A Peek into the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration: The Learnings

When I got the invite for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I literally gasped and covered my mouth in disbelief. I was at work at the time; otherwise I probably would have screamed like a teenage girl seeing her heartthrob. Ha! On May 9, my family and I descended into Disney World to experience the conference (they had plenty of family events for us) and also tack on a vacation at the end of the conference.

I’d like to say the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration left me speechless. Because it did. But then I’d have nothing to tell you would I? So, I have three posts about the conference and Disney for you here on Momcomm (this one down, two to go!), then some personal posts of my family’s vacation on Adventuroo. The experience was so amazing even these posts probably won’t do it justice but I’ll try!

In this post, I want to pass along some learnings from some of the speakers. Nuggets of wisdom you an apply to your own blogs. But first, I have to say I was quite honored that the President of Walt Disney World Resort stopped by. I’ve always been a bit enamored by the business of Disney so I was excited he took the time to speak to us.

Rene Syler of Good Enough Mother was our host for conference day. She’s full of energy, honesty and positive messages. Throughout the day, she shared ten life lessons from Disney. Some lessons were about honing your passion, playing nice and learning to save yourself (like Rapunzel there). My favorite lesson was, “If you build it WELL, they will come. Sloppy doesn’t sell.” As a blogger, don’t just slap stuff onto your blog just to have a post for the day. Like Rene said, sloppy doesn’t sell, so you want to put your best content, design and your best YOU out there.

We also had some amazing sessions – too many to give you a play-by-play of each session. Instead, I want to focus on the takeaways from a few of my favorite speakers during conference day.

Shannon Miller on Entrepreneurship and Social Media

If you remember the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, then you surely remember Shannon Miller (@shannonmiller96). She formed part of the Magnificent Seven and not only helped her team win the All Around Gold medal, she won Gold for the balance beam. During her session, Shannon shared her story of building her business, her life as a gymnast and her struggle with cancer.

Some great sound bites of advices:

• “You don’t stumble on an Olympic gold medal – You make it happen.”
• Watch what you say or tweet. Athletes have lost multi-million sponsorships due to one tweet.
• Being entrepreneur a lot like having the Olympic spirit– doesn’t feel like the hard work when you love it. (Isn’t that the truth?)
• An overnight sensation is most likely NOT one. We don’t always see the years of hard work.
• You never know when you’ll run into someone who has what you need or need what you have.
• Sometimes a brick wall really is a springboard to your success.
• It’s usually the unplanned moments that end up defining our character. Adjust and adapt as needed.

To see more about what Shannon Miller is up to these days, visit Shannon Miller Lifestyle.

Jackie Huba on Building Monster Loyalty

As a marketer, I’ve been following Jackie Huba (@jackiehuba) in one form or another for a few years now. She knows her stuff! Her latest book, Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics. explains how the keys to Lady GaGa’s success can apply to any business. Lady Gaga has sold over 23 million albums and has over 37 million Twitter followers. While she’s often talked about for her wacky outfits, Lady Gaga is savvy at building an empire of fans who bring on more fans who bring on more fans.

Jackie’s tips to build loyalty like Lady Gaga:

1. Focus on Your One Percenters.

These one percenters are that 1% of your fan base that are rabidly crazy for you. They’re your BIGGEST fans and they recruit new customers (or readers). Jackie says, “One percenters are crazy!” but they’re the most valuable. One thing Lady Gaga does is that if you’re first in line, you get to meet her. Way cool and a great way to reward her fans.

2. Lead with Values

As a business or blogger, what are your values? What do you believe in? One way Lady Gaga has lead with her values is by creating the Born This Way Foundation, whose mission states that “we believe that everyone has the right to feel safe, to be empowered and to make a difference in the world. Together, we will move towards acceptance, bravery and love.” She’s connecting beyond her music and connecting to others who share similar values.

3. Build Community

One of Lady Gaga’s values is the notion that we all have the same DNA and should be treated the same. When she was just starting out as a musician, she gained momentum with gay and lesbian community and she never forgot them for believing in her. She’s even become an advocate for equal rights, continuing to support this community. Another way she’s built a community of fans is on her Little Monsters site, giving fans a place to connect.

4. Give Fans a Name

Gaga calls her fans Little Monsters. While I don’t have a name for you Momcomm fans (although I do for the Brew Crew!), if doing this feels like a natural fit for your blog, then consider it!

5. Embrace Shared Symbols

The official greeting of Gaga’s Little Monsters is the so-called monster claw hand. It’s a shared sign of loyalty that her fans can use to identify one another and connect. Another example Jackie actually mentions on her blog is a Livestrong wristband. For bloggers, think about your blog badge as a shared symbol that one blogger might see on another site and know they’re both a fan of yours.

6. Make Them Feel Like Rockstars

During Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour concerts, she “phones a monster.” She literally calls a fan in the audience. That fan not only gets to go up closer to the stage, Lady Gaga asks if they want to have a drink with her after the show. What super fan wouldn’t go crazy (ahem- you know I wanted to say “gaga”) over that? Even better, according the Jackie’s book, Lady Gaga also partnered with Virgin Mobile who donates $20,000 to help homeless youth each time she calls a fan.

7. Generate Something to Talk About

We all know Lady Gaga turns heads with her outfits. But did you know an executive from Coty Beauty said she was behind “the most important innovation in the fragrance industry in the last 20 years”? Her perfume, Fame, looks black in the bottle but sprays on clear. And it had never been done before until Lady Gaga insisted it be done. It’s now the fastest selling perfume after Chanel #5.

A great takeaway question: Do you give readers things to talk about?

As you can see, Jackie is amazing (and so is Lady Gaga). Check out her blog JackieHuba.com and add her to your must-follow list.

Disney’s Gary Buchanan and Thomas Smith- Fire & Ice Session

I’ve taken a couple of courses on Disney branding before but it was so long ago that I don’t even remember if Disney even taught them. So to be AT Disney hearing FROM Disney ABOUT Disney’s social media was like being sprinkled a whole lot of marketing pixie dust.

Some of my favorite takeaways:

• Curiosity = ideas
• They’re always looking for next story
• It doesn’t matter where you take things from, it matters where you take things to.
• “If you’re coasting you’re going downhill.” – WALT DISNEY
• 60,000 cast members at WDW alone and everybody is a creator
• When they are writing blog posts or creating content, they work with the idea that they’d rather entertain someone and hope they’re educated than educate someone and hope they’re entertained.
• Date an ideas don’t marry the idea– your idea could change 100 times. You don’t have to stick to your original idea
• Play! Create content in a way that has an “a-ha” to the “haha” moment. Laugh and you let down your guard. (By the way, Gary is AH-MAZING at this. Just see for yourself by watching some of his Disney Parks YouTube videos. I really envy his style.)
• Make messages snappable and shareable– wallpapers, infographics, animated gifs
• They do live chats with imagineers, meet-ups, and answer questions on their blog.

Ooh ooh. And all my Content Brew Crews will love this glimpse at their blog’s editorial calendar! Plus, I’m sure you know this already, but it’s nice to see we aren’t who know blog posts are a small piece on the content puzzle.

Dayna Steele on Rock Star Principles of Success

Dayna (@daynasteele) used to work in radio, where she interviewed (and became friends with) many, many rock stars. I was mesmerized by her many storie and how they brilliantly weave into the tips she shared on being successful. Some of her best examples of what we have in common with rock stars.

Passion

Make your blog and your passion about them (your readers).

Knowledge

If you’re coming to a conference, do your research. Get to know who the speakers and attendees are. Dayna told us Sammy Hagar always bought the local newspaper before he did any local radio show.

Networking

Everything you do is because of someone you know. everything you don’t get to do is because you don’t go ask for what you want and need.

Appreciation

Take the extra time to say thank you. Simple as that.

Wow the Customer

In this case, wow your readers.

She told the moving story about a teenage boy dying from Cystic Fibrosis back in the 80s. Van Halen invited him to their concert but two days before he got too sick to attend. Sammy Hagar called Dayna on the day of their concert (when they should have been rehearsing) and asked if she’d come to the hospital with them. They all went to visit this boy, spending 30-45 minutes talking with him. Dayna later found out Sammy had been calling the boy daily, sending him gifts and was even working with the hospital to try to replace the little-kid-like teddy bear wallpaper with Van Halen wall paper. The boy died two weeks later, but their compassion was certainly “wow.”

Dana was really full of energy, amazing stories and great advice. To read more about Dana, head over to her blog DaynaSteele.com.

Disney News

Aside from the Fire & Ice session, we learned from various folks from Disney about some major initiatives either in the works or already launched.

Disney was the first major entertainment company to launch nutrition initiative. On their TV shows, you might notice bowl of fruit on the table instead of junk food. They’ve actually dropped partnerships with some major food companies in order to focus on partnering with companies who offer healthier food options.

We learned about an amazing new game called Infinity that’s coming out in August 2013. Characters from different Disney films and shows all come together into one game. I’m actually really, REALLY excited about it and know my six year old is too. Emily from Colorado Moms wrote a great post on Infinity if you want more deets (or to see the official trailer).

Finally, we got to learn more about Disney’s new Story app, an app that lets you turn photos and videos into a storybook that’s shareable and embeddable. It’s quite the cool little tool and SUPER easy to use. Before we left for the conference, we were sent a fun kit of story-starters so I can wait to start playing around with it more!

Great Sponsors, Too

We had many great sponsors. I’m sure I’m not mentioning all of them but here are a few. Rayovac kept us charged (which was great since my iPhone is draining battery like mad lately), H2O+ kept us smelling and feeling nice and Hanes made us feel colorful (also notice that flower bouquet below is made from Hanes products!). Also, GoGoSqueez saved us a couple of times when in line for a ride and the kids were hungry (they got bored quickly with the snacks we brought from home). So, thank you sponsors!

Whew! I sort of “talked” your head off, didn’t it?  I hope this über-long gave you some great food for thought!

Psst: I also shared the other side of the conference- some of the fun events (and a hysterical video of my little one falling asleep mid-bite) and how Disney branding know-how can apply to your blog. In the meantime, let me know your fave piece of advice or inspiration!

Disclosure: I attended the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and received discounted rates and tickets to various events and attractions. Any opinions are entirely my own. All non-opinions are the result of good note-taking. 🙂