Women in Toys to welcome attendees to NYC with an intimate networking event the evening before the conference opens.

The global networking organization Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment will host a happy hour Wednesday, March 1 to kick off the NYC Licensing Summit.

The event will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Social Bar, located at 795 8th Avenue, just around the corner from the Marriott Marquis, where the NYC Summit will take place March 2-3.

The celebratory cocktail reception will give NYC Summit attendees another opportunity to socialize and network before the main event opens on Thursday morning.

The WIT NYC Summit Happy Hour is $35 for WIT members and $40 for non-members, with drinks and appetizers included.

“We’re so pleased that our friends at WIT have created this additional opportunity for attendees of the NYC Summit to gather and network before the opening of the conference March 2,” says Jessica Blue, senior vice president, licensing, UBM Americas. “I’m looking forward to meeting up with colleagues and friends at the WIT Happy Hour as we prepare for the two days of insights and opportunity ahead.”

The NYC Licensing Summit will feature 22 speakers from the leading companies in brand licensing including Activision Blizzard, Cartoon Network, Epic Rights, Head Sport, Iconix Brand Group, Loot Crate, Macy’s Parade, Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, PepsiCo North America, PVH Corp., Sequential Brands Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Stanley Black & Decker, Tesco and more. Click here to view the full conference agenda.

Less than 10 tickets remain before the event is sold out, so interested executives are encouraged to register today. Click here to buy your tickets now.

The event will also welcome executives from more than 250 global companies, and feature a series of new networking tools that will help attendees connect with each other before and during the event.

The NYC Summit app, powered by Bizzabo and sponsored by Boy Scouts of America, features profiles of all registered attendees and allows current registrants to send messages to introduce themselves and set up time to meet. The networking features of the app are available only to current registrants. Executives who have already purchased tickets for the event can access the app now: just download the Bizzabo app and search for NYC Licensing Summit to get started.

The Community Networking feature is also available to current registrants on the NYC Summit website at www.licensemag.com/nyc-summit.

The NYC Summit is being supported by some of the industry’s leading licensees, licensors and service providers including Platinum Sponsor Concept One Accessories and Silver Sponsors BrandComply, Jivago Brands, JPatton, RoyaltyZone and Uwär? Brands, with additional sponsorship support from FabNY, Trevco, OpSec Security and HYP Hosiery.

The NYC Summit is developed by License Global magazine, part of UBM's Global Licensing Group, also organizer of Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe, and in partnership with the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), the industry’s leading trade organization.