Disney Social Media Moms Celebration: Fabulous Speakers & Animal Kingdom {Day 2} #DisneySMMoms

Friday was our busy day, full of fabulous speakers and comedy.  First we had an introduction from Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort.  She told us about how Disney World has 64,000 employees and gave us an insight into the new Fantasyland coming this summer and beyond.

Some peeks into Fantasyland:

• Prince Eric’s Castle
• Beast’s Castle – dining
• Seven Dwarf’s mine train ride (but this won’t be ready for few years)

Here is a pic I took:

Speakers were next up and we had a full day ahead of us.  As a previous attendee of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration the last two years,  I am always amazed at who they have for us and love the diverse lineup.

Amy Jo Martin was first up.  She is the owner of Digital Royalty and built the company on her own.  Her story was amazing as she was a military-child who traveled a lot and become a PR leader in social media.  She helped Shaq with his Twitter and pushed social media presence before it was so popular.  Amy was a workaholic too who tweeted so much that her mother actually emailed her asking is she was okay since she hadn’t tweeted in 23 hours (only due to her phone breaking.)  Her parents asked her to please tweet every 12 hours!  She spoke of how humans relate to humans not logos.  For example, Apple – Steve Jobs and Oprah.   She says it is important to value “Balance” in the sense of “Work. Self. Family.”  You can have all three she stated.  The goal being to connect with people who believe what you believe to succeed.  Surround yourself with people who have similar beliefs.  Finally, she told us about “Ready. Set. Pause” meaning to take a 8 minute break each day.  Just 8 minutes of basically meditating or even listening to music alone, just for a break.   Amy also overcame breast cancer, her story is truly inspiring!

Our next speaker was Ramon DeLeon, a Domino’s Pizza store owner who is a huge presence in social media.  He actually owns six Domino’s pizza stores right here in Chicago.  He is a loud and energetic speaker that it is impossible not to smile and listen to.  It is amazing how much he really cares about his customers and brand.  He spoke of delivering pizzas in a blizzard, tweeting his customers directly, sending video thank you messages, and basically being the face of the pizza here in Chicago!  Ramon told us about how companies fall into “Bad social media disease” meaning you need to make it easy for users to find your brand on Facebook and Twitter.  Make your brand stand out in social media on a personal level.  Use social media in addition to your core business plan, not to replace it.

(pic from 5 Minutes for Mom)

Next up was a brief speech from Gary who told me about Star Wars weekends.  I guess since my boys are young (3 and 5) and aren’t into Star Wars yet I didn’t think of how big Star Wars fans are, but I will say the clips made the weekend look fun!  It is a weekend of Jedi fighting and training, meeting all the characters and other Hyper Space hoopla!  So instead of princesses, you have Star Wars characters!  He also told us about the Star Wars Star Tours 3D ride that recently opened and how it has more than 50 story combinations (although you may not want to tell your kids that or you will have to ride it 50 times!)

(pic from 5 Minutes for Mom)

Amy Foster was up next with quick insight into how important family vacations are.  She works with Disney Destinations Consumer Insight.  The one thing I got out of her speech was that families only have 18 summers with their kids!  I had never thought of it like that but 18 summers (less when you think of how kids under 5 or so won’t remember and the teenage years they are usually rebelling) will go by fast!  I am definitely going to make the most of our family time and vacations from now on!

Up next was Peter Shankman, from Geek Factory.  He was probably my favorite as he was so casual and down to earth but actually really successful.  He told us how we should all be weeds – if you think about it weeds master survival, stick around against all odds and are different.  He said how nothing ever exciting happens in your comfort zone so expand your horizons!  For social media, he pointed out that haters are good and the goal is to turn them into fans!  He spoke too of how different he was as a child and how he struggled with ADHD, makes me feel as if there is hope for my sons!

Lisa Druxman from Stroller Strides was our next speaker.  She started Stroller Strides as a way to not go back to work after having a baby.  She had no clue how big Stroller Strides would get and shared some inspiration with us.  Her tips were “Take Baby Steps” “Success begets success” “Get rid of Gremlins” “Meditate” and to create rewards for yourself.  She also pointed out that if you want your kids to be happy, healthy and stress-free, then be a good role model for them!

Chris Brogan was our final speaker from the day.   His overall point was to:  Make a goal and be bold, active, clear, and big.

(pic from 5 Minutes for Mom)

Oh and I forgot to mention that our host was Maryellen Hooper, the fabulous comedian!  She had me laughing the whole time!

We broke then for a few hours before meeting up at Animal Kingdom to have a private dinner in DinoLand!  Dinner was fabulous but the best part was having DinoLand to ourselves and riding Everest at night (which Animal Kingdom is usually closed by dusk.)

Mom and More Disclosure: I paid a fee to attend the Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World, but as an attendee I received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Disney.  Please see my Disclosure Policy.