make
the most of your very firstday, make sure that you have
(23:08):
practiced your sales pitchand different varieties of it.
Establish your style andget confident about it.
You might be the type ofsales person that introduces
the product, highlights youraccolades, and just sits
back and waits for the buyerto make that first move to
request to place an order.
Or you might be the typeof salesperson that does a
little bit more of the hardsell, the type that lays
(23:31):
out those benefits, thequalities, the moment they
sense interest, say, Hey, howabout we start you off with a
case pack of our bestsellers?
And then you might whip out thatorder form, whether it's digital
or on paper and take that order.
Whatever buyers come intoyour booth, you want to
make an effort to get anorder on the show floor.
(23:52):
That is the entirepurpose of the trade
show in the first place.
And if you don't get an orderon the show floor, you do run
the risk that the buyer will.
Commit those dollars toanother brand's products as
they're walking the show.
So do your best to lock inan order as soon as possible.
And sometimes it can helpif you build out a suggested
order for a new buyer andjust propose it to them.
(24:15):
Say, Hey, I would suggestthat you start with this case
pack of our best sellers XYZ.
Our minimum order is this.
If you add in this, itwill take your order to
this and that in that caseyou can get free freight.
Just as an example.
Now if you don't know what acase pack is or if any of those
terms Sounded kind of new to youif you don't know how to write
(24:37):
or take an order at Toy Fair Butyou're interested to learn more.
Then you should checkout Toy Creators Academy.
It is a one year onlinetoy program designed to
help you develop, pitch,sell and market your ideas.
It includes a community andmonthly Q and A's, but more
importantly, there are 12years of toy industry insights,
(24:58):
information and contactscondensed into a nine module
course that you can get fullaccess to today if you sign up.
Just head over to toycreators, academy.
com to learn more.
Okay, let's move on to day two.
What happened to day two?
Day two was a Sunday, October1st, and that was the first
(25:21):
time that I stumbled acrossthe freshman class display,
which was at the front leftof the convention center.
Photos of this display aregoing to be at the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And in my opinion, thiswas a brilliant addition
to toy fair this year.
The freshman class display wasessentially a mini trade show.
(25:43):
It almost looked like amuseum exhibition featuring
products from some newexhibitors at the show.
And it highlighted theirbooth numbers, so if you
like the product, youcould go visit their booth.
This was a really great designconcept and a great opportunity
for buyers to get a quick bird'seye view of what's new at Toy
(26:03):
Fair, which is what most buyersare looking for anyway, and
quickly mark down the boothnumbers of those new items
that they were interested in sothey could pass by the booth.
this mini display concept wasn'tjust done for this freshman
class, as they called it.
There were several other minidisplays set up throughout the
other entrances of the Javits.
(26:25):
I saw one focusing on petproducts and another focusing
on Halloween products.
These mini displaycases were like having
a show within a show.
What's great about these minidisplay cases and these mini
exhibitions is the real estate.
I mean, it's the first thing yousee when you walk into the show.
So it really just helps puttingall the product on the same
(26:45):
level of professionalism witha consistent glass case and a
sign that says visit this booth.
Having these were a greatopportunity and I do hope
that some form of thiscontinues into future years.
Now, at the end of day two,day two ended again at 6 p.
m.
on Sunday, October 1st.
And at 6 p.
(27:06):
m., Women in Toys held theirWonder Woman Awards Gala, a gala
that celebrates the best of thebest women in the toy industry.
There were three honoreeswho were celebrated for their
achievements in the industry.
And then 13 Awards thatwere given that evening.
It was a beautiful and movingcelebration of hard work and
(27:28):
impact that women have hadon the toy and game industry.
No speeches were prematurelycut and the event.
actually ended early, whicheveryone who had to get up
early and work a booth the nextday was super excited about.
Now, the best part of the daytwo of the trade show, aside
(27:50):
from the Wonder Woman Awards,of course had to be the...
Circus put on byfun in motion toys.
So fun in motion was holdinga circus several days during
the show the one I saw Ibelieve it started at 4 p.
m.
And this circus was completewith silk performers the
cotton candy machine and ofcourse juggling artful juggling
(28:11):
advanced juggling not yourregular juggling and promoting
and using a lot of Fun in Motionproducts to create the circus.
It was such a brilliantmarketing concept to have the
circus in the, toward the endof the day when everyone's kind
of tired, especially becausefun in motion was located quite
centrally on the show floor.
(28:32):
So it pulled people deeperinto the show at 4 p.
m., which is a time wherepeople are normally kind
of escaping the show floorand ending their day.
So that was a brilliantmarketing concept and
also a really coolcircus, but I had to.
Rush off because of theworst part of this day.
So the worst part of the day,too, was really just trying
(28:53):
to get to the Wonder WomanAwards right after finishing
a full day at a booth.
I said Toy Fairextended hours to 6 p.
m., which made it impossible,if you were going to work
the entire day, to make it tothe Wonder Woman Awards gala,
which also starts at 6 p.
m.
The cocktail hour is whatkicks off at this time.
(29:16):
And it's the most important partof this event for networking.
So most people that wereattending the gala ended
their trade show booth dayearly, so the extended days
and times of the trade show,I know is beneficial for many
manufacturers in certain ways,but there was a clash here where
there were many events startingat the very same time that the
(29:37):
trade show was supposed to end.
Now, how to make the mostof your show day two.
I have to say, I think youshould attend the Wonder Woman
Awards Gala and you shouldget there early so you don't
miss any of the cocktailhour, which as I said, is
your best time to network.
Try not to spend too long in aconversation with one person.
(30:00):
Don't be afraid to end aconversation because you need
to continue to say hello toeveryone and work the room.
It is what you were there to do.
And anyone who's a professionalin the industry will fully
understand that you wantto talk to people, talk
about what you do, whatthey do, share your business
card and make connections.
That is the entire purposeof the show and any of
(30:22):
the events that you areattending after the show.
Let's move on to show daythree, October 2nd, 2023.
Show day three was anotherfull day beginning at 9 a.
m.
Ending at 6 p.
m.
During this day.
I did notice a large numberof unique specialty and
online retailers Makingtheir way downstairs.
(30:44):
At the end of day three, therewere several private events
that people would attend.
Two of which were Mary CousinShytag Inventor Meetup and the
FIT Toy Design Reunion Meetup.
Now, the best part of this day,in my opinion, was there were
no more events post show toget dressed up for and rush to.
(31:06):
You could really focus onselling for the entire day and
then you could focus on makingconnections the entire evening.
The worst part of this dayis just that you're drained
at the end of the day.
You've been doing thisfor several days now.
And how can you make themost of show day three?
Make sure you haveenough business cards.
(31:26):
When you meet people, find outwhat they do, share what you
do and figure out if there'ssomething that either of you can
do to help the other and proposeworking together, exchange
those business cards and makea plan to reach out post show.
Now, one of my favoritethings to do is to have
a Stylish fanny pack.
If you saw me at the show, Ihad a heart shaped fanny pack
(31:48):
And the the purpose for havinga bag like this is it makes it
super easy for you to reach foranything you need during The
show without having to take apurse off your shoulder or a
backpack off of your shouldersIt makes it a lot easier to
reach for business cards tohand them to someone or to store
business cards that you receive.
And it's easier to keepthose two things separate so
(32:09):
you don't accidentally handsomebody a business card that
isn't your own when you'retrying to give them your own.
So I love a fanny packfor those reasons.
I would also recommend to makethe most of your day three
and honestly, even your day tosee if you can carry a power
bank with you to keep yourphone charged at all times.
You are going to begoing through the
show from nine to 6 p.
(32:32):
m.
and then attending events after.
And if you don't live local,To Toy Fair, then you're not
going to be able to go homeand charge your devices.
So just make sure you eitherbring a power bank or power
cord and you give yourself sometime to charge your devices.
So you can share contactinformation or just get yourself
a ride home when need be.
Okay.
So day four of the show.
(32:54):
So now this is the show floorday four, but really for me,
this was day six of Toy Fair.
Remember cause we startedwith our setup days.
Now this was the last show day.
We normally the finalday of any show.
is a half day.
Normally shows will end at12 PM or 1 PM but this Toy
(33:15):
Fair show ended at 4 PM.
People in the industry alwayscomplain about the last
day of a show being a halfday because it's really not
beneficial for anyone to comein for that last day when
it's only a few hours long.
Not that many buyersare walking the floor.
It feels like a wasted day.
So I can appreciate thatthe Toy Association extended
(33:37):
that final day to 4 p.
m.
so that we're feeling likewe're getting a full day.
Honestly, 4 p.
m.
is almost a full day.
It's perfect, but it was a lot.
Normally, trade shows I'veattended, it's just three
days on the show floor.
And this, we had threefull days plus an almost
full day on the fourth day.
(33:58):
It's a great chance to makethose final sales to buyers.
But we did noticethat around 3 p.
m.
booths did already start packingup, even though they weren't
supposed to but booths didstart packing up some things
so they could get ready to beout by the time the show ended.
I would say the best partof day four of the show was
(34:21):
that it wasn't wasted time.
You didn't come infor a few hours.
You had a full show tomake sales and connections.
So the best part was just thatthe show extended until 4 p.
m.
For me, day four was reallyone of my few opportunities
to walk the show.
Having those few extrahours to get out and see the
(34:41):
booths was really helpful.
So I appreciate that we had fourfull days essentially of a show.
The worst part of day four isdefinitely pack up it pack up is
going to be the toughest part ofany show You were drained you're
tired, you know And you've gotto think ahead as you're packing
these boxes so that you can beprepared for your next show So
(35:04):
you don't want to pack sloppilyyou want to pack well and in
an organized manner Because youmight need to ship out whatever
you're packing to a warehousefor storage for future shows.
So one of the tips for dayfour, and this is really
something you'd have to prepareto do on day one is when you
are unpacking your booth, ifyou can find a way to hold
(35:27):
on to your boxes, open themup, flatten them out, and
hold on to them by storingthem behind your trade show
booth setup, it will actuallymake your pack up process
go faster, and here's why.
So, at trade shows the tradeshow event organizers will
give you stickers to eithertag your empty boxes as garbage
(35:50):
or tag them as somethingthat you need them to store.
Now, if you tag it as somethingthat you need them to store,
they are going to take it andput it in the back, label it
with your booth number and bringit back to you on pack up day.
However, keep in mind,there are what, thousands
of vendors showing theirproduct at this booth.
So they've got a lotof boxes to deliver.
(36:12):
So people sometimes wait till.
6 p.
m.
or 7 p.
m.
to get their boxes backor to get the pallet
that they're going to puttheir boxes delivered.
So if you can keep your boxeswith you throughout the
show and you have a space inyour booth to store them, you
can actually save yourselfsome time because you don't
have to wait for the boxesto return to be able to
(36:35):
pack all of your materials.
Now how to make the most ofthe pack up day I would just
say if you can have a teammember who comes in halfway
through the day To help withyour final pack out do that.
If you can give them themorning off, let them come
in with full energy to helpyou wrap up for the show.
(36:55):
If you're planning to goto a toy trade show and
you would love a guide onhow to prepare for it what
resources you should use tobuild your show materials.
You should definitelyconsider checking out
Toy Creators Academy.
That is a big part of whatwe explain in our program
for our toy entrepreneurswho want to make their
(37:17):
own toy or game products.
Just head over toToyCreatorsAcademy.
com and you can read All thedetails about TCA, you can also
send me a message wherever youfollow the Toy Coach, and I'm
happy to answer your questionsabout Toy Creators Academy.
Let's get into the big question.
When is the next New York ToyFair or Toy Fair New Orleans?
(37:42):
Yes, Toy Fair New Orleans.
Now it hasn't gone unnoticedthat the Toy Association has
been carefully rebrandingNew York Toy Fair to Toy Fair
New York in hashtags, blogposts, and press releases.
This has beenhappening for years.
The industry lovinglycalls it New York Toy Fair.
(38:03):
In conversation, you will hearProfessional toy people say,
see you at New York Toy Fair.
Will you be atNew York Toy Fair?
That's how we talk about it.
But there has been thissubtle shift to rebranding
it as Toy Fair New York inthe past couple of years.
It did perk my own feelersup wondering that maybe they
(38:23):
weren't planning to stick aroundNew York for much longer and
this year, during Toy Fair, weactually received a notification
that the day has arrived.
Just as the toy industry prosstarted getting all cozy in our
feelings about the return to theJavits, even though it was at a
(38:45):
weird time of the year, being inSeptember instead of February.
The Toy Associationdropped major news.
There is going to be ahuge shift in timing.
And location for ToyFair moving forward.
So first thing we've gotto make completely clear is
that according to the latestannouncement, there will
(39:06):
be no Toy Fair happening in2024 or at least they haven't
announced what Toy Fair isgoing to happen in 2024 yet.
Now this was a fun fact thatwas just kind of not mentioned
in the announcement of the nextToy Fair location and dates.
Because there is no ToyFair scheduled for 2024,
there is some good news.
(39:27):
If you're planning to launcha new product and you were
planning to go to Toy Fair NewYork, you actually have more
time now to save up and go bigfor what seems to be the final
Toy Fair happening in NYC.
When is that ToyFair gonna happen?
It's gonna be March 1st to March4th in 2025 and yeah, it's gonna
(39:50):
be cold, but it's not gonna beas bad as February In NYC, but
more importantly, the timelineworks better for retail buyers.
The timeline of the Septembershow was too late for specialty
toy buyers and a littletoo early for mass market.
It almost functionedas a preview show for
(40:11):
mass market buyers.
but in March, we're going backto a Q1 timeline that works
for specialty and mass to beable to place orders at the
show, which is what we want.
But that's not all, followingthe 2025 event in New York
in March, Toy Fair is goingto be making a big move 1300
(40:32):
miles away to New Orleans.
The very first show in NewOrleans will be January
17th to January 20th.
And that's where we'resupposedly going to stay.
Now, a lot of people in thetoy industry don't like it.
They think it doesn't makesense as far as location.
As someone who works with alot of startup toy brands, the
(40:55):
increasing prices of Toy Fair inNew York have been a hindrance
to so many startup companies.
So if we do get anythingfrom this odd move,
let it be lower prices.
Well, there youhave it, Toy People.
That is all I have to share withyou about New York Toy Fair,
how my show went, and what wecan expect for upcoming shows.
(41:17):
It's a lot, and I hope thatI will see you at the next
Toy Fair in New York, and Iguess beyond in New Orleans.
We'll see how that goes.
Now, I've got to give a quickshout out to Todd McClain,
owner of Captain Tall Tale LLC.
(41:38):
So Todd left a greatreview for the podcast.
Thank you, Todd.
Todd's review says this.
A Jelle Show captures theattention from beginning
to end, every episode.
I personally have wanted tojump into the toy business
for over a decade, and Iknew it was time, but I
didn't know where to start.
While looking up about theindustry, Jelle's Instagram
(41:58):
started popping up and caughtmy attention, enough for me to
dive into what she was saying.
I listened to the latestepisode at the time which
Connected With me on everylevel so I listened to
more and more episodes asif it was a Netflix show.
I couldn't get enough of Thankwhatever creator you believe in
for creating podcast on demandThe great thing to note is I
(42:20):
just attended my first toy fairand thanks to listening to the
episodes I had a successfulshow because I knew what to
expect to plan for success.
I even bumped into A'Gel atToy Fair and she is every
bit of charming, talented andknowledgeable of the industry
as she presented on the show.
Looking forward to moreepisodes and foreseeing the
(42:40):
success not only she creates,but of the great success
others achieve because of her.
A'Gel for president.
Adventure on Todd McClain,owner of Captain Tall Tale LLC.
Well, Todd.
Thank you.
I'm blushing.
Thank you so much forthat lovely review.
And it's so perfectfor this episode.
(43:00):
I'm so glad that my episodesabout Toy Fair helped
you prepare for Toy Fair.
And my wish is that this episodeprepares the future listener
for their next Toy Fair NewYork or Toy Fair New Orleans.
If you want to listen tothe other episodes I've done
about New York Toy Fair orjust toy shows in general,
(43:21):
head over to the toy coach.
com slash one 90 and lookfor the mentioned in this
episode section whereyou can find a link to.
A playlist of all of theepisodes related to toy shows.
If you love this podcast,please, please, please leave
a positive review for us.
(43:42):
wherever you listen.
If you listen on Apple, Spotify,Castbox, wherever, please
leave us an amazing review.
I do get notified everytime a new review comes
in and I am happy to readyour review on the show.
Okay, let's dive into youraction item to do for next week.
Your action item for next weekis to head over to thetoycoach.
(44:06):
com forward slash 190.
Give a listen to allof my episodes about
various trade shows.
I'm also going to includea link to download my
toy trade show handbook.
It's a guide for all of theupcoming trade shows and it's a
guide you're probably going toneed if you want to do a show
in 2024 because right now atleast we don't have a New York
(44:28):
Toy Fair planned for that time.
So this Toy Trade Show Handbookis going to give you an overview
of some of the most popularshows in the industry, shows
that will be going on in 2024that you can take part of.
Send me a message on Instagramif you have Any problem finding
those links, or if you havedownloaded that guide and
(44:49):
you loved it, let me know.
I appreciate you.
Okay.
As always, thank you somuch for spending this
time with me today.
I know your time is valuableand that there are a ton
of podcasts out there.
So it truly means the worldto me that you tune into
this one until next week.
I'll see you later.
Toy people.
You are listening to Makingit in the Toy Industry,
episode number 190.
Hey there, toy people!Azhelle Wade here, and welcome
(00:20):
back to another episode ofthe Toy Coach podcast, Making
it in the Toy Industry.
This week's podcast episodeis brought to you by Hasbro.
Thank you so much, Hasbro, forbeing a sponsor of the podcast.
On September 12th, Hasbroheld their very first Women
Innovators of Play event,and, announce their very first
(00:41):
ever Women Innovators of PlayChallenge, an opportunity
for you to submit your toyor game ideas to potentially
win a prize or get licensed.
Submissions have beenopen since September 12th.
We'll close onOctober 12th, 2023.
So if you're listening to thispodcast the day it airs, you
(01:03):
still have a day to submit anapplication for this challenge.
The top three innovators will beannounced in November of 2023.
Visit spark.hasbro.com/womeninnovators to submit
your idea today.
Again, that'sspark.hasbro.com/women
(01:24):
innovators.
Today's episode topic isall about New York Toy Fair.
Ideally I wanted to put outthis episode last week, but
being around so many peopledid get me a little sick, which
I'm sure you can hear, butdon't worry, I'm on the mend.
I'm going to be sharing myexperience at the trade show
this year, and we're going togo through the show day by day.
(01:47):
For every day, I'm going tobe sharing what happened.
What was the best part of thatday, what was the worst part of
that day, and of course, I'llbe sharing tips for you to make
your experience even better ifyou attend the next trade show.
We will also be coveringfuture Toy Fair dates,
dates that sent a ripplethroughout the toy industry
(02:08):
when they were announced.
If you are a listener ofthis podcast and I met you
at Toy Fair, hey again, andthanks so much for meeting
me, coming up and saying hi,I appreciate you to no end.
Now, by the end of today'sepisode, you will have a full
overview of my experience atNew York Toy Fair, where I
(02:28):
went to work with a client,helping manage sales.
And of course, within allthat, I'll be giving you tips
and advice for you to use ifyou happen to attend the next
and last New York Toy Fair.
Yes, you heard that right.
The last New York ToyFair has been scheduled.
We will get into all of thedetails of that toward the end
(02:51):
of this episode, so stick aroundand you will not miss a thing.
So let's dive in and get startedtalking about New York Toy Fair.
Now for me, the very firstday of this fair was set up
day number one, which was onThursday, September 28th, 2023.
My primary reason for attendingToy Fair was to be with clients
(03:14):
to network for new opportunitiesand to attend the TOTY's
in support of my husband.
Now set up day onlyapplied to vendors who were
exhibiting at Toy Fair.
If you were attendingthe show and you weren't
exhibiting, you weren'tcoming in for a set up day.
Vendors were all given differentdays to start setting up.
My client's date forsetup was September 28th.
(03:37):
I did hear there were somepeople that came in Wednesday,
September 27th to set up.
There were of coursepeople that were coming in.
Friday, September29th to set up.
Now, I want to talk a littlebit about decisions that we
made prior to the show that madethe setup day go so smoothly.
So prior to the show, I've beenmeeting with my client and their
(03:59):
team for weeks to finalize thetrade show booth design, make
sure we had everything in order.
And I'd introduced themto a company called
Airborne Visual Displays.
If you need that link again,head over to the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And once we decided to goforward with this display
company, you know, that was adecision that simplified the
(04:22):
entire booth setup processand is going to simplify
and streamline any showsthat they do in the future.
And why is that?
Because the process of settingup your booth is, is cumbersome.
And if you can figure out asetup or display system that is
consistent, easy enough to puttogether like Ikea furniture,
(04:44):
and also more importantly, canbreak down to sizes that work
for as checked luggage on anairplane, or to sizes that can
easily be palletized or sizesthat you can actually like roll
out of the convention center.
You don't just want to pickup any type of furniture or
any type of shelf or anytype of table to display your
(05:05):
product You've really got tobe thinking about how that's
gonna break down pack upship Transport travel so that
you can reuse that displayfor not only this show, but
other shows in the future.
So that was a decision madeearly on that helped ease
the stress of the setup dayBecause we had a high quality
(05:26):
professional display, that wasactually easy to put together.
Now another great decision thatwe made before the show was
choosing to create a catalograther than create sell sheets
for our individual products.
If you have one product, itis more likely that you are
going to think about having asell sheet be that takeaway.
(05:46):
And a sell sheet is just a onepage printout that will have.
Image of your product inpackaging and without packaging
sometimes with pricinginformation, wholesale and
retail, size information,case packs, all that.
When you have twoproducts, you're like,
okay, sell sheets, fine.
When you have three products,you're like, all right, I
can still use sell sheets.
(06:07):
If whether it's one sell sheetwith two products on it, or
it's two sell sheets withthree products, I can still
get away with a sell sheet.
When you start to get to fiveproducts or more, that's when
it starts to become hairy.
Like do we need a sell sheetor do we need a catalog?
There's not enough real estateon a sell sheet to really sell
(06:30):
and explain what a product is.
If you have to fit five productson that sell sheet or even three
products on that sell sheet.
So that's when you might startthinking about doing a catalog.
So I'm digressing toteach a little bit.
But with this client, we,we did eventually decide to
go the catalog route becausehaving so many individual sale
(06:52):
sell sheets will really justbecome cumbersome in the booth.
So for you really think throughyour selling process when
you're going to be at thisbooth to decide whether that
sell sheet or that Catalogis going to be ideal for you.
Now another thing I'd highlyrecommend you having on hand
when you're setting up is tohave a clipboard to store your
(07:16):
order forms, business cards,and your written orders.
So I'm going to share alink to one of my favorite
clipboards for tradeshows at the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And again, this will bean Amazon affiliate link.
So you're supportingthe show if you buy it.
So thank you.
And get this clipboardfor your next trade show.
It is amazing.
It holds pens andall your papers.
(07:38):
You will look professional.
It is perfect.
So let's talk about whathappened through the day on
the 28th the setup day gotup early Finished packing
all of my extra things.
I needed to bring to the boothI had a few extra samples on
hand that we didn't have timeto ship from the warehouse I
had to bring in my clipboard Ihad to print some last minute
(07:59):
order forms had all my catalogcopies all the things that I was
responsible for Bringing to thisbooth, of course, I packed a
few business cards of my own andthen made my way to the Javit
Center just before 9 (08:10):
00 AM.
Now upon pulling intothe toy Fair, I was hit
with major nostalgia.
The iconic Pikachu that youmight see in many photos of Toy
Fair who's hanging from theglass ceiling of the Javits just
triggered so many memories oftoy fairs of years before when
you arrive to any toy show.
(08:32):
During setup day, don'texpect to see like big
welcome booths or publicfacing badge pickup stations
or any of that to be active.
On the setup day at the Javits,there was a single check in
kiosk on the lower level of theconvention center where all the
vendors would go, show theirconfirmation email and their ID
(08:54):
in exchange for a yellow stickerthat said Toy Fair Setup.
That sticker would help yougain access to the show floor.
Guards would not let youin without the sticker
and that sticker wouldruin your clothing.
Now, once we were leavingsetup day, you could go and
pick up your badge as you'releaving that setup day.
There was a kind of a makeshiftbadge pickup on the show
(09:17):
floor and you could show youryellow sticker and again,
your email confirmation toget your official badge.
I highly recommend doing thatbecause the lines for collecting
your badge can get long.
So if you're a vendorand you get to come in
early in a setup day.
do yourself and do the eventorganizers a favor and just
pick your badge up while you'rethere to relieve congestion
(09:41):
of all the people also goingto be picked, who are also
going to be picking up theirbadges on the actual show day.
Now, the best part of cominginto setup day is that you get
to see the behind the scenes ofbooths that might be walled off
when the show officially opens.
And you get to see the setupprocess and behind the scenes.
(10:01):
of your favorite brandsbooths being built.
So what you'll learn and seepretty quickly is that
it's not usually the peopleworking for these individual
brands setting up the booth.
They often hire people to comein and help set up the booth.
There's also union workers thatwork for the convention center
that have to do key things inthe booth for booth set up.
(10:24):
So you will just notice that,Oh, you know, once I get big
enough with my toy company,if you're just starting out,
you know, it won't just beme here setting up the booth.
No, like not every companysets up their booth with
their founder, you know,sitting on the floor you
know, opening up boxes.
That's just when we startout, that's how we begin.
Now, the other greatpart of set up day is.
(10:45):
It has got to be thenervous excitement buzzing
within your own team.
When I look back at this mostrecent show or even the show
I did at Javits three yearsprior with my former employer,
I always remember the day onesetup day being this buzz of
nervous energy, excitement, alsopassion, everyone on the team
(11:09):
has 100 percent full battery.
Everyone's excited to buildthose walls, cut those foam core
signs, do emergency last minuteruns to Ikea, you name it.
You can't get a better energyor vibe from that day one buzz.
Yes, it can be stressful,but usually everyone's
in good spirits becausenothing's gone wrong yet.
(11:30):
Now the worst part ofset up day has got to be
avoiding all the forklifts.
So big tip I give youwear sneakers when you're
coming in on set up day.
Where jeans to protectyour legs a little bit.
It just feels like you're in aconstruction zone when you're in
set up day and we wouldn't wearleggings to a construction zone.
(11:53):
So wear jeans.
I would fully cover your legs.
You want to be agile, nimble,and protected as you make your
way around the Javits Center.
There are forkliftseverywhere, people going
back and forth carrying bigboxes, wooden planks on the
floor, bowls of plastics,mountains of boxes everywhere.
Do not be walking on thatshow floor on your phone.
(12:13):
Pay attention.
The ground is not clearand designed for you to
get, make your way through.
Just be aware of that whenyou're going in on a setup day.
So let's get into how to makethe most of your setup day
or set up day one I highlyrecommend that before the show
you do a test setup run and youtime it For New York Toy Fair.
(12:35):
I didn't do this for my clientsbooth because I wasn't the
one responsible for the setupof their booth However, the
last trade show that I didthat I set up was Astra and
I did a full full test setuprun of my booth and I highly,
highly, highly recommend it.
So that way on setup day,you already have a well timed
(12:57):
plan for how long it willtake you to do everything from
installing flooring, puttingup your backdrop, your signage
and laying out your product.
That way you can look atyour clock and say, okay,
we're behind schedule.
We're ahead of schedule.
You need to know where you'reat because you usually only
have a limited amount of timeon that show floor, regardless
(13:17):
what day of setup it is.
And you don't want to be stuckin a situation where you cannot
finish and they're kicking youout of the convention center.
We don't want any surprisesthat we can control
and avoid on setup day.
The setup day is the one dayin Toy Fair where you can
actually finish things early.
(13:38):
If you plan them well, you canactually go home or to your
hotel and get yourself somerest because the after hour
events haven't started yet.
And you can make finalcalls or emails to prepare
for the days ahead.
So the way to make the mostof setup day is again, to have
that timed schedule for setup.
(14:00):
And follow it to a tee, makeevery effort to attend that
day early, make sure afteryou're all done setting up,
if you have a team that yougrab a meal with them, you
thank them for their work.
And then you can go intothe actual toy fair, feeling
refreshed and energized.
So let's move onto setup day two.
(14:21):
September 29th was our day two.
We actually had theopportunity to use this as
a last minute errand day anda final touches booth day.
So one example, I ran to Walmartto grab some beanbag chairs and
some extra tech we needed torun some videos on the TVs of
the booth while the rest of theteam members were finalizing the
(14:44):
actual booth display and productplacement and all of that.
Now, not only that, butSeptember 29th was also the
day of the premiere event thatkicked off Toy Fair, the TOTYs.
So the best part of setup day two for me had
to have been the TOTYs.
The TOTY's, if you don't know,it's like the Oscars of the
toy industry and stands forthe toy of the year awards.
(15:07):
This event is a.
It's a formal dinner thatkicks off every Toy Fair in
New York, and it's the firstbig networking opportunity
at Toy Fair, and it's agreat time to reconnect
with people you alreadyknow and to meet new people.
Now, this awards dinnercelebrates the great
minds in the industry, andthrough the announcements of
(15:28):
nominations and awards, youmay likely learn about people
and even products that youdidn't know about before.
The 2023 TOTY Awards included17 product categories
plus new people focusedcategories, and they had
a total of 21 categories.
There were also Six inducteesinto the Toy Association's
(15:50):
Hall of Fame, two of whomgave speeches during the event.
One group of the inducteeswas the three founders of Spin
Master, Ronan, Anton, and Ben,and another inductee that gave
a speech there was Mary Cousin,the founder and president of
ChiTag and People of Play.
(16:11):
Now, the worst part ofset up day two also had
to do with the toadies.
It was a part of thetoadies where they played
people off the stage.
It was a little uncomfortable.
while our hall of famershad a great opportunity,
ample time to give theircreative speeches and were
(16:34):
not played off and had theirmoment and we all loved it.
There were key award winners inother categories that clearly
took the time to preparea speech in case they won.
And then when they won,they were just played
off the stage 15 secondsinto giving their speech.
It was bad.
(16:55):
Everyone was talking about it.
Now the first time thatthe audience, that we
heard the playoff music,it was a little funny.
The person that was givingthe speech at the time had
been speaking for abouttwo minutes, so it was a
little bit of a long speech.
And then in syncs,bye, bye, bye.
Started playing and a fewpeople chuckled and it was,
(17:16):
you know, it's relevant forthe time because N'Sync's
making a comeback and it waslike, Oh, that's so funny.
But as the night went on andas winners who were seated
further back in the eventspace struggled to make their
way to the front of the eventspace to get on stage, the
speaking times for thesewinners just kept getting
(17:39):
cut shorter and shorterto, as I mentioned a minute
ago, as little as 15 secondsbefore the playoff music.
Now, there were some peoplewho attempted, and rightly
so, to yell over the musicand just give thanks to those
that helped them because thiswas a monumental achievement,
(18:02):
but the music was too loudto clearly hear the names
of the people that they justwanted to thank regardless
of getting played off.
It was clear that the eventorganizers didn't factor in
enough time for the additionalawards and for the additional
acceptance speeches since theyadded so many categories, and
(18:22):
it was a really bad oversight.
All in all, the event had.
This cool red carpet to walkwhen you entered with a fun
chance to be interviewed bya Toy Association reporter.
There was a photo op with astep and repeat wall, great
food, great conversation,and a bustling, yet
crowded, cocktail hour.
(18:43):
So there were good, butthere was also bad, and
that playoff moment on stagereally dampened the mood of
getting this incredible award.
So let's talk about how to makethe most of set up day two, if
you can attend the toadies,it is an expensive ticket,
but you should get there earlybecause there are opportunities
(19:06):
to network and you shouldmake the most out of them.
Set yourself a goal totalk to a certain number of
people and figure out whatthey do, what you do, how
you might work together andexchange contact information.
So let's move on to show dayone, which was actually my
day three of the trade show.
But this was officially dayone of Toy Fair where all the
(19:27):
booths were set up and the floorwas open and Buyers and media
and service providers startedjust walking the floor to
visit booths This toy fair, theshow days were long and there
were actually four show days.
Now typically tradeshow days end at 4 p.
m.
or 5 p.
m.
on full days, but thistoy fair went on to 6 p.
(19:51):
m.
Now some manufacturers of courseare excited about this because
it gives them more time to selland it also gives buyers more
time to get to their booths.
However, it does make for alonger and more exhausting
day for those who are manningtheir own booths or manning
their booths with a small teamand it makes for a longer day
(20:11):
for buyers who have to do thattrekking up and down all of
these booths to see productsand hopefully place orders.
At the end of the show dayone, there were a number
of non official events.
There were dinner meetupshappening offsite bar
meetups happening offsite.
So during Toy Fair for methis year, Saturday was a
(20:33):
planned meetup for the alumniof Toy Creators Academy
and a few podcast fansjoined in the fun as well.
There is a great photo ofthis meetup that you can
check out at thetoycoach.
com forward slash 190.
Now, the best part of day one ofthe show being open has got to
be the character parade that ToyFair puts on to open the show.
(20:57):
If you were lucky enoughto be able to get away
from your booth when thisparade is happening, it is a
great photo op opportunity.
Now, this Toy Fair,unfortunately, I couldn't
make it to the parade, butmy friends did send me photos
of them at the parade Ahem.
The worst part of the veryfirst day of Toy Fair is just
the waiting to get buyersand media to your booth.
(21:21):
At the very beginning ofa show, especially if you
have a booth location that'sfurther back, maybe in a
corner, it'll take some timefor buyers to make their way
there to that part of the showand get to see your booth.
So, try not to get tooanxious or judge a show too
quickly based on the trafficyou just see in the first 60
minutes of the door's opening.
(21:43):
Judge the show based on thenumber of people that you
actually see walking by yourbooth and the percentages
of which of those people arebuyers, the people that we
want to get into your boothto buy your product, service
providers, people who are goingto sell you on their goods
and services, distributorswho will offer to resell your
products, sometimes to storesthey might not disclose or
(22:04):
suppliers who might wantto start doing business with
you and helping you developyour toy or game products.
Now let's get into how tomake the most of your day
one at Toy Fair to makethe most of your day one.
Ideally, you want to have a preplanned schedule of meetings
where buyers are planning tocome to your booth and walk
through your product line.
(22:24):
Now this meeting planningwork is work you'll have to
do before you attend a tradeshow, but one of my good friends
in the industry reminded meas I was booking meetings for
this last trade show to blockoff time for lunch, which is
definitely something I do inmy normal everyday calendar.
But Toy Fair is like a wholeother beast and I often will
(22:46):
book things through lunchbecause it's more important
that you get the meetingthan it is to take a break.
But don't do that.
Make sure that before youstart booking your buyer
meetings, that you doblock off time for lunch.
You are going to need thattime to recharge, to eat,
obviously, and to reset.
Before you attend theshow, if you want to make
the most of your very firstday, make sure that you have
(23:08):
practiced your sales pitchand different varieties of it.
Establish your style andget confident about it.
You might be the type ofsales person that introduces
the product, highlights youraccolades, and just sits
back and waits for the buyerto make that first move to
request to place an order.
Or you might be the typeof salesperson that does a
little bit more of the hardsell, the type that lays
(23:31):
out those benefits, thequalities, the moment they
sense interest, say, Hey, howabout we start you off with a
case pack of our bestsellers?
And then you might whip out thatorder form, whether it's digital
or on paper and take that order.
Whatever buyers come intoyour booth, you want to
make an effort to get anorder on the show floor.
(23:52):
That is the entirepurpose of the trade
show in the first place.
And if you don't get an orderon the show floor, you do run
the risk that the buyer will.
Commit those dollars toanother brand's products as
they're walking the show.
So do your best to lock inan order as soon as possible.
And sometimes it can helpif you build out a suggested
order for a new buyer andjust propose it to them.
(24:15):
Say, Hey, I would suggestthat you start with this case
pack of our best sellers XYZ.
Our minimum order is this.
If you add in this, itwill take your order to
this and that in that caseyou can get free freight.
Just as an example.
Now if you don't know what acase pack is or if any of those
terms Sounded kind of new to youif you don't know how to write
(24:37):
or take an order at Toy Fair Butyou're interested to learn more.
Then you should checkout Toy Creators Academy.
It is a one year onlinetoy program designed to
help you develop, pitch,sell and market your ideas.
It includes a community andmonthly Q and A's, but more
importantly, there are 12years of toy industry insights,
(24:58):
information and contactscondensed into a nine module
course that you can get fullaccess to today if you sign up.
Just head over to toycreators, academy.
com to learn more.
Okay, let's move on to day two.
What happened to day two?
Day two was a Sunday, October1st, and that was the first
(25:21):
time that I stumbled acrossthe freshman class display,
which was at the front leftof the convention center.
Photos of this display aregoing to be at the toy coach.
com forward slash one 90.
And in my opinion, thiswas a brilliant addition
to toy fair this year.
The freshman class display wasessentially a mini trade show.
(25:43):
It almost looked like amuseum exhibition featuring
products from some newexhibitors at the show.
And it highlighted theirbooth numbers, so if you
like the product, youcould go visit their booth.
This was a really great designconcept and a great opportunity
for buyers to get a quick bird'seye view of what's new at Toy
(26:03):
Fair, which is what most buyersare looking for anyway, and
quickly mark down the boothnumbers of those new items
that they were interested in sothey could pass by the booth.
this mini display concept wasn'tjust done for this freshman
class, as they called it.
There were several other minidisplays set up throughout the
other entrances of the Javits.
(26:25):
I saw one focusing on petproducts and another focusing
on Halloween products.
These mini displaycases were like having
a show within a show.
What's great about these minidisplay cases and these mini
exhibitions is the real estate.
I mean, it's the first thing yousee when you walk into the show.
So it really just helps puttingall the product on the same
(26:45):
level of professionalism witha consistent glass case and a
sign that says visit this booth.
Having these were a greatopportunity and I do hope
that some form of thiscontinues into future years.
Now, at the end of day two,day two ended again at 6 p.
m.
on Sunday, October 1st.
And at 6 p.
(27:06):
m., Women in Toys held theirWonder Woman Awards Gala, a gala
that celebrates the best of thebest women in the toy industry.
There were three honoreeswho were celebrated for their
achievements in the industry.
And then 13 Awards thatwere given that evening.
It was a beautiful and movingcelebration of hard work and
(27:28):
impact that women have hadon the toy and game industry.
No speeches were prematurelycut and the event.
actually ended early, whicheveryone who had to get up
early and work a booth the nextday was super excited about.
Now, the best part of the daytwo of the trade show, aside
(27:50):
from the Wonder Woman Awards,of course had to be the...
Circus put on byfun in motion toys.
So fun in motion was holdinga circus several days during
the show the one I saw Ibelieve it started at 4 p.
m.
And this circus was completewith silk performers the
cotton candy machine and ofcourse juggling artful juggling
(28:11):
advanced juggling not yourregular juggling and promoting
and using a lot of Fun in Motionproducts to create the circus.
It was such a brilliantmarketing concept to have the
circus in the, toward the endof the day when everyone's kind
of tired, especially becausefun in motion was located quite
centrally on the show floor.
(28:32):
So it pulled people deeperinto the show at 4 p.
m., which is a time wherepeople are normally kind
of escaping the show floorand ending their day.
So that was a brilliantmarketing concept and
also a really coolcircus, but I had to.
Rush off because of theworst part of this day.
So the worst part of the day,too, was really just trying
(28:53):
to get to the Wonder WomanAwards right after finishing
a full day at a booth.
I said Toy Fairextended hours to 6 p.
m., which made it impossible,if you were going to work
the entire day, to make it tothe Wonder Woman Awards gala,
which also starts at 6 p.
m.
The cocktail hour is whatkicks off at this time.
(29:16):
And it's the most important partof this event for networking.
So most people that wereattending the gala ended
their trade show booth dayearly, so the extended days
and times of the trade show,I know is beneficial for many
manufacturers in certain ways,but there was a clash here where
there were many events startingat the very same time that the
(29:37):
trade show was supposed to end.
Now, how to make the mostof your show day two.
I have to say, I think youshould attend the Wonder Woman
Awards Gala and you shouldget there early so you don't
miss any of the cocktailhour, which as I said, is
your best time to network.
Try not to spend too long in aconversation with one person.
(30:00):
Don't be afraid to end aconversation because you need
to continue to say hello toeveryone and work the room.
It is what you were there to do.
And anyone who's a professionalin the industry will fully
understand that you wantto talk to people, talk
about what you do, whatthey do, share your business
card and make connections.
That is the entire purposeof the show and any of
(30:22):
the events that you areattending after the show.
Let's move on to show daythree, October 2nd, 2023.
Show day three was anotherfull day beginning at 9 a.
m.
Ending at 6 p.
m.
During this day.
I did notice a large numberof unique specialty and
online retailers Makingtheir way downstairs.
(30:44):
At the end of day three, therewere several private events
that people would attend.
Two of which were Mary CousinShytag Inventor Meetup and the
FIT Toy Design Reunion Meetup.
Now, the best part of this day,in my opinion, was there were
no more events post show toget dressed up for and rush to.
(31:06):
You could really focus onselling for the entire day and
then you could focus on makingconnections the entire evening.
The worst part of this dayis just that you're drained
at the end of the day.
You've been doing thisfor several days now.
And how can you make themost of show day three?
Make sure you haveenough business cards.
(31:26):
When you meet people, find outwhat they do, share what you
do and figure out if there'ssomething that either of you can
do to help the other and proposeworking together, exchange
those business cards and makea plan to reach out post show.
Now, one of my favoritethings to do is to have
a Stylish fanny pack.
If you saw me at the show, Ihad a heart shaped fanny pack
(31:48):
And the the purpose for havinga bag like this is it makes it
super easy for you to reach foranything you need during The
show without having to take apurse off your shoulder or a
backpack off of your shouldersIt makes it a lot easier to
reach for business cards tohand them to someone or to store
business cards that you receive.
And it's easier to keepthose two things separate so
(32:09):
you don't accidentally handsomebody a business card that
isn't your own when you'retrying to give them your own.
So I love a fanny packfor those reasons.
I would also recommend to makethe most of your day three
and honestly, even your day tosee if you can carry a power
bank with you to keep yourphone charged at all times.
You are going to begoing through the
show from nine to 6 p.
(32:32):
m.
and then attending events after.
And if you don't live local,To Toy Fair, then you're not
going to be able to go homeand charge your devices.
So just make sure you eitherbring a power bank or power
cord and you give yourself sometime to charge your devices.
So you can share contactinformation or just get yourself
a ride home when need be.
Okay.
So day four of the show.
(32:54):
So now this is the show floorday four, but really for me,
this was day six of Toy Fair.
Remember cause we startedwith our setup days.
Now this was the last show day.
We normally the finalday of any show.
is a half day.
Normally shows will end at12 PM or 1 PM but this Toy
(33:15):
Fair show ended at 4 PM.
People in the industry alwayscomplain about the last
day of a show being a halfday because it's really not
beneficial for anyone to comein for that last day when
it's only a few hours long.
Not that many buyersare walking the floor.
It feels like a wasted day.
So I can appreciate thatthe Toy Association extended
(33:37):
that final day to 4 p.
m.
so that we're feeling likewe're getting a full day.
Honestly, 4 p.
m.
is almost a full day.
It's perfect, but it was a lot.
Normally, trade shows I'veattended, it's just three
days on the show floor.
And this, we had threefull days plus an almost
full day on the fourth day.
(33:58):
It's a great chance to makethose final sales to buyers.
But we did noticethat around 3 p.
m.
booths did already start packingup, even though they weren't
supposed to but booths didstart packing up some things
so they could get ready to beout by the time the show ended.
I would say the best partof day four of the show was
(34:21):
that it wasn't wasted time.
You didn't come infor a few hours.
You had a full show tomake sales and connections.
So the best part was just thatthe show extended until 4 p.
m.
For me, day four was reallyone of my few opportunities
to walk the show.
Having those few extrahours to get out and see the
(34:41):
booths was really helpful.
So I appreciate that we had fourfull days essentially of a show.
The worst part of day four isdefinitely pack up it pack up is
going to be the toughest part ofany show You were drained you're
tired, you know And you've gotto think ahead as you're packing
these boxes so that you can beprepared for your next show So
(35:04):
you don't want to pack sloppilyyou want to pack well and in
an organized manner Because youmight need to ship out whatever
you're packing to a warehousefor storage for future shows.
So one of the tips for dayfour, and this is really
something you'd have to prepareto do on day one is when you
are unpacking your booth, ifyou can find a way to hold
(35:27):
on to your boxes, open themup, flatten them out, and
hold on to them by storingthem behind your trade show
booth setup, it will actuallymake your pack up process
go faster, and here's why.
So, at trade shows the tradeshow event organizers will
give you stickers to eithertag your empty boxes as garbage
(35:50):
or tag them as somethingthat you need them to store.
Now, if you tag it as somethingthat you need them to store,
they are going to take it andput it in the back, label it
with your booth number and bringit back to you on pack up day.
However, keep in mind,there are what, thousands
of vendors showing theirproduct at this booth.
So they've got a lotof boxes to deliver.
(36:12):
So people sometimes wait till.
6 p.
m.
or 7 p.
m.
to get their boxes backor to get the pallet
that they're going to puttheir boxes delivered.
So if you can keep your boxeswith you throughout the
show and you have a space inyour booth to store them, you
can actually save yourselfsome time because you don't
have to wait for the boxesto return to be able to
(36:35):
pack all of your materials.
Now how to make the most ofthe pack up day I would just
say if you can have a teammember who comes in halfway
through the day To help withyour final pack out do that.
If you can give them themorning off, let them come
in with full energy to helpyou wrap up for the show.
(36:55):
If you're planning to goto a toy trade show and
you would love a guide onhow to prepare for it what
resources you should use tobuild your show materials.
You should definitelyconsider checking out
Toy Creators Academy.
That is a big part of whatwe explain in our program
for our toy entrepreneurswho want to make their
(37:17):
own toy or game products.
Just head over toToyCreatorsAcademy.
com and you can read All thedetails about TCA, you can also
send me a message wherever youfollow the Toy Coach, and I'm
happy to answer your questionsabout Toy Creators Academy.
Let's get into the big question.
When is the next New York ToyFair or Toy Fair New Orleans?
(37:42):
Yes, Toy Fair New Orleans.
Now it hasn't gone unnoticedthat the Toy Association has
been carefully rebrandingNew York Toy Fair to Toy Fair
New York in hashtags, blogposts, and press releases.
This has beenhappening for years.
The industry lovinglycalls it New York Toy Fair.
(38:03):
In conversation, you will hearProfessional toy people say,
see you at New York Toy Fair.
Will you be atNew York Toy Fair?
That's how we talk about it.
But there has been thissubtle shift to rebranding
it as Toy Fair New York inthe past couple of years.
It did perk my own feelersup wondering that maybe they
(38:23):
weren't planning to stick aroundNew York for much longer and
this year, during Toy Fair, weactually received a notification
that the day has arrived.
Just as the toy industry prosstarted getting all cozy in our
feelings about the return to theJavits, even though it was at a
(38:45):
weird time of the year, being inSeptember instead of February.
The Toy Associationdropped major news.
There is going to be ahuge shift in timing.
And location for ToyFair moving forward.
So first thing we've gotto make completely clear is
that according to the latestannouncement, there will
(39:06):
be no Toy Fair happening in2024 or at least they haven't
announced what Toy Fair isgoing to happen in 2024 yet.
Now this was a fun fact thatwas just kind of not mentioned
in the announcement of the nextToy Fair location and dates.
Because there is no ToyFair scheduled for 2024,
there is some good news.
(39:27):
If you're planning to launcha new product and you were
planning to go to Toy Fair NewYork, you actually have more
time now to save up and go bigfor what seems to be the final
Toy Fair happening in NYC.
When is that ToyFair gonna happen?
It's gonna be March 1st to March4th in 2025 and yeah, it's gonna
(39:50):
be cold, but it's not gonna beas bad as February In NYC, but
more importantly, the timelineworks better for retail buyers.
The timeline of the Septembershow was too late for specialty
toy buyers and a littletoo early for mass market.
It almost functionedas a preview show for
(40:11):
mass market buyers.
but in March, we're going backto a Q1 timeline that works
for specialty and mass to beable to place orders at the
show, which is what we want.
But that's not all, followingthe 2025 event in New York
in March, Toy Fair is goingto be making a big move 1300
(40:32):
miles away to New Orleans.
The very first show in NewOrleans will be January
17th to January 20th.
And that's where we'resupposedly going to stay.
Now, a lot of people in thetoy industry don't like it.
They think it doesn't makesense as far as location.
As someone who works with alot of startup toy brands, the
(40:55):
increasing prices of Toy Fair inNew York have been a hindrance
to so many startup companies.
So if we do get anythingfrom this odd move,
let it be lower prices.
Well, there youhave it, Toy People.
That is all I have to share withyou about New York Toy Fair,
how my show went, and what wecan expect for upcoming shows.
(41:17):
It's a lot, and I hope thatI will see you at the next
Toy Fair in New York, and Iguess beyond in New Orleans.
We'll see how that goes.
Now, I've got to give a quickshout out to Todd McClain,
owner of Captain Tall Tale LLC.
(41:38):
So Todd left a greatreview for the podcast.
Thank you, Todd.
Todd's review says this.
A Jelle Show captures theattention from beginning
to end, every episode.
I personally have wanted tojump into the toy business
for over a decade, and Iknew it was time, but I
didn't know where to start.
While looking up about theindustry, Jelle's Instagram
(41:58):
started popping up and caughtmy attention, enough for me to
dive into what she was saying.
I listened to the latestepisode at the time which
Connected With me on everylevel so I listened to
more and more episodes asif it was a Netflix show.
I couldn't get enough of Thankwhatever creator you believe in
for creating podcast on demandThe great thing to note is I
(42:20):
just attended my first toy fairand thanks to listening to the
episodes I had a successfulshow because I knew what to
expect to plan for success.
I even bumped into A'Gel atToy Fair and she is every
bit of charming, talented andknowledgeable of the industry
as she presented on the show.
Looking forward to moreepisodes and foreseeing the
(42:40):
success not only she creates,but of the great success
others achieve because of her.
A'Gel for president.
Adventure on Todd McClain,owner of Captain Tall Tale LLC.
Well, Todd.
Thank you.
I'm blushing.
Thank you so much forthat lovely review.
And it's so perfectfor this episode.
(43:00):
I'm so glad that my episodesabout Toy Fair helped
you prepare for Toy Fair.
And my wish is that this episodeprepares the future listener
for their next Toy Fair NewYork or Toy Fair New Orleans.
If you want to listen tothe other episodes I've done
about New York Toy Fair orjust toy shows in general,
(43:21):
head over to the toy coach.
com slash one 90 and lookfor the mentioned in this
episode section whereyou can find a link to.
A playlist of all of theepisodes related to toy shows.
If you love this podcast,please, please, please leave
a positive review for us.
(43:42):
wherever you listen.
If you listen on Apple, Spotify,Castbox, wherever, please
leave us an amazing review.
I do get notified everytime a new review comes
in and I am happy to readyour review on the show.
Okay, let's dive into youraction item to do for next week.
Your action item for next weekis to head over to thetoycoach.
(44:06):
com forward slash 190.
Give a listen to allof my episodes about
various trade shows.
I'm also going to includea link to download my
toy trade show handbook.
It's a guide for all of theupcoming trade shows and it's a
guide you're probably going toneed if you want to do a show
in 2024 because right now atleast we don't have a New York
(44:28):
Toy Fair planned for that time.
So this Toy Trade Show Handbookis going to give you an overview
of some of the most popularshows in the industry, shows
that will be going on in 2024that you can take part of.
Send me a message on Instagramif you have Any problem finding
those links, or if you havedownloaded that guide and
(44:49):
you loved it, let me know.
I appreciate you.
Okay.
As always, thank you somuch for spending this
time with me today.
I know your time is valuableand that there are a ton
of podcasts out there.
So it truly means the worldto me that you tune into
this one until next week.
I'll see you later.
Toy people.
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