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Susan here…
Guess where I am?
I’m on my couch!
Where’s my twin sister and co-blogger Janice? At the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.
(Why am I not there? Well, it’s not really important… various reasons like I couldn’t afford to fly my girls there and we have too much work to do getting ready for the Ultimate Blog Party. And because Janice is the one who does most of our work with Disney planning the event, she needs to be the one who goes etc.)
Am I jealous?
Well, maybe a little… but not in a real, “Grrrr… I’m so jealous, I should be her” type of way. LOL
And if you’re also NOT in Orlando at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2011, but you wish you were… don’t get “oh-it-sucks-to-be-me”, “hit-unfollow” kinda jealous. Sure, you can think, “Wow, I wish I were there. Maybe I’ll try to save up for a trip to Disney soon… or go to another conference sometime… Maybe I’ll get lucky and score a ticket next year.”
But don’t waste your own happiness and productivity getting jealous. And don’t lose Twitter Friends over it as this NY Times article suggests some jealous Twitter users do when they feel left out of a party.
Disney Social Media Moms Celebration is amazing for those lucky bloggers who landed a ticket before they sold out, but it’s bigger than that. Way bigger…
This conference is hosted by “one of the largest entertainment-related conglomerates on Earth” and it is 100% dedicated to MOM Bloggers.
Do you get the significance of that?
This enormous and powerful company recognizes that we moms — who are blogging about everything from breastfeeding to branding a business — are also powerful.
And they are teaming up with us!
Yes, there were only a limited number of tickets which sold out fast so only a few hundred mom bloggers get to be at the conference, but the point of the event is not that a subset of mom bloggers got to indulge in the deliciousness that is Disney World.
The point is that Mom Bloggers have become a powerful group that’s growing in size and influence… and Disney recognizes us and is celebrating our success with us.
That’s very cool.
While I won’t argue that I had an amazing time last year at the first Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and I’d love to be there right now… I’m not focusing on the fact I’m not at the party… instead I’m happy it is happening and I’m celebrating virtually with those there and learning from the tweets and live blogging notes from the conference sessions.
What can you do right now?
- If you want to attend future Disney Social Media Mom Celebrations, get on this email list to be notified as soon as dates are announced.
(This won’t guarantee you a spot, because these conferences sell out faster than Justin Bieber concerts, but you’ll be in the loop. )
- Watch the #DisneySMMoms stream on Twitter and follow those who are tweeting out insightful notes and lessons they’re learning.
- Read blog posts where attendees have live-blogged or taken session notes.
(Attendees please link up your posts here.)
- And then, get ready for the completely virtual — all can attend at no cost — Ultimate Blog Party 2011.
Because conferences and live events are a blast — and I hope you all get to attend one soon — but really what blogging is all about is… yes, you got it… blogging!
Written by Mom Blogger, Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Make sure you are on this email list, so you don’t miss out on anything!
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fantastic points altogether, you simply won a emblem new reader. What could you recommend about your post that you made some days ago? Any certain?
MsTwixt says
Based on the New York Times article and backlash on Twitter from this year’s event, I posted 5 positive steps to take to improve next year’s Disney Social Media Moms conference here: http://technorati.com/women/article/an-open-letter-about-disney-social/#comments
Susan says
Thanks again MsTwixt for taking the time to share your thoughts. I’ll review your post and share your advice with the other event organizers.
Mikki says
Susan. Great post. I think that some people tend to forget that Twitter is not only a place for businesses and such to promote things, but it’s also a place for regular people to share their life.. the fun things they are doing and to share with their friends that are doing the same. I guess everyone has the choice to not follow the hash tag and be done with it..
We had a wonderful time and I can’t wait to start blogging about our trip.
Wish you could have been there 🙂
Susan says
Yes Mikki, that’s a tough thing about Twitter streams… and I don’t think there’s an easy answer.
I’m so happy you had a great time!
MsTwixt says
I’m the author of the article in Technorati on “Disney Social Media Moms, Jealousy and Twitter” (http://technorati.com/women/article/disney-social-media-moms-jealousy-and/), and I wrote it after reading the front page story in the New York Times today on similar lessons from the SXSW conference (http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/us/19twitter.html#preview). I was prompted to write my article because the exact same tweets (and worse now, actually since the swag bags were distributed and sent all over Twitter -see more below) that stung SXSW are stinging the #DisneySMMoms conference — that is: the high prevalence of Tweets about goodie bags and private parties at the Disney Social Media Moms conference contribute to a culture of exclusivity at the expense of information sharing.
As one of the conference organizers, I find it interesting that this blog still hasn’t mentioned the criteria used to select what was referred to above as “a representative group of us” to attend the conference (and is it a selection process, or is it first-come-first-serve resulting in a sell-out? I’m having trouble understanding how it is both given what little is actually said about it) – and that lack of transparency is exactly what contributed to beginning of the backlash in December. (Full disclosure: I did not attend nor did I apply to attend this event. But I did chose to follow the hashtag to learn more about what was billed as a social media learning experience for moms who blog. Given the imbalance between the tweets about substance/content vs the tweets about the swag bags and blue cocktails, following this hashtag resulted in neither a shared experience nor a shared learning.)
Certainly it is not incumbent upon conference organizers to police what attendees send out on Twitter, nor it is incumbent upon them to share the knowledge at the event in the first place. But if organizers are going to participate and encourage Tweeting and social media usage to spread the word, then it should be done in an inclusive manner to build community rather than highlight the disparity between the “chosen” and the uninvited – ESPECIALLY if folks are to be encouraged to engage in the future (this is Relationship Building 101). The most recent tweets from this evening include the following (and this is only a small sample, nevermind the RTs): “More goodies left in my hotel room! We are going home with 2 luggage bags full of #DisneySMMoms gifts!”, “I am now SO spoiled!! ..Moving on to private dessert and Illuminations viewing party #DisneySMMoms #fb”, “More goodies in the hotel room! We are so spoiled! #Disneysmmoms”, “Sweet swag in my room when I got in tonight. #disneysmmoms”, and “Just came back to my room to find another goodie bag waiting for me! Love being a #DisneySMMoms”. Sadly, tweets and RTs of this nature do nothing to build community or share content but serve only to create division, jealousy and self-promotion.
Susan says
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a long comment and sharing your thoughts.
I understand that in December when the tickets went on sale there was some confusion and disappointment when it sold out so quickly.
I can’t really comment on the ticket sale much more because we were not involved. The event coordinators at Disney handled the sale.
As I said, I’ve been enjoying watching the moms who are there have a fantastic time with their families and learn more about social media from presenters such as Chris Brogan.
Thanks again.
Susan
Nolie says
Of course I am jealous. It’s Disney, a conference and the family gets to go a long for a steal of a price. But just like every conference I can not attend I am happy for all those in attendance. In the mean time I peak in on the hashtag and wait in anticipation for the posts to start rolling in about all they learned and experienced.
Susan says
Yes Nolie, some jealousy is natural and as long as it doesn’t linger and add bitterness to your day, it’s not that big of a deal.
It is such a fabulous opportunity for families and I truly hope that Disney continues the tradition next year. I’d love to go next time!
Nolie says
There is also healthy jealousy and unhealthy jealousy. Mine is the healthy kind. I am super happy for them and maybe next year I will apply and be lucky enough to go with my family. Maybe I won’t get to go. Either way I will still be happy for all those who do get to go. Conference spaces only hold so many people and add in other logistics. It is a nightmare for organizers. They do the best that they can.
I too hope that the ones who caused a controversy out of it all does not ruin future Disney SM Conferences and that they keep running them.
Heidi says
I’d love to be there! Thanks for this post, Susan – you really put things into perspective. 🙂 Maybe one of these years, I’ll get to go!
Susan says
Thank you Heidi. I’m so glad to hear that the post helped. (And maybe we’ll both be there next year… hopefully Disney hosts it again next year.)