News

The Greeting Card Association (GCA), is excited to welcome retailers, sales reps, and buyers to its upcoming virtual event, *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo, May 20 and 21, 2021. Registration is free for attendees and includes access to a full schedule of events, networking opportunities, the ability to place orders through the GCA Marketplace, and the opportunity to visit the co-located Showcase, a virtual event bringing together the art and design licensing communities.

Daily Keynote Sessions

Each day will feature an opening keynote session with timely and relevant content to get attendees and exhibitors thinking in new ways.

Day 1: Maura Regan

Day one will feature Retail Roundtable – Navigating the Retail Landscape in a Post-COVID World moderated by Maura Regan, president of Licensing International.

This must-see session will discuss the challenges, opportunities, and changes we can expect in a post-COVID retail environment. An impressive line-up of panelists will share their views including Warren Shoulberg, journalist and contributing editor with expertise in retail; Sheryl Dubitsky, retail/brand consultant and most recently brand director at Bed Bath & Beyond; and Greg Wyman, head of retail and business development at Jewel Branding & Licensing. The session will be held on Thursday, May 20 at 10:15 ET.

Day 2: Janine Vanderburg

Day two will open with a keynote session by Janine Vanderburg, founder of Changing the Narrative. Vanderburg founded the non-profit group to combat ageism, and through her work found that birthday cards offered the perfect example of how we readily accept and present aging as a negative in our society. Her efforts led to a competition to find artists to design “anti-ageist” birthday cards. The resulting line of 23 cards, and her story of how they’ve been received, are shared in her session How Anti-Ageist Birthday Cards Help Change the Narrative. The session will be held on Friday, May 21 at 10:15 ET.

With more than 70 exhibitors participating in *Noted, and over 20 exhibitors in the co-located Showcase event, attendees will have access to a wide range of card makers, publishers, artists, and licensing agents from around the globe—all in one place. The event kicks off with the award ceremony for Noted@*Noted, a greeting card competition to recognize the best new cards released in 2021 in ten unique categories. Registered attendees can watch the awards show the evening before *Noted opens, Wednesday, May 19 at 5:00 pm ET. Then, the next day they can seek out the winners on the virtual show floor.

Attendees will be able to log-in to the online event on Thursday, May 13, one week prior to the show’s opening, to browse booths, reach out to contacts, bookmark favorites, and schedule appointments in advance. Registration is currently open.