Our 6th WIT Empowerment Day is in the books! Feedback is still coming in from mentors and mentees alike, and we couldn’t be happier to hear from so many about what a powerfully enriching day it was.
With 25 simultaneous one-on-one mentor sessions with industry experts, dozens of private product pitches with Hasbro, Spin Master, PlayMonster, Jazwares, Wicked Cool, Basic Fun!, and Walmart buyers in multiple categories, our members took full advantage of the boundless opportunity and plethora of wisdom, knowledge and expertise that was made available to them.
Anne Marie Kehoe and her team of Walmart buyers were once again amazing. More buyers participated than ever before, tirelessly reviewing dozens of products pitched, mentoring and guiding eager entrepreneurs who were seeking to get their product on physical and virtual store shelves. We are tremendously grateful to Walmart for their enthusiastic support with this event!
Hats off to this year’s class of entrepreneurs! We have heard from both Walmart and toy companies that this was our best event yet. Concepts were optioned on the spot, the quality of the entrepreneurs’ presentations were awesome, and the overall sentiment was that our members’ ideas were buttoned up and ready to rock!
All good things must come to an end though, and Empowerment Day ended on a fun & fabulous note! We wound down with an evening of Cocktails & Connections, where Empowerment Day participants and Fall Toy Preview guests had a chance to keep the connections going and make new friends too.
Warmest thanks to the dozens of industry expert mentors who shared their time and talent, to Hasbro for once again sponsoring our delicious lunch, and to the masterful Marian Bossard, John Klein and the entire Toy Association team for their kind and generous support in helping us execute this event flawlessly.
As always, many thanks to our tireless volunteers who keep Empowerment Day moving on time and on track, including Lisa Pelletier for organizing our Cocktails & Connections party. And finally, to our dynamic duo — Empowerment Co-chairs Nancy Zwiers and Deb de Sherbinin — our deepest appreciation for their vision, leadership and unwavering guidance and support.
We’re already looking forward to next year!
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