Handle-ing change
How sweet it is!
Maria Weiskott, Editor-in-Chief -- Playthings, 6/1/2001
One of my old college writer buddies once penned a yarn containing the thought that even if roses weren't called roses they would still smell pretty. In other words: how important is a name in reality? Oh, yes…the legendary bard really was a buddy of mine. Trust me on this. We spent countless hours in university together cogitating over whether or not life is a stage; whether or not you can have too much of a good thing; whether or not a guilty conscience is secure; what makes a strange bedfellow; to be or not to be…
But I digress.
We were speculating on the old playwright's reflection on just how important that handle actually is.
When the Toy Manufacturers of America announced it was changing its name to the Toy Industry Association—denoting the organization would be more INclusive rather than EXclusive—it asked the question: What's in a name?
And then proceeded to answer it: a lot.
That is right, of course. In this case it does mean a lot.
As David Miller, president of the 85-year old association, explained at the time of the change, "Over the past 25 years, the association's activities have changed in response to the impact of a global marketplace. Our new name more accurately reflects how the association represents the worldwide toy industry in our day-to-day activities."
And it's a pretty good hunch that being more inclusive may also boost the membership's numbers. One of the TIA's goals, in fact, is to strengthen its alliances, federations or affiliations with industry related groups such as: retailers, licensors, book publishers, promotional companies, catalogue companies, sales representatives, other children's products manufacturers, and other related industries.
The TIA's new identity, which is part of the association's strategy for the new millennium, explains its Chair Patrick Feely, is to broaden the scope of the organization so it can "more effectively guide the industry into the 21st Century."
So, yes indeed, there is a great deal of importance to the new TIA designation. The name is not only more inclusive. The TMA's move to alter its moniker also indicates that the association is aware of the changing dynamics of the toy industry and scripting its own future in evolutionary times.
A good move. Better to ponder Shakespeare's would-not-a-rose-by-any-other-name-smell-as-sweet…than his, to-be-or-not-to-be.
