My Magical Disney Week | Day Three – Part One | Disney Social Media Moms Celebration

FYI – This post will be a long one as there is so much information to put into it.

This was an exciting day for me, I was going to see a favorite speaker of mine, Chris Brogan. I had seen him speak at IZEAfest last year and was so impressed with him from how he presented to his view on social media, he is an amazing person and I highly recommend seeing him speak whenever you get the chance. More on Chris in a bit.

I quickly got dressed and headed to catch the monorail and ran into a whole group of moms and got to meet them all. That’s one thing I loved the most about this conference, meeting new moms, some who I chat with daily some who I have never spoken with before. I also missed the chance to meet so many others and for that I am sorry, but hope to have another chance soon to meet them.

Breakfast was amazing, great food. I found myself sitting with Connie and we were all by ourselves chatting when I looked up to see Chris Brogan heading our way. He asked to sit at our table and sat down right next to me. Okay, for those who know me, know I am such a huge fan of his to the point where I am in awe when I see him. He is brilliant and I am starstruck. So for him to sit down next to me and to take a picture with me, well, I was so happy.

I also got the chance to meet and have breakfast with Scott Stratten aka UnMarketing. Another brilliant man and I was so happy to have had the chance to meet him and learn a little more about him. And to finish out my table I had the pleasure meeting author Kathy Buckworth, whose Blackberry Diaries I had reviewed a few months ago. She is so nice!

After the fun time I had at breakfast I was anxious to see what the rest of the day had in store. Sadly, my husband was stuck with the kids all day in the rain and cold at Hollywood Studios while I was all warm and toasty, props to him for handling that well

After we took our seats the Tweeter Sisters took the stage and boy were they a hoot! They had me laughing all day long, I so admire people who can make others laugh, because I believe one needs that special something in them to do that, especially with people you have just met.

They introduced our first speaker, Maxine Clark (@chiefexecbear), Founder of Build-A–Bear Workshop.

What a breath of fresh air she was, she is smart, sophisticated and an idol in my eyes. The one (of many) things I took away that has really stuck with me was that its about passion, its about doing what you love and loving what you do. That is so very true and it is something I apply to my life every single day! Another thing is her saying “Let a child inspire you”. I believe the children are so very important in our lives and I am endlessly inspired by my children. Build-A-Bear for Maxine is a way to do that. Now I will have to say here that before hearing her speak Build-A-Bear to me was just another place to get a much unneeded stuffed animal, my kids had so many I never wanted them adding more. But after hearing how Maxine built this business from an idea on up and what her company does for so many children I am going to become a regular there and will soon be taking my toddler on her very first visit. I loved Maxine and all she stands for and I loved hearing her speak and learning from her. (Sadly, my camera was not working at this time so I did not get any pictures of her )

Next up was the wonderful mom, actress and Tony-award winning Broadway star, Marissa Jaret Winokur.

I knew of her and of her work but this was the first time I actually tuned in because she is so smart and funny and just absolutely lovable. And boy is she smart when it comes to social media. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. Right off the bat she came on stage acting like she didn’t know what to say or do, when she announces “I don’t do speeches, I do talk shows!” She has a couple of chairs brought out and even had her own interviewer with a theme song (you know how many people want their own theme songs? lol)

So we sat back to watch the World’s Greatest Interviewer Christopher Youngsman interviewer her, which I thought was a fun way to presenter her to us. She was so down to earth, talking about her weight and her new job, being a mom, and I just wanted her to be my best friend right then and there. She gave us an inside look at her life via a Vlog she did and I don’t know how she does it. My favorite part of it was watching her rehearse a song with her son strapped onto her front, and her having to cover his ears when she hit the high notes (which he seemed to like because he kicked his little legs).

I was impressed with her and her drive to never take no for an answer. I loved that she said she kept pushing, that she was the first one to an party and one of the last ones to leave, making sure she worked the room and was being “social”. I love that her fan page and friend page on Facebook is the same, she doesn’t separate them because she wants her fans to feel like they are a part of her life, something that not too many would do. I loved hearing her speak and wish her well in everything she does!

Broke for lunch and after we found a table guess who was working the room, being so generous with her time and talking to everyone and taking pictures, you guessed it, Marissa! What an amazing woman she is! I loved the personal attention she gave to each of us and was so honored for her time for a picture (see I told you B that I had my pic taken with her lol)

Lunch was just as amazing as everything else. Chicken Parmesan, Ziti and salad oh my! It was simply delicious! And I had a great group of women at my table, we chatted and had fun taking pictures of the meal. And just look at this, I so want to go back and get these again, they were melt in your mouth wonderful little morsels of cheesecake…

After that magnificent lunch we took our seats in the conference center again and this time we were in for a great surprise. Kathy Ireland was announced as the next speaker! That was not on the schedule but for me was a welcome surprise because throughout the 80′s I looked to Kathy Ireland as being someone I could look up to, someone who in my honest opinion was more beautiful than any of the models she was grouped with because she was beautiful on the inside.

She is also a brilliant woman who actually stopped and said that “We were her heroes for being there that day”, because she knew how much we had to change to get there. She even said, “That the career, yes career, of being a mom is under appreciated.” And goes on to say “That it is okay to ask for help, that we as women always try to do it all and have it all. We can have it all, just not all at once!” I LOVE THIS SAYING!!!!! I was giving her a standing ovation in my mind for that one. I believe that wholeheartedly!

She wrapped up her time by answering questions from the group, which she responded to without thinking, I mean she was really on her game at the conference! She even answered the questions by speaking the persons name who asked the question, she made it personal and I loved that about her. I was very impressed by how awesome she was, I only wish I had the chance to get a picture with her, she was an idol of mine in the 80′s and after this conference she will continue to be that to me.

She also has a new book out called Real Solutions for Busy Moms that I must get my hands on as soon as I can, because Lord knows I could use a little help.

Loved listening to Kathy Ireland speak and was thrilled that the next speaker was Chris Brogan. I have probably already mentioned it before but I love listening to him speak and even though some things drew gasps out of some I love how he delivers!

He started off with having us give a MUCH deserved round of applause to the Disney Staff. They were absolutely amazing and I wish we could have let them know that more. And then he began by asking for forgiveness for the cursing he was about to do saying it was out of passion and asked religious bloggers to pray for him later which made the room laugh.

He used his “When I reach out to shake your hand don’t stick your tongue down my throat” analogy which is to say be real, tell me your story, don’t immediately try to sell something to me. He is a big believer in getting to know someone. he says it also took him years to gain a good following on his blog, and just look where he is now. He is a brilliant man, I could listen to him speak forever and am looking forward to the next time I will get to hear him.

After Chris left the stage they asked us all to leave the room for 15 minutes while they changed things up a bit. This was a great networking time and I was able to finally chat a bit @consumerqueen and her husband @consumerking and was finally able to meet @princesstimetoys, all three people I just love and admire for doing what they do!

We were let back into the room to see that they had set up happy hour for our last hour at the conference, with drinks and more food and entertainment in the form of comedian Maryellen Hooper who was so funny! She had the entire room laughing so hard, I for one couldn’t breathe between jokes. She is so spunky and full of life and she loves making fun of herself, her husband and her new role of being a mom. Her blog is stinkyflowers.com and I loved her story of how that name came to be, to read about it click here.

After she finished her performance it was time to head back to the Polynesian and find my family for one last night of fun with all my blogging friends. That will be another post lol

I paid for my conference ticket to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and in doing so I received complimentary items, special discounts, food and entertainment as part of the conference ticket.