Cliff Annicelli

ASTRA Show Recap

So, it’s been about 48 hours since returning from St. Paul, Minnesota, for this year’s American Specialty Toy Retailing Association Marketplace & Academy. My take on the show two days removed is simple: It was good.

According to ASTRA, more than 80 manufacturers made their debut as exhibitors this week, boosting the event’s exhibitor tally by nearly 30 percent over last year. What ASTRA hasn’t yet said its how many retailers were on hand, but it looks to have been about 350, something I’m basing solely on the event’s official list of registered store owners/buyers. It could have been higher or lower, but regardless of the official figure, I’m pretty confident those who were there would tell you it was a worth the trip.

In fact—or probably more accurately “in perception”—this might have been the best show I’ve attended this year, judging solely by the near universal sense of “I’m pleased with this event” that came out of the exhibitors and attendees I spoke while there. Honestly, I really can’t remember the last gripe-free event I went to prior to this one, so score one for ASTRA. And, personally, I’m over the idea that a show’s success is determined by its attendance—frankly, there’s no such thing as a must-attend tradeshow thanks to the myriad ways buyers and sellers can communicate these days—so I’m not going to dwell on numbers. [If ASTRA does release retailer attendance figures, we’ll certainly pass that info along, though.] 

As for the “Academy” piece of the show, I really only made it to the manufacturer-focused toy safety update panel discussion. The nutshell on that is the industry remains in wait-and-see mode on topics like product labels while the CPSC, distracted by its transition to Obama administration-appointed management, gets its ducks in a row about enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act’s new regulations. Comfortingly, ASTRA’s resident expert on the topic, Eric Stone, a former CPSC insider, seemed impressively well informed. Suffice to say, the next time Stone leads an ASTRA webinar, I’ll be watching. [Stay tuned for an upcoming post about what I learned from that discussion.]

Apparently, the Academy’s many retailer-focused panels were useful. Merchants who did attend the sessions on topics like social media marketing were noticeably buzzing afterwards. Suddenly it seemed like everyone wanted to know who else had succumbed to Twitter, and what tips or tricks could be passed along to better addict others. I expect it’ll be much easier to find toy stores taking advantage of tweets and "friend requests" real soon.

All in all, it was not a bad way to spend three days.

Posted by Cliff Annicelli on June 19, 2009 | Comments (2)