March 28, 2023

Disney Social Media Moms Celebration: Day 2

Last Friday was the main conference day, where we were treated to a wonderful breakfast at Citricos in the Grand Floridian.  It was so nice to actually sit down for a leisurely meal, chatting with fellow moms and bloggers--so unlike the typical breakfasts in our home filled with complaints and power struggles.

We headed to the conference space, to be greeted by Disney president Meg Crofton, who spoke of Disney wanting to create memories and memorable experiences for guests, rather than thinking of themselves as a hotel/theme park business.
I confess that I wasn't so good at taking notes or tweeting, since I was trying to soak it all in and be present while listening to the talk.  And I confess my photos totally suck, since I was reluctant to try and squeeze my DSLR camera into my luggage and made do with my point-and-shoot.

We also got to hear Matt Jacobson, Head of Marketing for Facebook, give an informal and informative talk about managing your personal and professional accounts, certainly helpful for bloggers.  He stressed that it is great to separate your blog page from your personal page, and not to feel the need to "friend" anyone who asks.  I'm working on organizing my two accounts, and keeping my personal page, well, personal.

He encouraged bloggers to:
  1. Import blog posts onto a Facebook page for your blog
  2. Integrate social plug-ins on Facebook
  3. Advertise to target new moms and build your blog or business 
  4. Use insight tools and analytics to understand your audience (I'm not so good at this part)
We also heard from the inspirational and funny Rene Syler, former host of CBS's Early Show and writer of the blog, Good Enough Mother.  She was such an awesome speaker, charming, insightful, and definitely someone you want to keep an eye out for.

Following another delicious meal, we listened to Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works, New York Times best-selling author and consultant.  I liked how informal, witty and snarky he was.  You can view some of his talk in the videos below. 
I like that Chris encouraged us to be catalysts, rather than just talking "me, me, me".  Raise each other up, retweet things that really grab you, connect with your audience via social media, and help others find the resources they need.

He also said to limit what is said on your "outposts", like Facebook and Twitter, meaning don't repeat things in all places. It makes readers unfollow you in those places, when you just repeat/post there when they've already seen it elsewhere.  Create some mystery, and let those outposts bring readers back to your home base (ie. your blog).

There were some other pertinent announcements, like the big Star Wars Weekend in May (sooo wish I could get there for that--how fun!).  Check out Minnie Mouse in the Princess Leia outfit below.
And then the big announcement by The Fairy Godmother (yes, THE Fairy Godmother) about which blogger would win the night's stay in Cinderella's castle.
The winner was Andrea, of Savings Lifestyle--and she got to enjoy it without kids!

The day ended with a family dance party held on the track area of the Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt Show, where we were wined and dined to the sounds of Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Disney Junior's newest show.
The venue was positively spectacular, and everyone was having a great time.
There were even coloring pages and crayons for the kids at the tables, and a kids buffet.  Disney really knows how to cater to families.  We adults got to enjoy a variety of salads, bread, scrumptious desserts, and even cut-to-order Prime Rib (didn't try that though).
The music was fun for the kids, lots of ska-like "pirate" music from the show.
That's Sharkey and Bones, the show's hosts, below.  My friend's son is a huge fan, so I kept thinking of him the entire time.  We did get to take home some goodies bags with stickers and such that he loved.  
It seems like the tie-in marketing hasn't yet made it to stores yet, as I searched all over Disney to find something Jake-ified for our friend, with no luck.
As you can see, young and old alike enjoyed the evening, and dancing with Captain Hook and the other Disney characters who came out for the event.
Not bad for ending the 2nd day of the conference, bellies full, swashbuckling music still in our brains.
Disclosure: I paid a fee to attend the conference. Hotel accommodations during the conference were included in the fee, as were Park tickets,  selected meals and freebies in our conference totes.  All opinions are my own.

2 comments:

  1. How nice that you were able to bring your friend's son home some souveniers :) I'm sure he loved it!

    That's a great tip from Matt keeping your personal Facebook personal. That's one thing I've been trying to work on. Slowly "weeding"... Ideally there'd be a handful or two blogging friends. But that also means I should get better at posting on my actual page, not just letting my blog feed do all the work. LOL!

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  2. Looks like another great day. I just found out that we'll get to spend a few days at Disney in May, so I'm looking forward to that!

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