U.K. Toy Inventors’ Dinner Honors Mary Couzin with Prestigious I.D.I.O.T. Award
(Rich Mazel, Mary Couzin)
36th Annual U.K. Toy Inventors’ Dinner Honors
Mary Couzin with Prestigious I.D.I.O.T. Award
London (March 20, 2019) – The International Designer and Inventor of the Toys Award (also known as the I.D.I.O.T. Award) was bestowed on Mary Couzin at the 36th Annual U.K. Toy Inventors’ Dinner during the London Toy Fair. The Award is given to luminaries who have made outstanding contributions to the toy industry.
Rich Mazel, Hasbro’s Head of Product Acquisition, introduced Mary saying, “Mary Couzin had a vision to turn her hometown of Chicago (the birthplace of American toy invention) into a celebration of all the creative people that make this industry successful and a wild and fun place to work. I am a regular attendee of the Chicago Toy & Game Fair and Inventor Conferences and Awards. Several years ago I mistook a staircase door as the way to the bathroom and I found Mary grabbing five minutes of sleep between her numerous duties at CHITAG. She had given her all that day to support, celebrate and encourage this community and she continues to do so and impacts so many people’s lives, including mine.”
Mary got her start in the toy industry designing toys and games as an independent inventor both self-producing and licensing, then turned her efforts to celebrating and helping toy and game inventors with the Toy & Game Inventor of the Year Awards (the TAGIEs), Toy & Game Innovator and Inventor Conferences, the Young Inventor Challenge and the Chicago Toy & Game Fair. The Inventor Conferences and Awards are the largest in the world and the Fair is the largest public toy and game fair in North America. This November marks the 17th year.
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About the U.K. Toy Inventors’ Dinner
The U.K. Dinner is a forum for toy inventors to come together during the U.K. Toy Fair with manufacturers. The dinner is held at unusual locations such as the London Zoo, Ironmongers’ Hall, Café Royal, London Dungeon, Lloyds Building, Queen Mary, Hurlingham Club, Clink Prison, Churchill War Rooms and more. Each year a different charity is supported by a casino event at the end of the seated dinner.
Past Winners include: Torquil Norman, Mary Danby, Roger Ford, John Reynolds, David Fear, Eddy Goldfarb, Pierre Sourdive, Bob Fuhrer, Nick Austin, John Dixon, Chris Taylor, Chris Wiggs, Peter Manning, John Barbour, Mike Meyers, Robin Black-Harris, David Berko, Mike Bucher, Mark Setteducati, Ben Rathbone, Harry Thomson, Jim Becker, Rob Kay, Stan Clutton, Casey Norman, Richard Pain, Ben Varadi, Simon Holdsworth, Mike Hirtle, Mike Gray, Pete Kellond, Simon Birchenough, John Stewart, Mike Moody, Gerry Crown, Audrey New, Ruth Elliott, Ben Dermer and Adi Golad. Five Mini-IDIOT Awards were presented to Tom Kremer, Tom Mason, Paul Snyder, Mike Lyden and Mike Meyers.
About the Chicago Toy & Game Group, Inc.
The Chicago Toy & Game Group, Inc. oversees toy industry initiatives designed to encourage and promote the power of play and invention in social, educational, and professional environments. Chicago Toy & Game (ChiTAG) Group initiatives include the Chicago Toy & Game (ChiTAG) Fair, the PlayCHIC Fashion Show, the Toy & Game Innovation of the Year (TAGIE) Awards, the Young Inventor Challenge, the New Inventor Conference, the Professional Inventors Conference, Play in Education Conference, DiscoverToyandGames.com and the Chicago Toy & Game (ChiTAG) Foundation. For more information, visit www.ChiTAG.com or email info@chitag.com.
For more information, contact:
Karen Apablaza
Brilliant PR and Marketing
karen@brilliantprm.com
