Toy Association Hosts Successful Virtual Credit Meetings for Finance & Operations Professionals

toy-assoc-credit-programJune 4, 2021 | The Toy Association’s Annual Credit Meeting, held yearly during Toy Fair New York, is always a popular in-person conference where attendees garner valuable insights. Due to the pandemic, The Toy Association’s Credit Interchange Program instead hosted a number of virtual sessions this spring, offering key insights and important trade information to qualified industry finance, credit, and operations professionals.

Here are a few highlights from these events:

  • Review of Accounts: 75 companies participated in this confidential session held in April. It featured a detailed analysis of the financial health of struggling retailers.

  • Workshop: Challenges of Current Credit & Collection Environment: Credit-granting decision makers from over 40 toy companies participated in this session in early May. This workshop included a confidential moderated discussion on the daily challenges facing toy companies’ credit departments and management. It offered viable solutions to critical issues.

  • The Roundtable for Senior Finance & Operations Executives: Top managers from over 40 toy companies gathered virtually in May for a confidential moderated, candid discussion. The main topic was essential best practices and the challenges of managing a toy company in the current business environment.

In addition to the above confidential sessions, The Toy Association offered toy manufacturers and distributors two bankruptcy-related webinars this spring, presented by Jason M. Torf, Partner at Ice Miller LLP.

“A Brave New (COVID) World: Dealing with a Customer in Bankruptcy That Has a PPP Loan”, on March 25, and “Recent Changes to the Bankruptcy Code that Impact Your Business as a Supplier,” on May 20.

“We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees of these virtual events,” said Paul Vitale, executive vice president of finance and operations at The Toy Association. “Participants reported that they received pertinent and valuable information, with more than one attendee stating that it was reassuring to hear from other finance colleagues about their successes and challenges in the current market. We also noted feedback from those who appreciated the ease and flexibility of participating in the sessions virtually and expressed a desire to continue doing so even once in-person events resume.”

For more information or to join the Credit Interchange Program, contact Dina Gittings.