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TIA Elects New Leadership at Annual General Meeting

The Toy Industry Association (TIA) announced the election of eight new members to the TIA board of directors for two-year terms of office expiring in 2018 during its Annual General Meeting held in Miami, Fla. Open to members and non-members, the 2016 TIA Annual General Meeting was held in conjunction with PlayCon, TIA’s International Conference of Play Professionals, held in Miami from May 2-4. The meeting also saw the chairmanship gavel pass to David Hargreaves of Hasbro from retiring board chairman John Gessert of American Plastic Toys.

Nominated to serve their first terms on the TIA board were Kathleen Campisano, vice-president of toys and games, Barnes & Noble; Jennifer Caveza, senior vice-president, toys and business development, Nickelodeon Consumer Products; Charlie Emby, co-president, Just Play; Barbara Finigan, senior vice-president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, Hasbro; Skip Kodak, senior vice-president, Americas, LEGO Systems; Masayuki Nagatake, COO-U.S. & Europe business division, TOMY International; Geoffrey Walker, executive vice-president, North America division, Mattel; and Nancy Zwiers, CMO, Spin Master.

Re-elected for another term, set to expire in 2018, were Drew Brazer, vice-president of sales, North America, LEGO Systems (second term); Jeffrey Kennis, president, Enchanted Moments (third term); and William To, president, VTech Electronics North America (second term). Joining Hargreaves on the executive committee are Bob Wann (Playmonster!), who assumed the role of vice chairman/chairman elect, and Shirley Price (Funrise), who assumed the role of secretary-treasurer. Manuel Torres (NBC Universal Brand Development) and Geoffrey Walker (Mattel) were also introduced as members of the executive committee.

The following retiring board members were recognized for their service: Andrea Barthello, ThinkFun; William Beebe, Playmates Toys; and Sam Harwell, Big Time Toys.