All Play is Meaningful

Keynote presentation by:
by Leigh Anne Cappello
Vice President and Play Futurist with the Future Now division of Hasbro

Worked in toy industry for a long time (20 years). Her favorite question: "Is it like the movie 'Big'.?"

Myth 1: It must be so much fun to work at a toy company.

Yes it is fun to work in the toy business, but not necessarily a lot of fun. Very competitive industry.

Myth 2: I bet there are toys everywhere.

Yes, there are toys everywhere. You have to be careful to not get attacked by a giant transformer when you walk down the hallway.

Myth 3. do you play with kids all the time?

Yes, we invite children into the fun lab all the time for observation and research.

Myth 4: Your nieces must have the best toys.

Myth 5: Your daughter must think you are a goddess.

Yes

What is a Play Futurist?

Future Now Initiative
Mission: Primary cultivators of global future initiatives.

• Strategy First
• Cultural Catalysts

Future Now Team:
Cross functional group with diverse backgrounds.
Georgina: Design Creation Expert
Lamont: Invention Mechanisms
Adam: Design Fringe Exploration
Jim: Graphics Marketplace
Erin: Engineering, Global Lifestyles
Phil: Design & Technology
Yesim: Inter-architecture, infant development
Nathan: Future Futurist, Toy Design Student
Leigh Anne: Business Strategy, Consumer Insights

Hasbro: Inspiring the Human Need to Play

Core Design and Development Team focused on Play for Tomorrow's consumers

Future Now: Futre of Play > 3 years.

Future Now Charter

• Content
• Process
• --brainstorm tools
• --foresight tools
• --inspiration tools
  
• Culture
• --Bring out your dead (the right toy at the right time)
• --Idea Fair
• --Inspiration Expo

Job Description of a Play Futurist

• Be a detective (Go into every brainstorm session with an empty bucket.)
  
• Make connections

Skill Set

• Understand People
• Comfortable with the Unknown
• Communicate and Inspire
• Passionate Battles
• Take Chances
• Think differently
• Be a vigilante
• fight with style
• make ideas stick

Age
Role
Culture
Personality
Species

What is fun?
Anticipation
Pretending
making friend
connecting
messy
cute (recommends cuteoverload.com)
scary
cute and scary
silly
serious
remembring

So what is meaningful play in the toy industry

Play is a right!
Play is a responsibility of adults to provide opportunity to play to children AND themselves
Play is NOT a privilege. Every person (and species) has the ability to play. It is just what we do.

All play is Appealing
Play is fun, which you want to do again and again, and then you learn

All Play is Healing
Creates self-confidence, strong bodies, stress relief, active minds

Because play is freeing, it releases you from yourself. In losing ourselves, we discover things about ourselves, and continue to grow.

All play is Chosen. And its all yours. Play is wholesome Play is freeing

All Play is revealing.

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation" --Plato

"You can discover more about a kid's imagination in 20 minutes of squishing than in a year of asking...what are youthinking" -- Play-Doh

Final Myth. You must love your job. This is not a myth. Have fun.