Life Archives - Page 11 of 21

The #DisneySMMoms Report: Speakers and Lessons

May 22, 2012 TechyDad Blogging, Disney, DisneySMMoms, DisneySMMoms2012, Life, Smartphones/Tablets, Social Media

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

May 21, 2012 TechyDad Disney, DisneySMMoms, DisneySMMoms2012, Life

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.

Aloha Friday: Own The Strange

May 18, 2012 TechyDad Aloha Friday, Geeky Pursuits, Life

The other day, I came upon a question that asked if someone was strange. It puzzled me so much that I asked B: "What do they mean by strange?"

Perhaps they meant that a person likes to read about esoteric subjects when most folks select their books from the New York Times Bestseller list. Or maybe if the person enjoys cartoons involving superheroes over football and other sports programs, they are strange. Some people might consider it strange if a person would rather spend time by themselves on the computer instead of going to a bar with friends.

Personally, though, I wouldn’t. I would say that these people care more about pursuing their own interests than fitting in to what their peers expect of them. Far from an alarming trait, I’d call this healthy. If anything, I’d be more worried about someone who forgoes his real interests because he doesn’t want to be seen as different.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered: Why is being strange a bad thing? Plenty of great and interesting people are strange. Look at Jenny Lawson (aka TheBloggess). How popular would her book/website be if it was about her perfectly ordinary, not strange in any way life? Would CakeWrecks be as funny if the cakes they presented were plain sheet cakes with no distinguishing features to set them apart from the crowd? Would people know who Jim Henson was if his life’s ambition was something more normal than making hunks of fabric speak? Where would Bill Gates be today if he stayed away from those "strange computer things" and took a more normal-for-the-time career path? Would Lady Gaga be as popular if she wore only grey dresses and sang monotone songs about boring subjects?

I decided that it was time to stand up and be counted. I don’t choose my interests by what is popular. I follow my own path even when I’m the only one taking it. I’m strange and I’m proud of it!

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Do you consider yourself "strange" and why?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #139

Bad Luck and The Glasses

April 16, 2012 TechyDad Life

A few days ago was Friday the 13th. For many people, this is a day to cower in fear of bad things happening. Good thing I’m not superstitious, right? Or am I?

This was to be quite the busy day. B needed my help going through the boys’ clothes. With spring here and a trip coming up soon, winter clothes just wouldn’t do. So I took up bins of old clothes from the basement and we figured out what they had outgrown and what they could wear. Clothes that JSL could grow into got put back away while two big bags of clothes got ready to be donated while we were out getting haircuts and buying some needed new clothes at Target. On the way out, I grabbed my light jacket and stuffed my sunglass case in the pocket.

On the way to our first stop, NHL commented that Friday the 13th was an unlucky day. I told him that "bad luck" didn’t really exist and was just a superstition that people used to believe in. Then, we went to get our haircuts, stopped by Target to buy a few needed clothes, and stopped by Goodwill to donate the used clothes.

After leaving Goodwill, the sun was glaring in my eyes. I reached for the pocket with my sunglasses. Empty! Glancing around the car in sudden panic, B asked me what was wrong. I told her of my missing sunglasses.

Let me pause for a second to clarify something. This was no cheap pair of sunglasses. They had prescription lenses in them. Replacing them would cost over $200. You can see why I’d be upset.

B executed an emergency U-turn and we backtracked. Goodwill hadn’t seen them. Neither had Target or the haircut place. We ransacked the car but came up empty. They were gone. My expensive sunglasses had vanished.

I spent the rest of the day feeling depressed. Yes, they were just sunglasses, but I couldn’t help it. I kept thinking about each thing I could have done differently. Not taken my sunglasses. Left them in the car. Checked my pocket more often. So many things and it was all my fault.

The next day, after going to temple (and, yes, I did pray that I’d find my sunglasses), B decided to call Target again. After all, they had told me to call back in case someone found them. She described them to someone and the person looked in the lost and found area…. And found them! Target had them!!! We nearly jumped with joy as we all but pushed the kids out the door on our way to pick them up.

I decided that perhaps Friday the 13th might be a bit unlucky after all. Even so, perhaps Saturday the 14th is a lucky day! Or so I thought until my regular glasses broke. (Not bad, but enough that they’ll need to be fixed this week.)

Disclaimer: The sunglasses image above was modified from one on OpenClipArt.org.

Touching Without Ever Meeting

February 7, 2012 TechyDad Internet, Life, Social Media

You may or may not have heard, but Susan N (aka WhyMommy) passed away yesterday. She had been battling inflammatory breast cancer. This aggressive form of cancer doesn’t show up with the lump that other forms of breast cancer have. She batted this cancer for years, but unfortunately lost her battle. She left behind her husband and two young boys (4 and 6).

Thanks to the Internet, though, she has touched the hearts of people all over the world. People who never met her, who only knew her through blog posts and Twitter updates, felt the pain of her passing. When I got home yesterday, I saw a tweet about her passing and hugged B as she cried.

In a way, it’s weird to feel such sorrow over the death of someone we’ve never met. Yet, this is the power of the Internet in general and social media in particular. People can find other people with similar interests and/or situations no matter where those people may be. Once those people find each other, they can converse, aid each other, or perhaps just be sounding boards. In many different ways, they can touch people’s lives way beyond their physical reach.

Where we live, we don’t have too many close, face-to-face friends to talk to in person. I can’t really head out to see "the guys" and discuss marriage, parenting, life, the Universe, and everything. However, by simply opening up my favorite Twitter application, I can reach hundreds of dads and moms with questions ranging from the mundane to the vitally important. I can share sorrows and joys and form friendships. These friendships aren’t any less real because I’ve never greeted the person face to face. In many ways, they are stronger since you know that, where ever you are, your friends are a smartphone or computer away.

So, while we mourn Susan/WhyMommy’s passing, let’s celebrate our friends and family online. Consider this a great, big virtual hug to you, dear readers. Now go pass it on to another online friend.

Disclaimer: The "Heart-World" image above is derived from two images on OpenClipArt.org: Heart Gloss 3 and Glossy Globe.

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