Learning for the Future: Catching Up on Industry Knowledge at Licensing Week Virtual

Licensing Week Virtual and Licensing University highlighted the importance of industry knowledge sharing in times of uncertainty.

License Global

June 19, 2020

As much uncertainty remains for the second half of 2020, education and knowledge sharing took center stage at this year's Licensing Week Virtual.

Keynotes and panels with some of the industry's established thought leaders were coupled with a fully online version of

Licensing University

. From spotlights on

post-pandemic business trends

to understanding the importance of

purpose-driven brands

, the slate of panels for the week highlighted why learning is a vital piece in understanding how to move forward.

"I think everybody in this age of social media has been learning along the way about how to be a little more agile and react to what's happening in the world," says Marty Brochstein, senior vice president, industry relations and information, Licensing International, when discussing Licensing University. "Now the onset of the pandemic, and what it's done to the retail marketplace, has probably forced people to even move that education up in terms of their own professional training."

While the

community couldn't be in the same room, the digital nature of the event showed how the licensing industry can still share knowledge and learn from each other while social distancing. Speaking about the importance of sessions such as Licensing International's Licensing University, Brochstein even highlighted how the digital nature of the show might have allowed some industry professionals more time to take part in educational sessions.

"I think that what we're able to do by putting these sessions together virtually is have access to a larger pool of speakers," says Brochstein. People aren't limited as much by their schedules. "Everybody is rushing around and everybody's scheduled to the hilt during the physical show. But now we're able to take advantage of the extra time afforded by putting this together on a virtual basis and gain access to some people, we wouldn't have been able to get together at one time."

In terms of Licensing University, and the other panels at Licensing University, many of the sessions shined a light on the trends at the top of everyone's mind – COVID-19. Sessions ranged from

"The Day After COVID-19: Consumer and Marketing Trends"

"Stop Living in a Silo: Why Everyone Needs an E-Comm Strategy,"

panels aimed to provide tangible insight for companies looking navigate this unprecedented times.

"We were able to really think about some of the issues related to the pandemic and how it's affecting how you plan a marketing plan for the rest of this year and into next year when you're uncertain as to what the consumer landscape is going to be like," says Brochstein.

Learn More

If you missed any of the panels or Licensing University sessions, be sure to watch them on-demand by