Dear WIT Members & Friends of WIT, 

 

It was nice to see so many of you at the WIT booth at NY Toy Fair and the Wonder Women Awards Dinner! 

 

Each year that we host the Wonder Women Awards Dinner, our audience, our nominees, and our list of supporters and sponsors continues to grow.  This is a true testament to all of you who not only work tirelessly in your own profession, but also work hard to support and champion the many dynamic and talented women in our industry. I'd like to thank you for that and would also like to extend a big congratulations to this year's Wonder Women winners and honorees.

 

Our Wonder Women Awards Dinner Co-Chairs - Genna Rosenberg from GennComm, Shannon Gray from Waba Fun, and Lourdes Arocho from Nickelodeon and their host committee did an amazing job and I am proud to say that we had over 500 attendees. Wow! Next year will be 
WIT's 25th Anniversary, so please save the date for Sunday, February 14th for our annual dinner. Plans are already underway, and we have some fun surprises in store. 

Until then, we have some exciting events planned including our annual Licensing Expo breakfast on June 10th and our Empowerment Day with Walmart which will take place in Dallas on October 5th, the day before Fall Toy Preview begins. More details on both will be shared soon. 

I'm thrilled to announce that we'll have our first WIT booth at Licensing Expo, thanks to Advanstar. We hope you'll stop by and i f you are interested in working the WIT booth, please let us know.

Looking forward to all the exciting events ahead!

 

Sincerely, 

 

Ashley Mady 

President of WIT

March 2015

Wonder Women Awards Dinner
With over 500 guests, the 11th Annual Wonder  Women Awards 
Dinner was a smashing success. Congratulations  to all of the 
winners and  honorees. Click here to see more photos!

NYTF Booth

National Event

Thank you to all of our WIT members who "women-ed" the 

booth at NYTF.  We will also have a booth at Licensing Expo. 

Please email info@womenintoys.com for more information or

if you would like to volunteer.

 

WIT Members on The TODAY Show
The TODAY Show's Erica Hill featured three of our WIT
members, Debbie Sterling of GoldieBlox, Jodi Norgaard 
of  Go! Go! Sports Girls and Alice Brooks of Roominate.

Watch the video  here
My Doll & Me Gives Cancer Patients HOPE
My Doll & Me CEO,
Lamice Joujou, offers
HOPE to a young cancer
patient at the doll's launch event.
My Doll & Me recently launched a 
l imited edition doll, HOPE,  which 
empowers girls fighting cancer. 
"Every  girl is beautiful  inside and 
ou and  cancer doesn't define her 
or her beauty,"  said Lamice Joujou, 
CEO of My Doll & Me and
 WIT's 
Lebanon
Chapter Chair.  20%  of the  proceeds 
from HOPE's sales  go to the Children's Cancer Center  of Lebanon.  The dolls 
are available  at My Doll & Me stores 
in Lebanon  and soon will  be offered 
online.  The company website 
is under construction,  but for  more
information about HOPE, click  here  
to visit My Doll  Me's  Facebook page.

Within Me Now Finds Funding on Toybacker

WIT member Janell Goplin's new 

plush doll and book line, Within Me 

Now, earned 54% of their goal by 

day three of their campaign on new

crowd-funding site, Toybacker.com

Goplin overcame postpartum 

depression with the realization that she could find everything she needed--love, courage, joy, strength and 

peace--within herself. It was this realization that inspired Within Me 

Now and she intends to spread this message with her uplifting 

line of toys and books. Click here to learn more or to help fund 

Within Me Now's launch.

United States:  Arkansas, Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Dallas, Boston, 
 
New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia & Washington

International: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, 
 
Lebanon & the United Kingdom

Don't see a chapter in your area? Then contact us at
info@womenintoys.com to start one!  

Concierge Service
 
We help you stay connected, even when you're on the road. 
 
We will arrange breakfast, lunch, or coffee meetings with 
 
other WIT members worldwide. Email us at 
 
info@womenintoys.com and let us know your travel plans!



 


Toy Bank Donation
After the Wonder Women Dinner, WIT donated  hundreds 
of  items  to The Toy Bank! 

Our Committees
- Community Involvement
- Design
- Empowerment
- Finance
- Legal
- Marketing & Promotions
- Membership
- Mentorship
- Planning
- Public Relations
- Research
- Sponsorship
- Website
- Wonder Woman Awards Dinner

To learn more about joining a committee, 

Become A Company Ambassador
For larger companies, we'd like to select an ambassador to 
assist 
us  in improving collaboration.  We currently have
ambassadors 
at Mattel, Hasbro, Walmart, Spin Master, 
Nickelodeon  and  Disney,  just to name  a few.  Email info@womenintoys.com  if you  are interested in becoming 
WIT volunteer or learning  more about  becoming  an ambassador.
 
Meet Up With Members at  Sandbox Summit

Boston

March 23 & 24

 

at MIT  on  March 23 and 24  
is  an annual  2-day  idea forum that brings together toy manufacturers,  media  developers, tech stars, educators, 
researchers and  dozens of  other people you want to know! 
Thank you to Wendy Smolen  for building the relationship 
between Sandbox Summit  and  WIT. 

Kickoff PlayCon With Cocktails

Scottsdale

April 29

Please join WIT for a  cocktail (purchase 
your own)  and  make a  few new industry 
friends  before the kick off of  two exciting 

days of learning at PlayConPlease click 

here to learn more. 

 

Licensing Expo Breakfast

Las Vegas

June 10

WIT is finalizing details of our  breakfast 
during Licensing Expo. More details will 
be  announced soon!

WIT is also in need of volunteers to work at the WIT booth 
during  Licensing Expo. For more information please email info@womeintoys.com.

UK Networking Event

UK Chapter

Thursday, March 19 @ 5 PM 

The UK Chapter of WIT welcomes you to exchange ideas 

and welcome Amanda Gummer as the vice chair of WIT 

UK Chapter. Click here for details.  

 

Evening of Entrepreneurs' Success Stories

NYC Chapter

Tuesday, March 31 @ 5:30 PM EST

Join The WIT NYC Chapter for an Evening of Entrepreneurs' 

Success Stories, featuring guest speakers Patricia Cardello & 

Lori Barzvi. Click here for details.

 

"Spring into WIT" Lunch

Florida Chapter 

SAVE THE DATE - Friday, April 10 @ Noon

Please join the FL chapter of WIT for networking and noshing 

on the patio at Saquella Cafe', the Italian Bistro & European 

Bakery with a "Healthy European" twist! Click here for details. 

Inaugural Event in Hong Kong
International Event

WIT Hong Kong Chapter's first event was sold out with 

over 75 guests. Thank you to Irene Li, Jacqueline Vong & 

Emily Cheung for planning such an incredible evening at 

Happy Valley Racecourse. 

 

Chicago Headshot Event
Chicago Chapter

Chicago WIT members strike a pose at their Headshot Event. 

So much fun coordinated by Mary Kay Russell! Big thanks to 

Kim McCue Photography and The Gleam Project for being 

part of the festivities. 

 

Meet-Up At Kidscreen Summit

National Event

WIT members from around the globe gathered at the 

InterContenial hotel in Miami to kick-off Kidscreen 

in Miami. Thank you to Karen Kilpatrick and Jen 

Derevensky for your hard work! 

Event during Australia's Toy Fair
International Event
Australian chapter co-chairs  Annelies Van Doorn a nd Fiona 
Cameron hosted a champagne reception that attracted 
executives and business owners from across the toy, hobby 
and licensing industry.  It featured hot toy developer Alice 
Brooks  from  Roominate, and businesswoman of the year 
nominee  Rachael  Waia, founder of Tiny Hearts and Hero HQ. 
Congratulations ladies! 
 

"Learn the Ropes" Webinar Series: 

The Licensing Landscape

Webinar Series

Wednesday, March 18 @ noon EST

Learn the basics of licensing in the toy industry through

this webinar by 25-year industry veteran, Nancy Zwiers.  

This broad overview of licensing will cover the three basic 

types of licensing relevant to the toy industry:  1) Licensing 

your concept as a toy invention; 2) Licensing your concept as intellectual property; and 3) Acquiring a license to apply to 

your concept/product. Click here for details. 

 

Empowerment Day

Fall Toy Preview

SAVE THE DATE  - Monday, October 5

More details coming soon!
Where Members Will Be
PlayCon
(April 29 - May 1): Scottsdale, AZ 
Click HERE to learn about the event. 

Licensing Expo 
(June 9 -11): Las Vegas, NV
Click HERE to learn about 
the event.  

ASTRA
(June 7 -10): Charlotte, NC
Click  HERE to learn about 
the event.  

Fall Toy Preview 
(October 6 - 8): Dallas, TX
Click  HERE to learn about 
the event. 

Click here to join WIT

WIT is the preeminent networking organization for professional women in the toy, licensing and entertainment industries. WIT members span the globe, and receive meaningful empowerment tools, resources and support that foster ideation, connections, collaboration and education to achieve professional success.