Category: Disney
The #DisneySMMoms Report: Speakers and Lessons
Note: To see all of my posts on DisneySMMoms 2012, go here.
After we ate breakfast on Friday morning, it was time to learn a few lessons in social media. First, we moved to another room. This wasn’t your standard conference room. After all, it’s not every room that has a castle for a stage and inspirational stained glass scattered along the walls.
There were also these great centerpieces.
Power strips. Just the thing for the on-the-go blogger with limited battery life.
Once we got settled, the speakers started coming out.
Meg Crofton, President of Walt Disney World Resort let us know that Disney World isn’t in the "vacation" business or the "theme park" business. They are in the experience business. They want every moment from the minute you get on the Magical Express to the minute you leave Disney World for the last time to be filled with magic. (And they succeed many times over.)
Maryellen Hooper came on stage at various times both to introduce the next speaker and to induce fits of laughter in the crowd. Yes, though her jokes were mom-based, this dad laughed just as much as the moms in the audience.
Kelly Ripa and Katie Couric were there as well. Ok, they had pre-recorded messages for us, but that was good enough for us.
Amy Jo Martin talked to us about balancing work and family time. She was told to choose two out of Work, Family, and Self. She chose all three and, though she failed many times, she never gave up.
Ramon DeLeon came onstage with incredible energy. If he ever gives up the pizza gig, he could probably sell DeLeon Energy Drinks! He gave us example after example of how social media can be used to positively impact people’s lives. He also reminded us that a problem that is solved offline isn’t solved if it was described online. Others will see the "unsolved" problem and assume nothing’s been done. It’s not so much the bad experiences that will turn people away, he told us, but bad reactions (or no reaction) top bad experiences.
Gary Buchanan came onstage dressed as a Jedi to tell us about Star Wars weekends at Disney World. One year, I really want to head to Disney World during this wonderfully geeky time. Unfortunately, Gary also insulted a certain Sith.
He was ok, but I don’t think he’ll be insulting Darth again.
After lunch (photos coming Wednesday), we came back to mice on our table. The good kind, of course.
As we settled in, the speakers just kept on coming. First up was Peter Shankman. He told us not to wait for others’ approvals, to face our fears, leave our comfort zone, and to be like a weed. The first is a lesson that I learned long ago when I dealt with bullying. The second and third I took to heart and led to my Face My Fears Disney Challenge. (More on that in a later post.) The last item pointed out that weeds are masters of survival. They’ve learned how to do everything except grow a rose (aka "be like everyone else").
Lisa Druxman quoted Henry Ford and said "whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right." She told us to break big projects up into smaller pieces. Most importantly, she told us that there will often be a gremlin sitting on our shoulder telling us that we can’t do something. When that happens, we need to knock it off our shoulder and continue on.
I realized that my gremlin is High School Me. No matter what I do, I maintain a mental self-image of myself as a shy high-school kid who is terrified of how people will negatively react to me. High School Me couldn’t do half of the things that I do today and so, mentally, I’ll keep telling myself that I really can’t do these things either. I’m going to start knocking High School Me off my shoulder. He may have been me once, but he isn’t anymore and hasn’t been for awhile.
Finally, Chris Brogan reminded us of how important it is to have your site be mobile friendly. As a new owner of a smartphone, I’m finding a lot of sites that aren’t mobile friendly. Nothing’s more frustrating than loading up a site on your phone and being presenting with itty bitty text that can’t be resized to be readable or obscured text because the developers assumed that everyone only uses huge monitors. (He also asked who isn’t on Pinterest and I was the only one to raise my hand. I think that’s another post right there.)
As the sessions ended, it was time to head out to Animal Kingdom. DInosaurs awaited us there.
Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.
I’d Rather Be At Disney World
Let’s be honest, real life is hard. There are tons of chores and stress in day to day life that sometimes it can be hard to find the tiniest bit of magic. Even if you do happen to find it, you might be so worn down from cold, hard reality to appreciate it.
That’s one reason why I love Disney World. Disney is like an ideal version of how the world should be. You begin your day with excitement about what is to come ahead. Your entire family heads off together instead of dad and/or mom heading to work while the kids go to school. When you want to go somewhere, a bus, monorail, or even a boat arrives to carry you to your destination free of charge.
When you get to your destination, there are wondrous sights everywhere. You could stroll down the same street a dozen times and see something new every day. A ton of people are strolling by, all filled with excitement. By all rights, with that many people, there should be garbage everywhere and the bathrooms should be a horror. But, they are all clean as if pixies were hiding in the walls to scrub the surfaces and dispose of trash when nobody was looking.
There are fun games, rides, and shows for everyone to experience. You can move at your own pace: rushing from attraction to attraction or slowly taking it all in. Often even waiting on line becomes magical as Disney makes illustrations of instruments on a wall come alive. And once the line has lead you to your goal? Then, you get entertained in a manner that only Disney can. When you get hungry, your only problem is which of the wonderful food choices should you go with. Even the characters come alive and are there to great your kids (or grown ups who become kids once they see Tigger in front of them).
Then, as the day ends, you return to your room. The beds are made. The sink is cleaned. Fresh towels have been put out. Perhaps a towel Mickey or towel animal will be waiting for you. All done without you needing to lift a finger.
The only bad part about Disney World is leaving. Reentry back into the real world can be rougher than any airline turbulence. Suddenly, your pace isn’t set by how you would like to take the world in, it’s set by how your boss/family/etc. needs things done. The beds suddenly don’t make themselves and the bathroom isn’t cleaned by pixie-power. Things left on the floor stay on the floor until they are tripped over. Expenses for home repairs and other items that you need (versus that you want) pile up. Life isn’t one fun adventure after another anymore.
The Disney magic can be quite addictive. I’m already thinking about when we can next go there. However, I’m a firm believer that it *is* possible to carry it home. (And no, I don’t mean by trapping a pixie and smuggling it home… I’ve tried, those little sprites are hard to catch!)
First of all, I’d recommend purchasing a PhotoPass CD and taking full advantage of it. At strategic locations around Disney, there are photographers who will take your photo. Get one with Cinderella’s castle behind you. One with Spaceship Earth ("that Epcot ball") in the background. Kiss your loved one in front of the Eiffel Tower. Scream near the Tower of Terror. Disney magic can even be captured photographically as your group pointing to the ground reveals Stitch bursting out or as your little one’s cupped hands reveal that Tinkerbell paid a visit. While you should definitely be sure to bring your own camera to take photos and videos, the PhotoPass will let everyone be in the photo at the same time.
Next, get some souvenirs. You don’t have to stuff a suitcase full of new merchandise, but a few choice items to remember your trip can be helpful. As I work, if I need a little Disney magic, I just need to look up at my Vinylmation collection. (The newest members, Darth Vader and Boba Fett, seem to be getting along with Nerd Goofy, Waldorf, and the rest.)
Finally, get some Disney music and movies to view. No, you won’t be physically transported back to the tea cup ride, but watching laughing as the Mad Hatter fixes the White Rabbit’s watch can help keep a glimmer of Disney magic alive in your house. (At least, until I can figure out how to earn a living by staying in Disney hotels, eating in Disney restaurants, and riding Disney rides.)
Now, if we could only find that pesky Fast Pass ticket for the laundry room or that pixie who will clean the bathroom and make the beds for us.
A Smee Parenting Moment at #DisneySMMoms
My kids love getting Disney characters’ autographs. Last year, at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, they were so happy that they got Captain Hook’s signature. Smee had escaped us, however. So when we heard that the first night was going to have a Swashbuckler Soiree, we knew we had to be prepared.
Except, we weren’t.
In all of the confusion, we neglected to bring their autograph books with us. Smee was there with his captain. This was quite possibly the last time we’d see him this trip. Perhaps, our only opportunity to get his autograph, but we had nothing for him to sign.
They say necessity is the mother of invention, but parenting ranks right up there too. I couldn’t let my kids go disappointed, so I thought quickly. I brought the kids to the table where they were serving drinks and grabbed a napkin. Then, after Smee signed a girl’s book, I asked if we could borrow her pen. Borrowed pen plus napkin equals two very happy kids.
Have you ever had a moment where you had to think quickly to help your kids get something they really wanted?
