The third and final day of the Social Media Moms Celebration was so much fun and probably my favorite of all the conference. We started off the day with a seated breakfast at the Contemporary Resort in one of their convention halls. As we walked in to the colorful room, I could already feel the magic that was waiting for us that day.
During breakfast, these two cooky women began mingling among the tables. They were "Robin and J Twitter" (the Twitter sisters). They were hysterical. They playfully mocked all of us tweeting and blogging throughout breakfast! Later we would discover that they would be our "hosts or M.C.'s" for the day! They introduced each speaker and also handled all of the raffled items throughout the day!
Even though I had met so many wonderful and fun ladies the two prior days, I got to meet and even mingle even more today. Among them were, Laura, who was one of the awesome Disney cast members helping host the event. She was one of the first Disney Moms Panelists and now works for Disney permanently in the Social Media Department. I also got reacquainted with Leanne, who I met earlier in the year while vacationing at WDW over Easter 2009. She also works for Disney in the Social Media Department. There were also three current Disney Moms Panelists, Zanna, Diane C, and Margaret, who I have "met" online on DISboards, Facebook and Twitter. So, I felt extra special getting to meet some of the women who are experiencing that which is the WDW Moms Panel! They were super cool and ultra down to earth! I sure hope to meet up with them again hopefully as "one of them"! Another great gal I have met through DISboards, Facebook, Twitter and also her blog, is Stefanie. She was just as sweet in person as online! She was also nice enough to bring me several outfits that her daughter had outgrown for Cate to have. Wow, such generosity from someone I had just met in person. The others above are those special women that I met on day one of the conference.
Our first speaker was Maxine Clark, the founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop. She was so fun to listen to. She had a vision and ran with it. She had a great power point presentation that touched on her key points..."put your heart into it", "cute sells", "inspire fun", and "don't take yourself too seriously"! She also told us that she answers all of tweets herself to keep that personal interaction with her customers and fans. I am a regular customer to her stores, but after hearing her speak I will always be a loyal one, too! Great company that does great things! She also gave away a cute bear dressed in a Disney outfit to one lucky person from each table!
This actress from "Hairspray" and a contestant on Dancing with the Stars was super down to earth. She talked about having the hectic life of an actress while juggling motherhood, too! We could all relate to her. She said that she has the same Facebook page for fans as well as her personal friends, despite stress management and PR to keep them seperate. She said that she wants to "keep those personal relationships" with everyone! After speaking with us during the breakout sessions, she mingled during lunch taking photos and speaking to those that approached her, which was proof of her genuine personality!
Kathy Ireland, model and entrepreneur, was a surprise speaker after lunch. She spoke about how despite being doubted at the beginning of her career, she persevered through rejection. She was very eloquent and spoke about how "we are our own brand". She also noted that "cyber footprints never go away", so "be sure that the messages we are sending out are the ones we want received." Great message, especially in today's society where we are surrounded by social media!After Kathy Ireland spoke, Chris Brogan came on to speak. He is an author and was pretty funny, but I failed to take any pictures of him. Some of his key notes were, "we buy from people we like" and "little bloggers grow up"!
After all of these speakers, we were escorted out into the hallway so that they could prepare a small cocktail hour and get ready for our last bit for the day. This was the perfect opportunity to call and catch up with Matt. I was super proud of him that day. He had the kids in the parks solo all day. He later said that he never realized how much he truly relied on me for these Disney trips, when he just follows my lead because, "I know where I am going and what to do and when"! They still had a great day despite the rain. They managed to get on the monorail back to the hotel just before it began to deluge, which he was very grateful for!
That day we also received more awesome goodies. We got a really cool pink polar fleece WDW jacket (not quite a WDW Moms Panel signature pink jacket, but close enough), a collapsible soft plastic flower vase (very unusual but very cool), and based on the number on my nametag, I received the opportunity to get a "Disney Party in a Box" to be mailed to me upon my return home. It came a couple of weeks ago and we look forward to using it with our friends! All of this added to the swag we received at check-in such as 2 different watches, a Disney computer bag, a game board, picnic blanket, several t-shirts, and some other Disney Social Media Moms Celebration logo items. I was super surprised by how much stuff we received and how much fun all of it was!
So, getting back to the room for our cocktail hour, we were introduced to our pre-dinner entertainment, Mary Ellen Hooper. She is a stand-up comedian who is also a working mother and blogger! I laughed so hard that I was crying. With some of her stories and bits, it was almost as if she was speaking about me! We were given a DVD copy of her stand-up bit which is just as funny as it was live (I have watched it several times since with my mom and some friends). She has a funny blog called "Stinky Flowers" and upon returning home, I visited her blog and commented and in return, she emailed me personally thanking me for commenting and then visited my blog and complimented me! Again....yet another speaker that was so relatable and down to earth!
Once we left the Contemporary and joined our families at the Polynesian.
We headed over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for a dinner and dance party! Max got to ride Star Tours one more time with no line and we had a fun kid-friendly dinner. We got to pose with Mickey and Minnie as a family, dance a little, but then the kids were wiped out and we headed back to the hotel.
4 comments:
Allison, this looks like SO much fun.
I'd love to hear more about what Chris Brogan said. His is one of the few blogs I subscribe to by email b/c he is so brilliant about social media.
What an amazing event, by the sounds of it!
Yeah! Love this post! :)
Wish I could have been there; it looks like such a fabulous time! Thanks for the {totally better late than never} re-cap! :)
sounds like a great last day!! love your pink fleece too :)
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