In today’s fast-moving environment, toy companies face risks every day. Concerns involving product safety, age grading, compliance, online commentary, retailer action, regulatory scrutiny, or parent backlash can escalate quickly and impact a company’s reputation long before all the facts are known.

An upcoming Toy Association webinar will provide toy industry leaders with a framework for managing a crisis, including understanding how operational issues become reputational events; how to distinguish an issue from a true crisis; and how to respond in ways that protect trust, brand credibility, and business continuity. Registration is now open.

Taking place Thursday, May 14 at 2 p.m. (Eastern), “When Play Turns Serious: Managing Crisis, Protecting Trust, & Responding with Confidence,” will help participants better understand how reputation risk develops in the toy industry and why trust is shaped not only by what a company says, but by what it does, how quickly it acts, and how consistently it responds across stakeholders.

Themes and discussion topics will include:

• Where reputational risk shows up in the toy industry
• The role of legal, communications, product, and operational leaders in high-pressure moments
• The questions leaders should ask when evaluating legal, business, and reputational risk
• Common response mistakes that can intensify scrutiny or erode trust
• The role of reputation management as an ongoing discipline, not just a crisis response function
• What reputation recovery requires after a high-profile event, beyond issuing a statement

The webinar will be presented by ChangeMakers’ Robert Gemmill, chief commercial officer, and Jorge Ortega, executive vice president. Anne McConnell, The Toy Association’s senior director of market research & educational initiatives, will moderate.

The session is open to Toy Association members at no cost; non-members may join for a $99 registration fee. All toy professionals are welcome to join, but it is especially relevant for executives and team members responsible for communications, brand management, marketing, product safety, legal, regulatory affairs, operations, quality, and enterprise leadership.

Questions about this webinar and other educational opportunities offered by The Toy Association™ may be directed to Anne McConnell, senior director of market research & educational initiatives.