Thank You for Being a Friend

As Mr. Rogers said, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who helped me last week during POP Week. I love this community!

 Special Thanks:

• To Nadine Sehnert and Rana Schenke, who were first on the scene to help when my car died.
• To Kenn Morton for kindly offering his rental car to try and jump my car.
• To Brady Peterson and Bob Kamp for leaving Dave & Buster’s to lend a hand.
• To Alex Yeager, who just happened to walk by and offered to help push my car (along with Bob and Brady) around the hotel to the conference room doors—we have it on video!
• To Angus Walker, Dan Klitsner, John Neal, Vic Antolin, and Isaac Tintó for unloading my car and helping set up the conference room until almost 1:00am! (Along with Mary, Nadine, and Rana).
• To all the companies who donated items for the table centerpieces—Moose Games, Hasbro, Mattel, Buffalo Games, and KID Group.
• To our POP Conference Committee—Mary Couzin, Angus Walker, Tara McGrath, Dan Klitsner, and Azhelle Wade—for organizing a fantastic innovation conference. 
• To Dan Klitsner for spearheading the Class of 2024 banners, and to Steve Rad for generously donating them.
• To all the inventors I met with last week (over 30 pitch meetings!)—and to everyone who provided coffee, water, snacks, hugs, and a safe space to commiserate during an emotional week.
• To Michael Kohner for hosting another memorable dinner at Gibson's, connecting cherished colleagues and friends.
• To the entire TAGIE Committee for putting on such an incredible event!
• To Karri Bean, our amazing hostess, and Barry & Jason for the entertainment and laughter throughout the evening. Congrats to ALL the nominees and winners! 
• To everyone who voted for Moose, which led to two wins: Most Innovative Art & Design Visuals of the Year (Brady Lang and Brittney Hassinger) for Wild Flowers and Most Innovative License of the Year (with BBC Studios) for Bluey Keepy Uppy and Bluey Hide and Seek.
• To my dear friend and wonderful colleague, Brittney, and her boyfriend Juan Belardi, for arranging to get a new battery while I was in the middle of back-to-back pitch meetings. Juan even stopped to get my car washed on the way back to the hotel!
• To John Neal for lending us his remote battery, allowing Juan to drive my car to the auto shop, and for giving me his leftover pizza because I hadn’t eaten in two days.
• To Jon Vanderbeek who also offered to lend his remote battery, then called to make sure I was ok and my car was fixed before I headed back home.
• To Carine Rosalia and Bob & Alex Fuhrer for helping me transport the Pickleball Blast games to the Chicago Toy & Game Fair for our event on Saturday.
• To Grant Lyon and Dani Standring for helping me set up all the games for the Pickleball Blast tournament—and running the event!
• To Joe Barron for offering me water and snacks from his booth.
• To Debbie Labinger for picking up our popup banner from the Fair and getting it to Brady Peterson, who eventually dropped it off at Mary's house.

And always, a heartfelt thank you to Mary Couzin, our north star, for bringing everyone together and creating an environment of compassion and kindness. This spirit of camaraderie and connection truly defines us and sets the tone for our industry.

The Inventor Conferences, TAGIE Awards, Young Inventor Challenge, and Chicago Toy & Game Fair were a smashing success! Thank you to the incredible team at the People of Play who made it all happen!

As Karri Bean wisely said, “The love and support of our colleagues is better than any award!”

And finally, if you’ve made it this far...Peggy Brown (my dancing queen) and I are available for hire and ready to bring our dance moves to your next event! 😆

Nadine Sehnert Rana Schenke Kenn Morton Brady Peterson Bob Kamp Alex Yeager Angus Walker Dan Klitsner John Neal Vic Antolin Isaac Tintó Mary Couzin Tara McGrath Azhelle W. Steve Rad Karri Bean Barry McLaughlin Jason Lautenschleger Brady Peterson Brittney Hassinger Juan Belardi Jon Vanderbeek Carine Rosalia Robert Fuhrer Alex Fuhrer Grant Lyon Danielle Standring Joe Barron Debbie Labinger, MBA, MEd Peggy Brown