This is Tanya Thompson's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Tanya Thompson's activity
Tanya Thompson
Recent Activity
Mary
I don't remember having an Easy Bake Oven but remember baking in my friend's oven. I always had a sense that they were dangerous and wondered if cooking by a light bulb was okay. My now 11 year old daughter two years ago really wanted one for Christmas. My mom discouraged it and so I bought her real cake mixes and baking gear instead. She loves to cook and bake still and makes awesome cookies and pancakes. But now I wonder if I should have gotten her the Easy Bake Oven instead! hmmmmm...
The Easy-Bake Oven Did Not Lose its Soul
I love the Easy Bake Oven. It was and still is my favorite toy. Sadly, the inventor of the Easy Bake Oven, Ronald Howes, passed away last year. I wish I could have met him and thanked him. This week Salon featured a story about how Hasbro had to replace the oven’s original light bulb with a...
Mary, you are such an advocate for all things good in our industry!
ThinkFun too now puts their inventors names on our packaging. You're absolutely right that game inventors are the unsung heroes in this business and it's great that this seems to be changing!
Directors, authors, artists get recognition, why not the inventors? Without the inventors, companies like ours wouldn't exist! Time has come!
Toy and Game Inventor of the Year Nominations are now Open!
As you have read in earlier blogs by me and my colleagues, Marvin Glass and Eddy Goldfarb invented the full time toy and game inventing business here in Chicago in the late forties. After the mild mannered Eddy moved to the west coast, Marvin became something of a celebrity. He was friends...
Here, here Kim! What you've written is so true! At ThinkFun we agonize over our packaging because it does make all the difference! What is your game package going to look like on a large game wall full of games? Will it stand out? You have about 10 sec to entice a consumer to pick it up. What's going to do this? And then there's, once they pick it up, turn it over, then what needs to be said!
It's a real "game" to figure this out and companies like ours put a lot of time and energy into it!
BTW, I think the 3D effect of the Balderdash box is great too!
Ugly Boxes Kill Good Games; Why Great Packaging Matters
Kim Vandenbroucke, President of Brainy Chick (and she is), is an accomplished game inventor and critic. Her newest game, Scattergories Categories is hitting the toy shelves now. Kim’s blog, “The Game Aisle”, reviews new games. We asked her to share her insights with Global Toy News rea...
Mary
You are the ultimate in networking. And the best part is that you are genuine and do it for the love of the industry! You are an inspiration. You make me wish I lived closer to Chicago!
I do the same thing in Toronto for fellow mechanical puzzlers (like Rubik's Cube). We meet four times a year and bring and play puzzles together. It was inspired by a conference called IPP (International Puzzle Party) where we meet annually all over the world.
I would LOVE to start something like this for people in the toy industry here. Maybe you could help me connect with fellow Canadians to begin our own toy gatherings in Toronto? I would love to do it! Then maybe you could come back to Canada and be a guest of honor (and come visit me too).
Cheers
Tanya
Face-to-Face
LinkedIn and facebook are valuable connecting tools, but absolutely nothing replaces face-to-face communication. Nothing. I'm a networky person. I love putting people together and I've been accused of hosting the November Chicago events (ChiTAG, TAGIE Conference and TAGI Awards) to do j...
This is exciting! I will look forward to the awards! I remember fondly playing Shark Attack with my kids. They would get so excited when that shark came a chomping!
And the 2010 TAGI Awards Lifetime Achievement Honoree is...
The legendary Eddy Goldfarb is the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree to be feted at the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year Awards, TAGI Awards, on November 19th at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. He and Marvin Glass invented the business of toy and game inventing and Eddy ...
Richard
I am Inventor Relations at ThinkFun, Inc. I was in NY this past weekend and I stayed at the Jane Hotel. I too had read this article and was looking for an affordable place to stay.
The Jane Hotel was excellent! The room was very well designed considered it was more the size of a closet than a room. There is no closet but hooks around the room just like a train cabin. They have designed that tiny space very wisely.
Also, there is a shared bathroom. It reminded me of college. But it was clean and there was no waiting in the morning for the showers. (and one of the best showerheads I've ever used in a hotel)
The staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was very quaint. It felt like a train experience with porters at the elevator in their pill box hats.
There was also a very excellent french cafe that was popular with the locals at night. Foozeball anyone?
So if you can handle the very small living quarters and shared bathroom, this is an excellent place to stay. And for only $89 per night in NYC, you can't beat that!
Cheers!
Affordable hotels for Toy Fair; if you are willing to sleep tight
If paying for a hotel in New York during Toy Fair is a challenge for you (and it is for most people), help is not just on the way but here. It seems that, according to a New York Times article, “Your room as Cocoon: Teeny, Cheap and chic,” you can get a really nice room for under $99 a ni...
Mary
Thanks so much for this article! As I am the new Inventor Relations person for ThinkFun, it is very intersting for me to read Mike's article. I wish I'd have seen his presentation!
I can tell you that things are similar at ThinkFun. All of our new game ideas come from outside inventors. We value the inventor community as without them, we wouldn't have new products to develop!
Cheers!
Tanya
On the Importance of Outside Inventors
This excellent article by Mary Couzin first ran n 2010. If you read it the first time enjoy it again. If not, you are in for a treat. Two years ago at our Toy and Game Inventor/Industry Conference, Mike Hirtle, Head of Global Acquisition and Inventor Relations at Hasbro opened the Conference ...
Tanya Thompson is now following The Typepad Team
May 10, 2010
Subscribe to Tanya Thompson’s Recent Activity