What goes into designing a great Funko Pop! Vinyl figure? Is any brand too obscure to get the Funko treatment? And how does curiosity help fuel creativity? Ben Butcher, SVP of Creative at Funko, shares his thoughts on all this, and more, in this interview with Mojo Nation’s Billy Langsworthy.

What can you do to give your toy or board game the best chance of success in a pitch? How do inventor relations execs nail their pitches to buyers? And which ‘P’ is most important: the person, the product or the pitch itself? All this and more is discussed in this ‘Perfect Pitch’ panel session.

We caught up with Patti to hear what she hopes to discover at the 2020 Mojo Nation pitch – and what she accomplished at the 2019 event…

Elizabeth Ganrude is Senior Manager of Product Design at Learning Resources. In a rare interview, Liz here talks to us about empathy, how she feeds her creativity, the team she’s with… And repeatedly having award-winning ideas.

Reiner Knizia – the prolific game designer behind over 700 games, including Lost Cities, Modern Art and new Kosmos title My City – discusses how he got started in game design, shares his top tips for fuelling creativity and reveals the game he wishes he came up with!

This session looks at the design and invention process behind Trapped, a new series of escape room games published by Golden Bear that turns any room in your house into an escape room.

We caught up with Tim Kilpin, President at PlayMonster, to find out more about his journey in the industry to date, and why PlayMonster’s latest launch – Snap Ships – is something special.

How has Spin Master’s Toy Invention Program at Shenkar helped to create a thriving inventor scene in Israel? What’s the difference between a design course and an toy invention course? And with Spin launching a similar program in Canada last year, what does future international expansion for the course look like?

If you could only take one toy, one game and one of your own inventions to a desert island, what would you take and why? That’s the question that WordWhizz Deej Johnson is posing to Alpha’s Darren Lee Phillipson in this Desert Island Picks interview.

What makes for great licensed toys and games? How can brands successfully engage with the inventor community? And what are licensors looking for in a perfect toy partner? All this and more is explored in the Playing with Brands Panel session.