Senses Takers at Toy Fair
When UnderWoman ran into Pretty Ugly towards the end of Toy Fair, she asked:
“Are we having fun yet?”
“Lady! Does it look like I’m having fun?”
In fact, UnderWoman was being facetious…and knows that the life of a walkabout character is not always easy.
Things can get "pretty steamy” in those suits.
"Back in the day,” UnderWoman had received a memo alerting her to the dangers of walkabout Barneys.
Apparently Barney imposters – many of whom had drinking problems and other problems – were investing in purple faux fur and renting themselves out for “kids' parties.”
Lyons Group (now HiT Entertainment) issued a memorandum pleading with parents not to let Barneys through the "front door" if they had alcohol on their breaths and/or anything less than regulation cooling fans in their heads. (You were supposed to request that walkabout Barneys remove their "big heads" and submit to "inspection" before granting them entry, just to be sure....)
But back to Toy Fair 2010!!!!
Pretty Ugly was a little tired by the end....
But WOW, did WE have FUN!!!
Among other things:
UnderWoman’s person, Wendy Dubit (aka Wendy Do-It), at last connected with Dubit World – planetary leaders in virtual reality platforms. For years, Dubit (pronounced doo-bit) and Dubit (pronounced dub-it) had been showing up on each other’s Google searches. Now that they have met face to face, stay tuned: There may be “further “relations” between them soon!
In fact, UnderWoman and Wendy were at Toy Fair, at least in part, in search of new looks and worlds!
Some had critiqued UnderWoman's "first look" as being "very old" indeed.
But what did they expect?
UnderWoman's "proof-of-concept" character had cost her all of $0!
She had simply taken a picture of a caricature of herself at age 16, cut it out with an Exacto® knife, and voila!
Who wouldn't want to look like themselves at 16? But detractors claimed that UnderWoman's big eyes and thin thighs were of no service to Wendy or humanity. So Wendy bulked UnderWoman up a bit with Sharpie®, created some Colorforms-type styles and seasons for her, and was willing to leave it at that.
Now UnderWoman and Wendy were together at Toy Fair, scouting new products for The Senses Bureau and wanting to "ink" and "cut" deals with companies.
But Wendy and UnderWoman felt about as static as Indonesian shadow puppets in a one-dimensioanal world when they sat in on an Enagage! Circle1Network focus group with kids...and learned that most of the young participants have avatars that change their clothes and hairstyles at least a dozen times a day.
Where and how would they (UnderWoman and Wendy) begin?
At the BEGINNING, that's where!
Fortunately, the "clocks were turned back" during a dynamic “Engaging through Narration” panel moderated by Warren Buckleitner.
Afterwards, a heartened Wendy Dubit approached him: “I feel like I know you SO WELL for someone I’ve never met!”
Warren was quick on the uptake and generous with hugs: "It’s CD-MOM! I’ve always wanted to meet CD-MOM!" (Long before she was UnderWoman, Wendy published the first-ever parenting CD-ROM, which linked religiously to Warren’s Children’s Technology Review).
It was like old timer's day in a new-fangled universe. It was proof that, beyond all bells and whistles, the power of story will prevail!
Empowered, UnderWoman and Wendy went on to meet some amazing new multi-faceted and multi-sensory friends, among them:
Eye Can Art
HugMeez
Oum Sensory Awakening Courses
Blamtastic
Thames & Cosmos
Shidonni
Small World Toys
Sadly, old friends like Sea Monkeys, Easy-Bake Ovens and Mr. Potato Heads were not to be found on the Toy Fair floor.
But Wendy and UnderWoman will track them down with a persistence that would make T.S. Eliot proud:
We shall not cease from our exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
Perhaps a trip to Hasbro headquarters is in the offing?!
Meantime, we keep circling back to Dubit World, where we are very happy, very much at home....
posted by Wendy Dubit @ 1:08 PM
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