6 Moments That Inspired Me at Disney Social Media Moms

On my first day home from Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, my brain was total mush. But in a really good way. Like when your head is so full of ideas and thoughts and things you want to share that they are all fighting to get out. It was a wonderful mush.

And once I had time to process I knew I had to focus on what were the key moments from the conference for me. These are the 6 key moments that inspired me at Disney Social Media Moms.

What happens when you put Disney Land, Snow White and Star Wars in a blender?
You get Pixar. – Jonas Rivera, Producer, Pixar

Jonas Rivera showing the characters from Pixar’s Inside Out

Jonas Rivera has been the producer of several Pixar movies including Inside Out which is set to be released on June 17th. Jonas spoke about the process of making a Pixar movie. He talked about what made him first fall in love with Disney. His passion for Disney was inspiring, and something I totally got, because I have loved Disney since I was a little girl. And I know have a little boy who is so inspired by Disney. I found myself imagining Jackson on that stage talking about Disney.

Turn the Camera Around and Focus on the World

Vivienne Harr is an 11 year old inspiration. She used her lemonade stand to start raising money for children in Nepal who are working as slaves. Every day rain or shine, she set up her lemonade stand in hopes of making a difference. Vivienne’s message to us was that rather than take selfies, we turn the camera around and focus on the world, to see what we can do to make change.

Shine your Bat signal, who are you trying to find – Chris Brogan

If you aren’t familiar with Chris Brogan, I suggest you google him right now and get familiar. He is an author, journalist and a speaker about social media marketing. I could have listened to him talk for hours and would love to pick his brain on any number of blogging related topics. And here’s the thing that I loved about him, he’s accessible, you can totally pick his brain if you want. Chris talked about the importance of a newsletter and being accessible to your fans. He stressed the importance of building your business around, “belong, access and guide”. If you email Chris he personally emails you back, and that’s a lesson that all of us in social media need to remember, “if you don’t have time to do your own social media, you are doing it wrong”.

When Did It Start For You? – Jeffery Epstein D23

I’m not going to lie, I wanted to cry my way through the entire D23, When Did It Start For You presentation, because I just loved it that much. D23 is the official Disney Fan Club and they are asking Disney fans, When Did It Start For You? I love this question and love hearing stories of when people fell in love with Disney. I shared my story earlier this week, but I would still love to hear, when did it start for you?

Why Do We Blog? – Donald Driver

NFL great and Dancing With The Stars Season 14 winner, Donald Driver posed that question to us. He urged us to blog for a reason and to use social media to lift people up and not put them down. He shared the story of his father’s death and how social media helped to lift him up during that tough time in his life. After listening to him speak I really got to thinking about why I blog, it was a good reminder to all of us in the room of why we share and work in this space.

Storytelling Is In Our DNA – Thomas Smith, Disney Parks Director of Social Media

Disney Parks Blog – Disney Side Dog’s Day at Magic Kingdom

Thomas Smith spoke with us about how Disney Parks Blog develops content. It was very cool to hear what goes on behind the scenes at Disney Parks Blog. Everything Disney Parks does revolves around a story, and Disney is all about the details. The little details are always one of the things I’ve truly appreciated about Disney, they never do anything half way. He also told us “don’t marry an idea, date it” which I think is something great to keep in mind when writing. Not every idea is going to be the one.

The conference day flew by and was filled with so many great moments including a visit by Storm Troopers and a beautiful rendition of Let It Go, by the Voices of Liberty.

I loved that the day was filled with inspiration and magic, which is what Disney is all about. It also meant a lot to me that while I was learning at the conference my son was in the parks having fun with his Grandparents and Dad. Often things that I do for myself aren’t fun for my son and this was not the case at all when it comes to Disney Social Media Moms. I dare say that he had more fun than I did, and his joy is the most inspiring thing in my world.

My family and I were invited to attend Disney Social Media Moms Celebrations. We received a discounted rate and tickets. All thoughts and opinions are my own.