By Laurie Chartorynsky, The Toy Association
Play professionals will want to grab a seat at this year’s PlayCon for two presentations led by Trend Hunter executives who will share cutting-edge insight into today’s youth and how to get consumers to engage more with brands. PlayCon, The Toy Association’s International Conference for Play Professionals, will take place May 8 to 9 in San Francisco, CA.
The first session, titled “Millennial Myth-Busting and Gen Z: Destroying Assumptions of Millennials While Diving into the New Youth Generation,” will be led by Armida Ascano, Trend Hunter’s vice president of insight. Ascano will discuss misperceptions about millennials and critical subsegments of the generation, top priorities for Generation Z, and a comparison of the two generations.
During the second session, “Brand Love and Modern Entertainment: How to Create a Community Around a Piece of Content or Brand,” Courtney Scharf, vice president of research, will discuss how brands can win with consumers by providing case studies on successful brand communities and content creation, and share Trend Hunter’s 18 megatrends and how they apply to the world of entertainment.
“Toy designers, inventors, and professionals are bound to be inspired by Trend Hunter’s ideas,” said Marian Bossard, The Toy Association’s executive vice president of global market events. “The team’s passion and expertise for cultivating the most innovative concepts and tracking what appeals to consumers is crucial fodder that companies can use to create the next great toy or game.” With roughly 60 million monthly views of its website, TrendHunter.com is the world’s largest, most popular trend community. The company has helped brands, billionaires, and CEOs leverage big data and research to innovate.
With a new format of short “TED Talk”-like sessions, the two-day conference has a formidable speaker roster composed of more than 20 thought-leaders, industry analysts, toy influencers, consumer product executives, and other motivational speakers.
PlayCon attendees will also receive access to customized Trend Hunter reports, be invited to participate in Trend Hunter-directed “trend safaris” (self-directed walking tours to showcase innovative trend-related experiences and businesses around San Francisco), and a chance to win free admission to one of Trend Hunter’s Future Festivals. Visit ToyAssociation.org/PlayCon to register and for a list of up-to-date speakers, hotel information, and other news about the industry’s premier conference for play professionals.