TOY OF THE YEAR AWARDS - Toy Industry Association

you eventually scored against your opponent with
the winning goal! The real appeal of the toy was the
ability to buy, build and customize your own complete
soccer team allowing you to enter the glamorous,
fantasy world of some of the most gifted and revered
athletes in the world, the world of International
Soccer! It was really quite simple, even a little funny
looking (see below), but like all great playthings it was
a lot of fun and entertained me and my friends for
hours on end!
What is your
favorite aspect
of working with the toy community?
What I enjoy most about this industry is the unique
character of the people and the culture of the
industry. This industry either gets in your blood
quickly and you stay and get more and more involved
for a long, long time, in many cases for decades! Or
alternatively there are people who join our industry,
try it for a while, and find it too fast paced, too
unpredictable, perhaps even “nuts” and leave quickly
because they can’t handle it any more. Fortunately
most of us are in the first category! Once you try it
you LOVE it! It does get in your blood! The pace, the
passion, the creativity and energy of the people are
totally unique, totally invigorating! The camaraderie,
the opportunity to build life-long friends whom you
Leaders Circle Spotlight Leaders Circle Spotlight
not only respect and admire, but have fun with and
enjoy working with is exceptional! And on top of all
of this we get to make “fun stuff” – toys and games
that bring people together and keep that child-like
quality inside all of us alive and well! There is no
industry like us!!!
What are you most proud of?
Building or launching big brands or programs instead
of items has always been a key passion of mine. I have
been fortunate enough to have worked on some of
the most recognized brands in toys and consumer
goods. This includes working with some of the best
companies and most talented people in our industry
to develop together key brands such as Fisher-Price,
Playskool, Care Bears, Monopoly, Scrabble, Mr.
Potato Head and NERF. I am most proud of having
played a role in helping either introduce or build these
brands to new heights in sales, consumer penetration
and brand awareness.
Also, currently I am thrilled and take great pride in the
fact that for the first time in Patch Products’ 23-year
history, we have one of our newest games, 5 Second
Rule, nominated for TOTY’s Game of the Year.
What is your greatest ambition that you have
yet to achieve?
I have a key personal goal that I set for myself a
number of years ago, which was to play every one
of the Top 20 rated golf courses in the USA. So far, I
have played 13 of the Top 20, with the biggest courses
left to play being Augusta National, Cypress Point
and Bethpage Black. My fingers are crossed that I’ll
get to play at least one of those in 2011!
On the professional front l am real excited about the
opportunity to help grow Patch Products from a
well-established successful game and puzzle
company into a successful multi-category toy
company. I joined Patch in April 2009 and have been
working with our teams here to create and build
brands, develop unique retailer programs and expand
into more toy categories. Hopefully, for those people
that come visit us at Toy Fair these changes, with
our expanded brands, new licenses and entry into
new toy categories this evolution, will be obvious
and be confirmation that we are on track to realize
this ambition.
Why is play so important?
Play is beneficial for children because it positively
affects their emotional and intellectual development,
contributes to their well-being and self-esteem, and
brings joy and fun into their lives. Adults need some
play time, too, to give us a break from work and allow
us to relax, which in the long run will keep us at our
best! Playing together as a family or with friends is
the perfect way to make sure we all get enough play
time, and also much-needed quality time together.
No matter your age, gender, nationality or cultural
background play is universal, play is supremely
important to us all!
Are you smarter than a 5th grader?
Absolutely not! Based on my experience playing
the board game as well as attempting to answer
questions while watching the TV show, I am not sure if
I can claim to be smarter than a 3rd grader never mind
a 5th Grader!
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