INDUSTRY FORUM ASTRA
A New Year and a New Logo for ASTRA! by Sue Warfield, ASTRA President
We have hit the ground running! We’ve regrouped, refocused and reinvented our programs, offerings, benefits, and gatherings. We are now a staff of 8 that is eager to work with our members and partners to be the guiding star of the specialty play industry. Before we get into the details of our plans for the year, we want you to get to know our staff. Below is the listing of each of us, along with our email addresses and direct phone lines. We no longer have a physical office, and all work remotely, so we are able to truly connect individually with all of you! We look forward to working more closely with our members this year to better communicate our events and offerings, as well as get input on what offerings will be most beneficial to engage, educate, and promote the success of all in our specialty play industry. President Sue Warfield Direct Line: 312-283-9393 | Email: swarfield@astratoy.org
Communications and Marketing Coordinator Briana White Direct Line: 312-238-9845 | Email: bwhite@astratoy.org
Director of Operations Kathy Balogh Direct Line: 773-261-8707 | Email: kbalogh@astratoy.org
Administrative and Membership Support Ashlee Cammack Direct Line: 312-238-9887 | Email: acammack@astratoy.org
Special Projects and Events Manager Michael Foldeak Direct Line: 312-283-4255 | Email: mfoldeak@astratoy.org
Education Coordinator Katie Cooley Direct Line: 312-414-1546 | Email: kcooley@astratoy.org
Membership & Programs Specialist Jenna Stirling Direct Line: 312-283-7144 | Email: jstirling@astratoy.org
Programs, Events & Membership Sales Dan Guzman Direct Line: 773-536-9927 | Email: dguzman@astratoy.org
What will be working on specifically? In January, we attended the Dallas, Atlanta, and Las Vegas Gift shows. It is imperative that we go out to where are members are to meet in-person, and have the opportunity to listen to what challenges and opportunities are out there in the play environment. Nominations are open for our ASTRA Star Play Awards (formerly our Best Toys for Kids Awards). Anyone can nominate products – retailers, reps, and manufacturers! Simply snap a photo of the product, and text it along with your name and company name to Jenna Stirling at 312-283-7144! Nominations are open through February 28, 2023. Once finalists are chosen from the nominations by our retailer committee, voting will begin in late April. Only ASTRA retailers can vote, and the winners will be announced at our Marketplace & Academy in June. In February, ASTRA will be attending the NY NOW show at Javits. Michael Foldeak will be there to answer questions and talk about all our events and offerings for 2023. Something totally new in 2023 – ASTRA’s Toy Boat Experience. If we learned nothing else in the past two years, it is that we need to be innovative! Sticking with what we’ve always done, while at first may seem the safest, in the long run makes for complacency. At ASTRA, we were inundated with requests to do something to fill the gap that was left when Toy Fair announced their move to September. Another trade show just wasn’t needed with the January gift shows, NY Now and Toy Fest already on the calendar. When we asked what was most important for our members and industry colleagues during the February time frame the top two answers were 1: Networking and 2: Seeing new product. 14 tfe February 2023