2009 will go down in history as the year the toy industry (and everyone else in the world) discovered social media. More and more of our vendors have jumped on the bandwagon and are successfully using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote their products. Technology has been particularly slow to grasp many toy companies, but I was particularly impressed with Alex this year, as they debuted a very cool feature on their website. Kids can now pre-design some of their art projects using a Flash-based paint program to experiment with different color combinations before they get started. Purists may shake their heads, bemoaning the loss of spontaneous creativity, but the reality is that in 2009 all designers use computer programs to help them refine their vision. This is still a valid path to creating something beautiful, just with a little extra advanced planning.
The 4th giveaway in our 31 Days of Holiday Giveaways is a prize package from Alex containing a Fantastic Art Spinner and a Color A Cuckoo Clock. Enter to win.
