Last week I was lucky enough to have been a
part of the Disney Social MediaMoms Disney On-The-Road
{#DisneyOTR} event. The happiest place on Earth brought a little bit of their
magic to Chicago for us to enjoy, and enjoy this event I did! Spending time
with fellow bloggers that I rarely get to see and companies I like is always a
treat. I was also introduced to some new faces and businesses that I was not
familiar with, but am so glad I was given the opportunity to learn more about.
This event was fun and informative and made me want to hop on a plane and head
back to Disney.
As per the norm, I was a wee bit early to the
event and had the luxury of relaxing and mingling with fellow Disney obsessed
media moms while waiting for the doors to open and the event to kick off. I had
a chance to chat briefly with MariaBailey, BSM Media founder and CEO, and meander
throughout the room scoping out all the sponsors and taking some #DisneySide
photos. The team at BSM Media did a
wonderful job putting on this event and creating a magical atmosphere embracing
all things Disney! We received a warm welcome from Jamie Langdon, Walt Disney World Public Relations and Social Media Manager, and Leanne Jakubowski O' Regan, Director Social Media at Disney Parks, to kick off this event.
I always love learning new
things about Disney and I was treated to fun tidbits, behind the scenes videos,
and some all around great presentations about Disney and all that they do. A
fellow Star Wars fan Gary Buchanan,
the social media managing editor at Disney Parks Blog, shared with us his
fabulously Jedi inspired Disney Side as well as some adorable videos of others
showing their Disney Side. He also shared with us information about the brand
new Disney Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride and the BeThe8thMiner.com weekly challenges
{spoiler alert – there are weekly prizes as well as one phenomenal grand prize
of a 7-night vacation for four to Walt Disney World Resort!}.
The social media manager of
the Disney Parks Blog, JenniferFickley-Baker, shared with us how they determine and gather their content, how
some of their most popular series have come about, and how Disney has been
bringing to life our most beloved places from our favorite films. After listening
to Jennifer I feel that I need to pay even closer attention to my surroundings
on my next visit to Disney, as it is all about the details!
One of the sponsors of this
event was Hewlett Packard and Lori Lorenz shared with us some common problems moms’
today face as well as some great HP solutions. I loved it! I really enjoyed her
discussion because I already own the HP printer she had in her video
presentation and as a result I learned some really cool new tricks to try at
home! I can print things like crafts and coloring pages. I can even print a
gift card from home from the TooSmileswebsite. Watch out friends and family… here come the gift cards!
After a brief break Michelle
Stepney, the Content Director at Disney Parks Global
Content Development, shared some really great advice about interviews
and etiquette. Just a few brief tidbits from Michelle – Interviewers are
looking for great sound bites. You need to get your message across and be succinct.
Be confident. She had so much more to share and my notes from her segment are
about two pages front and back. She was fabulous and had great real world
advice.
Speaking of real world advice, two of the
previous Huggies Mom InspiredProgram winners participated in a panel discussing their innovative
products, how their products came to be, and how the Huggies Mom Inspired
Program helped them succeed. Lily Winnail with Padalily and Alicia Overby with Baby Elephant Ears were very
inspirational and I truly enjoyed hearing the stories behind the products. Because
I too believe that the story is important.
And then there was the energetic and
charismatic Ramon De Leon. I
barely know where to begin to describe this presentation. As someone who is
also very energetic and positive it was a treat for me to watch those
characteristics shine in another. He was fun and offered great advice! He calls
himself “The pizza guy who gets it” – and boy oh boy does he get it! From his
video selfies to his twitter responses from followers he makes every person he
interacts with FEEL like he cares about them. That is powerful stuff! My
favorite tidbit of advice I took away from Ramon De Leon’s presentation was to ask
the right questions. So many times we ask why we can’t do something instead of
asking how we can make something happen. This simple advice can be the difference
between being the innovative creator of something magical or playing catch-up
in a world that continues to move at lightning speed. Thank you Ramon for such
an informative, energetic, and enjoyable experience, I would happily
participate in another presentation of yours!
I can only imagine how magical the
#DisneySMMoms event at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disney Land truly are.
Based on my experience with the #DisneyOTR event in Chicago I am betting that
it is truly an enchanting experience sprinkled with pixie dust and a little bit
of bibbidi bobbidi boo too! Thank you Disney, BSM Media, and all of the lovely
sponsors for putting on this exciting and educational event.
Disclosure: I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms
On-the-Road Conference. I was not asked to blog about the conference. I was not
paid to write this. All opinions are 100% my own.
