Page 30 - Toy & Hobby Retailer Magazine June-July 2020

ATA UPDATE BY ALICE SANDERSON
Keep calm and play on
AS I write this update from the Australian Toy Association and reflect on the past month or two since our annual Toy Fair, I as I’m sure everyone would, could be excused in feeling it seems like such a distant memory. The current climate has the ATA like so many others working from home as we try to navigate this strange and unpredictable time.
The Fair saw over 5,000 exhibitors, retailers and guests through the door and while numbers were slightly down the feedback has been positive with business deals made, new products displayed, and innovation celebrated.
“The Fair saw over 5,000 exhibitors, retailers and guests come through the door.
On the first night of the Fair, the ATA held the industry night of nights where over 500 guests witnessed the induction of David Tolmer into the ATA Hall of Fame, as well as Samantha Atkinson of Bensons Trading receiving this year’s Rising Star Award for her achievements.
The evening also unveiled the winners
for both Licensing and Product of the Year Awards. These winners experienced immense success in the Australian market in 2019 and included BBC’s Bluey for Pre-school License
of the Year and Even Toys and Games taking home both Educational and Overall Product of the Year for The Genius Square.
This year the ATA introduced a new award, being Judges Choice, the only predictive category in the award program. Lego Australia’s Lego Dots Bracelets won the votes from our 17 strong panel, predicting the product’s success in Australia in 2020.
The ATA Board and staff congratulate all our winners and for a full list you can view these on our website at austoy.com.au.
On the second night of the Fair the
ATA’s 25-year club function was held with
an attendance of over 100 club members.
This year we welcomed Christine Albers, Sandra Benny, John Dorman, Glenn Doyle, Murray Forbes, Anthony Giles, Lynette Giles, Grahame Grassby, Anne Mayes, Rhonda McMurtrie, Gary Page, Tony Pastore, Shane
Ramsay, Sheree Wetton, Jamie White and Annabel Williamson into the club.
A posthumous membership was also given to Robert Lloyd, the inventor of Australia’s classic game, Squatter and this was accepted on behalf of his father by Richard Lloyd who keeps the brand active in the industry.
Overall it was a great four days!
The 2021 Fair is locked in and the dates
are Sunday 28th February to Wednesday 3rd March, and we can’t wait to bring you another successful and exciting event.
In early July the ATA was set to hold the fourth Sydney Mid-Year Fair which has proven to be a successful event for both our exhibitors and retailers. Considering the current climate and following on from feedback received from both exhibitors and attendees to the Fair, the ATA have decided to postpone the Sydney Mid-
Year Fair to Wednesday June 30th and Thursday July 1st, 2021.
With the uncertainty of domestic flights, social distancing and isolation, we feel this is the best decision for our members and while it is disappointing, we will bring it back bigger and better next June.
Of course, the ATA events are only a portion of what we are here to achieve, and we have been busy working on both our Value of Play program and Safety and Compliance efforts.
This year we announced the new Safety & Compliance Web App which Richard Hayman has been working hard to develop over the past year. The Compliance Analyser is accessible
to all ATA members and has been developed to simplify the determination of compliance requirements for your product.
Available in the member only area of the ATA website, it takes you through a series
of questions to determine relevant product attributes and the program uses these attributes to determine compliance requirements. If
you are an ATA member and missed our webinar, please feel free to contact Richard at compliance@austoy.com.au and he would be happy to run you through the process.
As mentioned, we have also been busy developing our Value of Play program and this year our standalone website went live and you can check this out at valueofplay. com.au. The site provides support to parents and professionals in encouraging play for all children and we promote this message also
through the value of play social media sites which we encourage you all to like and follow.
Play is an essential part of every childhood. It’s the way children explore, create and discover. Through play children learn about themselves and the world around them.
Finally, I would like to welcome Chris Maggacis of Mr Toys Toyworld and Chris Loverso of Big Balloon to the ATA Board. Chris Maggacis takes up the position of Nick Rimmer who sadly left us early this year
and Chris Loverso takes up one of the three Director nominated positions alongside Meagan Sanders of The Walt Disney Company and Claus Kristensen of Lego Australia.
I am honoured to be working with such a strong and diverse Board and together with the ATA staff, we look forward to supporting and working for you our members. We wish the industry well in these strange and challenging times and look forward to coming out the other side of this soon. ❉
30 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER MAY / JUNE / JULY 2020