A Year in Review from TIA President Steve Pasierb

StevePasierbHeadshotHello and Happy almost New Year from TIA!

2015 was an upbeat year for the toy industry. Toy sales will be up both in the U.S. and in several countries around the world, making this our industry’s most successful year in a decade. It was also an exciting time for the Toy Industry Association. We championed the benefits of toys and play through our new Genius of Play consumer campaign, advocated tirelessly for our industry’s best interests, pushed back hard against NGOs during “toy hunting” season, and unveiled new market research and resources – to name just a few of the initiatives designed to deliver on TIA’s promise to our 818 members.  I’ve been on an airplane almost every week of the past eight months, traveling both domestically and abroad, which has also given me the opportunity to meet about 100 of our diverse member companies. I’m ready for a Holiday break!

Before 2015 comes to an end, I’d like to share a few highlights from the past year and a brief look forward:

Promoting Play
Our Genius of Play initiative, which rolled out in June, has been hugely successful in promoting the positive impact of toys and play on healthy childhood development. The content-rich, family-friendly website and social media campaign have helped to open up a dialogue with parents and caregivers about the essential benefits of toys and play. The Genius of Play has also encouraged parents across the nation to pledge a collective five million hours of play with the children in their lives!  We’ve blown away every goal and performace metric on this campaign in year one! We’ll continue to move forward and evolve the initiative in the New Year as we spread the message of the importance of play to millions of families across the nation.  Did you know that communicating the value of play to American families was one of the central efforts of the Association when it was originally formed in 1916?

Advocating for Your Interests
Throughout the year, we worked with our members to amplify the industry’s voice both domestically and abroad concerning challenging policies and regulations facing the toy industry.  Our top legislative priorities included modernizing the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), which has now passed both the U.S. House and Senate thanks to so many from the toy community who joined our efforts in collaboration with the American Alliance for Innovation. In addition, we focused on reducing third-party testing burdens; easing congestion and delays at U.S. ports; and aligning international toy safety standards to increase safety and facilitate your global trade. The annual DC Fly-In in June paid off against all those aforementioned priorities – thanks to all who attended!  We also lobbied to help prevent or delay enforcement of unnecessary and illegal “toxic toy” laws banning the sale of perfectly safe, tested toys in several New York counties. Addressing legislative issues on behalf of the toy industry and advocating tirelessly for your interests will continue to be a cornerstone of TIA’s activities in 2016.  Unfortunately, there will be many more hurdles we must cross on your behalf.

Town Hall Meetings
To open up a direct conversation with our members, we launched a series of town hall meetings that featured informal presentations from myself and Association senior staff on TIA’s current initiatives and advocacy efforts, member benefits and resources, and our vision for your Association’s future.  Plus, there was just a lot of fantastic conversation between staff and attendees – and also between members who have never met even though they live and work in close proximity.  Events were held in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, and beyond, providing a fresh opportunity for companies to connect, share their needs, and learn more about how we serve our members. These regional member networking events have proven invaluable will continue throughout 2016 – stay tuned!

Business-Building Resources
Increasing our efforts to help member companies grow their businesses beyond U.S. borders, we’ve been compiling a repository of commissioned TIA research on relevant trade and economic data for high-interest toy markets overseas. Earlier this year, we released research findings that analyzed business obstacles and opportunities in the Australian and Mexican toy markets.  At Toy Fair 2016, we’ll be unveiling similar research data for Canada and the U.K. These informative reports are just one component of the educational resources that we now offer freely to our members. We also led a very successfulmember delegation to India to learn about doing business in that growing nation.  Finally, Toy Fair was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Buyer Program (IBP) Select status. The IBP recruits pre-screened foreign buyer delegations and brings them to selected trade shows in the United States, connecting U.S. companies with international buyers.

TIA’s 100th Birthday!
TIA’s centenary celebrations kicked off in September with a ribbon cutting and formal gala in honor of the spectacular newToy Halls of Fame exhibit at The Strong museum in Rochester, NY. This state-of-the-art exhibit showcases our beloved Toy Industry Hall of Fame alongside the National Toy Hall of Fame, paying homage to both the people and the playthings that have helped to shape the toy industry of today and our nation’s history of toys and play. Centenary celebrations will continue at Toy Fair and beyond in recognition of this milestone.

The New Year Ahead
As we approach 2016, we have a lot to look forward to that goes well beyond delivering you another successful Toy Fair in February.  We’ll pilot a new consumer show, known as Play Fair, at Javits Center North in February — a celebration of play and entertainment for all ages. It’s an immersive, experience-rich event for children, parents, families, and teenage and adult collectors. Over the winter, we’ll be working with many of you to set the forward vision for TIA, including the development of a new three-year strategic plan with quantifiable measures of progress.  In May, we’ll welcome a number of new members to the TIA Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting, held at PlayCon in Miami (a stellar industry conference you really should attend!).  And we have learned how very important Fall Toy Preview is for a large cross-section of our members, so we’ll plan to see you in Dallas September 27-29.

We will certainly remain active on your behalf in statehouses, halls of legislation and regulatory agencies across the nation and in Washington, DC.  Our advocacy work in international markets will further increase, including focus on Southeast Asia. Ethical manufacturing remains a top priority for TIA as we have increased our direct work and collaboration with the strong new leadership of ICTI CARE.  TIA will also continue to serve as the secretariat for the International Council of Toy Industries and support the International Toy Industry CEO Roundtable.  Like so many of our members, we can no longer think of ourselves as a U.S.-only organization. We need to perform on a global scale.

Finally, we’ll further amp-up our storytelling power.  We’ll be increasing the depth and impact of The Genius of Play as we communicate the vital role that play has in young lives, while also educating the public about the simple joy and delight your products bring to millions of children. As our industry is challenged by NGOs, we’ll keep pushing back with facts, hard data, and pride in your absolute commitment to safety.

We never forget that our daily work is to serve your needs. And we’ll go beyond the simple idea of “value” to emphasizing how we can better deliver true membership excellence – at all levels of membership.

I hope to connect with many of you in Hong Kong, BTHA London and Spielwarenmesse Nuremberg in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, from all of us at TIA, we send our very best wishes to you and your families for a happy, healthy and successful New Year!

All good wishes,
Steve

About the author

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik was the Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book from 2020-2022. She was also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.

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