ASTRA Puts the Importance of Play on Stage at 10th Annual Play for Life Conference

Play experts Ahren Hoffman, CTRS, CPE, and Jean Bailey, CPE will be featured presenters at the 10th annual Play for Life Conference. The event is part of the US Play Coalition’s program, of which the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) is a partner.

Hoffman and Bailey will lead two seminars — Play Risks: Exploring Research and Interventions and Incorporating Play into Your Workplace.

“ASTRA is delighted to see increased attention on the importance of play by all the audiences participating in the Play for Life conference: play researchers, park and recreation professionals, educators, health scientists, architects, landscape architects, designers, planners, business and community leaders, psychologists, physicians and parents from across the country,” says Kimberly Mosley, president of ASTRA. “We share the US Play Coalition’s commitment to promoting the value of play throughout life, and we are pleased that ASTRA experts will be at the conference both to share the best research about this topic and to provide some fun how-to tips for getting more play in your daily routine at work.”

The 2019 Play for Life Conference will be held March 31 to April 3 in Clemson, South Carolina.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.