Who’s News: CHITAG Appoints New Members to Advisory Board

By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
People of Play (POP) has announced that three new industry professionals have joined the Chicago Toy and Game group’s advisory board.
The three new members of the CHITAG group’s advisory board are Tara McGrath, Amy Friedland and Mike Bisogno. 
“Tara, Mike, and Amy bring inventor relations, marketing, PR, and even more visionary and ideation expertise to our extraordinary Board,” said People of Play founder, Mary Couzin. ”We are fortunate to have their talents as we continue to grow our POP Week events, champion innovators, and promote community, connection, and the power of play.”
Tara McGrath currently works at Mattel as the company’s creative director of inventor relations & innovation.
During her over 20 year career at Mattel, McGrath has worked on numerous brands and product lines such as Barbie, Polly Pocket, Disney Princess, Uno Games and Disney Cars.
Prior to joining Mattel, McGrath worked at Pace Development Group where she focused on aiding the company through the invention and development of toys, dolls, games and preschool play products.
Amy Friedland currently serves as EVP at Freeman PR, which was recently acquired by Carve Communications.
With over 25 years in the toy, licensing, and consumer product industries, Friedland is an experienced PR agent who specializes in brand expansion, new product launches, special events and media relations.
During her career, she has worked with high-profile toy brands such as Fisher-Price, Hape, Mattel, and Playmobil, as well as leading the public relations efforts for People of Play and CHITAG. 
Mike Bisogno currently serves as the senior director of design and inventor relations for Spin Master’s games team.
In his role as senior director, Bisogno spearheads the design teams for the company’s family games,  party games and Rubik’s categories, as well as leads inventor relations for all of Spin Master’s game properties.
Before joining Spin Master, he worked at Cardinal Industries as a full-time game and puzzle designer for licensed IP such as Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, WB, Sony, and more.
Cardinal was acquired by Spin Master in 2015 and Mike was promoted to design director.
Since then, he has worked in a variety of roles at the conmpany across game design, licensing and inventor relations.
Members of The Toy Association, CHITAG and People of Play (POP) are business organizations that offer a wide range of events, platforms and resources to support and promote the global toy and game industry.
This includes events and resources like the Chicago Toy & Game fair, POP Week, the POP platform, the Bloom Report, the TAGIE awards and many more.