Disney Social Media Moms Celebration

Wednesday, February 10- Saturday, February 13, 2010 I was honored to attend the first Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.  I had registered for another conference the first weekend of February to learn more about this blogging world I was entering.  I happened to see a tweet from Maria Bailey , @momtalkradio, that said if you would like information about this celebration to email.  I sent an email not really expecting a reply because I am a newcomer.  I was surprised to receive an invitation and as I looked at the details, I knew I wanted to attend.  It is no secret that I am a huge Disney fan, but I was so interested to hear the speakers, Guy Kawasaki, Maxine Clark, and Chris Brogan.  It was the perfect combination for me, Disney and learning about something I love. (I have been a social media addict enthusiast for a long time)

In the interest of time I am hitting highlights.  In this post I am going to hit the highlights of the Social Media Moms Celebration, and later I'll tell you about the larger experience at Disney.  We had a breakfast Thursday morning at the American Adventure with Guy Kawasaki.   I sat at a table in that beautiful building thinking how great it was to be a part of this slice of America.  The time with Guy was well spent. He shared his theories for optimizing Twitter as a tool.  I think that people appreciate directness and if we are going to commit to marketing our brands, we have to be direct.  It gets weird because for most of us in that room, we ARE our brands.

Our next workshops were on Friday at the Contemporary Resort.  It felt like there was pixie dust in the air all day.  That feeling might have come from our first speaker, Maxine Clark, the founder of Build a Bear Workshop.  She was amazing.  She completely understands community and has sought to provide it for her customers and her employees.  Maxine is a role model for entrepreneurs everywhere.  She wrote in her blog about her experience with the celebration, you can find it here http://maxineclark.wordpress.com/.  Maxine was followed by Marissa Jaret Winokur.  Marissa opened in the role of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway.  She won a Tony for the role, and while she left the show, she went back 6 years later to close the show.  She has had several television roles.  Marissa is height challenged, and she is curvier than most women you see on television.  She shared very honestly about her struggles in the entertainment industry.  She was easy to relate to as a working mom.  After a great lunch, we had a surprise guest, Kathy Ireland.  Folks, Kathy Ireland is smoking hot.  She has built an empire and she emphasizes that faith and family have to come first.  She encouraged us all to make dates with our kids so that they all get special time.  She encouraged us all to follow our dreams and work hard.  She brought a great energy to the room!  Our last speaker was Chris Brogan.  Believe the hype people.  He gets social media at it's core.  It is all about relationship and he demonstrated it beautifully for us.  I am all about the love and Chris Brogan showed us the connections with relationship, community, and love.  If we are involved in social media without that trifecta, we are hollow, and people do not want to connect with hollow. 

I learned so much, but this celebration was so much more than workshops.  Next post I'll share the rest!