It’s a Friday afternoon, and as usual, a group loads into Baird Center. The hustle and bustle, the energy of the building in motion, are palpable, as staff and volunteers ready themselves for the weekend’s main event: The American Specialty Toy Retailers Association’s (ASTRA) Marketplace and Academy.

For the uninitiated, specialty toy retailers are typically small businesses that sell toys. Their owners know their customers like the back of their hands. They know which toys and games will fly off their shelves better than any algorithm and could tell you the average customer profile of their store without thinking twice. These owners live and breathe their business, where every sale counts.

“We’re in it for play,” says Sue Warfield, president of ASTRA.

This weekend, organizers expect around 3,000 members and suppliers for a weekend of learning, networking and, of course, shopping the seemingly endless rows of toys, games, puzzles and just about everything fun under the sun. And, like most conventions, after the sessions close and the exhibit hall lights turn off, most attendees and suppliers will venture out and explore the city, sending a financial ripple effect beyond the tradeshow floor to restaurants and retail shops, bars and museums, theaters and sporting events.

But beyond the estimated economic impact figures and potential leisure return visits to Milwaukee, ASTRA has a special way of leaving a lasting impact on the community. After the three-day Marketplace and Academy, after all the toys are purchased and the retailers begin their return trips to their destinations, ASTRA will pack up all the remaining toys and donate them to area nonprofits.

Measured not in toys or pounds or even pallets, but in semi-loads, these bundles of joy will make their way to four local nonprofits in the Greater Milwaukee area this year: the Ronald McDonald House, Penfield Children's Center, Neighborhood House of Milwaukee and Kids Matter.

The importance of play is at the very heart of ASTRA’s mission, and toys in their many forms play a central role in not just cognitive and social development, but in the healing process, and they want to spread that into the community. That’s why, wherever ASTRA hosts their Marketplace and Academy, the organization partners with the local Ronald McDonald House.

To help them identify and connect with other nonprofits where these toys would make the biggest impact, ASTRA turned to Visit Milwaukee’s event experience team. It’s part of a larger partnership with the destination marketing organization to help incoming groups make the most of their time in Milwaukee, link up with partners and vendors that best suit their needs, recruit passionate volunteers to help attendees find what they’re looking for and create the biggest impact for the community.

“Our partnership with Andrew [Knuth] has been just great,” says Sue. “He helped connect us with the nonprofits. Without that, we would have to do a whole lot more work.”

Milwaukee continues to surprise convention attendees, organizers and suppliers alike, as the city already wowed early arrivers on Friday. From the lake’s coastal appearance to the art museum’s outstretched wings, the local dining scene to the sprawling exhibit hall, Milwaukee’s central location to the incredible work by Visit Milwaukee’s volunteers, attendees are already clamoring for a return to the Cream City.

The minutes tick down to the opening reception at Discovery World, and the exhibit hall’s neatly lined aisles fill up with toys for every age. The convention and its attendees will come and go, but these toys, delivered to nonprofits all over town, will continue to impact the lives of kids and their families for years to come.