Social Media Conferences Archives

Social Media Conferences

When Pixie Dust Lands in Your Inbox #DisneySMMC

August 18, 2017 / Disney, Social Media, Social Media Conferences

Just a few weeks ago, right in the middle of getting ready to say goodbye to summer and go back to work, some Pixie Dust landed in my inbox. If you’ve ever had this happen to you, the feeling is almost indescribable. What I can say is that reading a email subject that reads, “Invitation to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration “On-the-Road” at the Disneyland Resort”, took my breath away and put tears in my eyes! (no joke!) Although I had the opportunity to attend last year as well, being part of a Disney event like this is just something I hold close to my heart. It never gets any less magical for me either. Just as soon as I let out a big scream of excitement in my empty house (because no one else was around) I immediately shared the magical news on my social channels…because that’s what mom bloggers (like me) do. What is the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration “On-The-Road”?
If you’ve never heard of the Disney Social Media Moms Conference “On-The-Road”, it’s a half day conference put on by Disney Parks at various “on the road” locations around the U.S., as well as in Canada. The conference is by invitation only and extended to mom and dad bloggers and other social influencers, mostly drawing from those who share about their love of Disney online. The “On-The-Road” conference is a mini version of the bigger Disney Social Media Moms Celebration which is a much larger, multi-day annual conference also put on by Disney Parks. The purpose of this conference is to give attendees sort of a “snapshot” of what’s to come in the near future for Disney. It might include information about additions to Disney Parks around the world, Disney Cruise information, the Disney Parks Blog, or even give attendees a sneak peek at upcoming Disney movies. There are several great speakers at the conference who provide helpful information about blogging, social media, and the digital space and inspire all of those in the room. Since this particular conference location was at the Disneyland Resort, each attendee also had the opportunity to spend the rest of the day, inside the Parks, with their family. What an absolute treat! There’s nothing quite like making Disney memories together! Don’t you agree?I Updated My Business Cards
As soon as I RSVP’d for the conference, I reached out to one of my favorite artists to have a personalized Disney portrait made that I could use on new, updated business cards for this conference. I’ve followed Amy Rose Studios on Instagram for a while and adore her artistic ability. How cute did my portrait turn out? In the social media (and business) world, it’s always important to carry business cards with you that have the most recent, updated information. When you connect with people at a conference like this, you want them to be able to find you afterwards, right? I really wanted business cards to bring with me that had a Disney touch, so I ordered some with my new Disney portrait on them and I love how they turned out!I Picked Out My Conference Outfit!
The next thing I did was to shop for the perfect conference outfit. I considered just going casual since I’d be spending the day afterwards inside Disneyland Resort but opted to dress up and change later. I must’ve spent 6 hours looking in each and every store at the mall, searching for the perfect outfit. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to Disneybound a character or just wear a nice dress? Finally, I found a cute, summery, cotton top and skirt at White House, Black Market. I paired the outfit with some high, peep-toe red wedges and brought some EARs with me. I Made Some Connections with New Disney Friends Beforehand
I have a confession to make: I sometimes tend to stay in my own “safe” circle in social situations. For this conference, I made a conscious effort to connect with some new(er) Disney friends online beforehand, so I’d feel more comfortable talking to them in person when the big day came. A few of these super Disney Gals include Cam from Growing up Goofy, Dawn from I Am a Mommy Nerd, Julie from Mom Rewritten, and Leslie from Trips with Tykes. These ladies were super sweet and fun to sit with at the actual conference! I highly recommended stepping outside your usual circle. It’s really the only way to grow!Well, I can’t wait to share more about my magical morning at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration “On-The-Road” at Disneyland Resort so keep an eye on my blog for more posts to come soon!

Join in the conversation by following the #DisneySMMC hashtag and also @DisneyMoms on Twitter.

Your Love For Disney…..When Did It Start For YOU? #DisneySMMC #WDIS4U

August 18, 2015 / Disney, Disney, Lifestyle, Social Media, Social Media Conferences, Travel, Uncategorized

As a mom who loves Disney and shares A LOT about Disney online, it was such an honor for me to receive an invitation to the 2015 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities we (the attendees) received at the celebration, including access to hear amazing speakers like Jeffrey Epstein from D23. Jeffrey’s presentation at the conference had me teary-eyed (in a good, Disney way, of course) and beyond emotional. He shared one of D23’s latest campaigns with us called “When Did It Start For You?“.

The campaign asks Disney fans to share when they first remember falling in love with Disney and becoming a lifelong fan. It was fun to watch different clips of celebrities, a Disney Legend, some current Imagineers, and even some D23 fans. I couldn’t help but tear up as I watched each video. Listening to these people who all shared a common Disney bond share about their own personal reasons for loving Disney and feeling inspired by Disney was something I could relate to.

What inspired me the most though was when I looked up at the screen and realized there was a “When Did It Start For You” clip of someone that I knew up there! She’s mostly an acquaintance I know online, which is how this whole social media thing works, but regardless, to look up and hear Ashley speaking about her own experience was literally speaking straight to my own heart! The picture of her as a young girl was adorable!

It really hit home when she proceeded to talk about being bullied and how her love for Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” was her own escape from the ugliness of bullying. The “Ashley” I know online is a fun-loving, adorable Disney girl who posts tons of beautiful Disney photos. I had NO IDEA about all she’d been through and that she’d overcome so much. I admire her immensely for sharing her story on the big screen!

Watch her story here (you’ll probably need a tissue):

I’m trying to remember when it started for me? I can’t remember exactly though. I think I was a baby! I grew up living pretty close to Disneyland. When our family did visit Disneyland (it was a single park back then), it was in the summer and we always had to make the most of one day, from park opening to park closing. It wasn’t like present day where so many people are fortunate enough to have an Annual Pass and can just visit for a couple hours at a time.

I only have faint memories of my early Disneyland days. I can recall things like The Matterhorn, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and It’s a Small World. I remember eating lunch at Carnation Gardens and I remember watching the Main Street Electrical Parade at night.

Our day at Disneyland was like the one day a year I didn’t fight with my younger brother since we were too busy being in awe of all the magic! What I do remember is that it was all about being with our little family and creating memories together.

As I got older, my love for Disney continued to grow and I’d visit Disneyland with my friends (and no parents. One of my high school dreams was to dance in one of the Disneyland parades. I never had the technical training to make it to the final cuts of Disney auditions, but I will say that it was fun to spend hours and hours on the old backlot of Disneyland where they used to hold the auditions.

Luckily for me, they created a parade for Disney’s 45th anniversary that guests could actually dance in. It was called “The Parade of the Stars” and guests were picked up along Main Street, U.S.A. in the Omnibus and taken backstage to learn their parts.

We got to dance the entire parade route from It’s a Small World to the top of Main Street, U.S.A.! I danced in it on two different occasions, so it was a dream come true…twice! They even gave each of us a commemorative pin for participating.

Once I became a mom, my love for Disney was something that I quickly passed on to my own daughter. Her first visit to the parks was at Christmas time when she was just 7 months old. I don’t know how much she remembers about that particular visit, but when she was about a year and a half, she and I started visiting the parks together approximately 2-3 days a week together.

My daughter and I watched “The Parade of Dreams” so many times during its run at Disneyland! Now, just hearing the music from that parade brings back all of the fun memories we created together when she was really little.

I would say that my love for Disney has come full circle because now I’m here blogging about it too. I could go on typing thousands of words about this topic too, but I think everyone gets the message loud and clear. “When Did It Start For You?” is something we can ALL relate to. It’s fun to hear others’ personal stories.

Do YOU have a particular memory or reason for when it all started for YOU? Share with me in the comments!

Getting Ready to Go ON THE ROAD for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference!

July 16, 2014 / Arizona, Disney, Lifestyle, Social Media Conferences, Travel

The day I got an email in my inbox inviting me to attend the Disney Social Media Moms on the Road Conference in Arizona was a Magical One!

I’d connected with so many other Disney-loving moms online who are also in the social media world and this was finally going to be my chance to connect with many of them in person! I was also excited about the location of the conference, The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort! The property looked like it had so much to offer when I checked out the website. Emi was excited for the pools and Sonoran Splash, which are the watersides. I just couldn’t wait for all of it!

As the conference date neared, I started to plan out which necessities I’d need. I made a list of road trip necessities, in-room necessities, and conference necessities! Since Emi was going to be traveling with me to Arizona, although she wouldn’t be attending the actual conference, I wanted to get some extra special things for our trip to maximize our dual Disney Side.

First of all, let’s talk EARS! I love wearing ears. I wear ears when I’m in the parks. I sometimes wear ears when I’m teaching. I wear ears when I’m cleaning the house, unless I’m already wearing a tiara to clean! I will find any excuse to wear ears. Emi and I both already have black and red ears but I was in search of new ones for this special occasion. I came across an adorable local (to me) shop on Facebook called Popsikle Shop. She makes custom ears, so I decided to order a pair for both emi and I, matching of course!

Next we went shopping for warm weather necessities. Wait, I didn’t mean warm weather, I meant HOT weather! (Have you ever been to Arizona at the end of June?) Emi wanted to find some items that were matching and Disney-ish. We really lucked at Walmart! Their Juniors section had a ton of really cute bathing suits and swim shorts. Hot pink with white polka dots was VERY “Minnie”

So adorable, don’t you agree?

Do you like our hot pink visors, too?

We also found matching polka dotted coverups at Walmart that we wore as sundresses!

Walmart had everything we needed for our trip. We found sunglasses, water shoes, some other summer clothes, sunblock, and even snacks for the road trip! Not only did they have everything we needed, but it was also very affordable!

We also packed the personalized t-shirts we had made for Disney24 to wear in the room as part of our pajamas. I think this was the first trip we’d gone on where we had almost exact matching wardrobes. It was pretty cute!

I knew I needed to find something special to bring to this conference and hand out with my business cards. I racked my brain for something that I could make, but I truly had no extra time to really make anything by hand. Then I came across a post from a friend of mine, Xenia, who had recently hosted a Disney Junior Familia Party. It was on that post that I discovered alfajores! I KNEW immediately that they where what I needed to bring to the conference. Melo made me some AMAZING Mickey-shaped alfajores in both pink and white animal-cookie flavor and churro flavor! She was sweet enough to wrap them individually for me to pass out to friends. Needless to say, they were a hit!

Emi and I picked out a road trippin’ buddy to take with us. It only seemed appropriate that we chose Minnie Mouse. She sure loved to take pictures with us on our trip.

We even went to Michael’s to buy some chalk paint pens and the night before we left, we wrote on our car windows! We had to be the most prepared car driving through the desert! Emi even wrote “Honk if you love Disney” on my rear window!

I DO think it’s weird that not one person honked though!

Oh well, more Disney for us, right?

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess: A Review of the Arizona Resort by Over the Top Kid

June 29, 2014 / Arizona, Disney, Over the Top Kid, Social Media Conferences, Travel

This is a guest post by Over the Top Kid! (aka Emily, age 9)

I love summer! I love not having homework, I love getting to sleep in later, and I LOVE getting to go on little vacations! Last week I got to go to Arizona with my mom. She was going for The Disney Social Media Moms on the Road conference and I got to travel with her. When my mom told me she made our reservations at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess , I looked online to see what kind of things they had for kids like me to do. That’s when I got even more excited about the trip! Wow, it looked cool! After staying there for 2 nights and 3 days I was not ready to go back home. Let me tell you about just a few of the things I liked most about this hotel and my stay there.

1. It’s actually on Princess Drive I thought it was really cool that the resort was located on Princess Drive! Obviously that’s why it’s called the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, right? My mom and I LOVE princesses, especially Disney princesses!

2. A cowboy helps you with your luggage

When my mom pulled up in the valet area, a cowboy came up to the car to help us! He was wearing a cowboy hat and real cowboy boots and was super polite. He unloaded all of our things onto the bell cart. We had kind of a lot of stuff and he didn’t even laugh at us!

3. They have golf carts to take you everywhere After my mom checked in and got our room (which was actually a casita), we got to take a golf cart to our room! It wasn’t just a regular golf cart, it was a super long one with a ton of seats. Our driver told us that we could call any time that we needed a ride someplace at the resort. I think I drove my mom nuts when I kept asking her if we could take lots of extra golf cart rides!

4. You can order s’mores in a cup One of the many restaurants at the Fairmont Scottsdale is called The Ironwood American Kitchen. I think my mom would want me to write about how great the food was there, but I honestly can’t stop thinking about the s’mores in a cup that I got there! I really want to go back and have another one. This restaurant is really yummy though. They also have cool things for kids to play with while they’re waiting and not just a kids menu.

5. Our casita was awesome! When we first went into our casita I was so excited! It had 2 beds, a living room, a desk and a TV, all in one room! There was also a fireplace inside and a patio outside the door. In the bathroom there were 2 sinks, a giant tub, a shower and a cool walk-in closet! I always like to organize my things in a hotel closet, as soon as I get there. There were also robes for both of us and some great bath products that I took home for souvenirs. I told my mom that I could live in the casita forever. It was so nice. Also, there was a Keurig in the room and I got to make my own hot chocolate since my mom brought some hot chocolate K-cups with us.

6. *****Sonoran Splash *******my favorite thing about the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess This was the BEST part of the resort for kids! Sonoran Splash has 2 different waterslides that you can go down. You have to climb up the stairs and pick what side you want to go down. They move you pretty fast and it dumps you into a pool at the bottom! It seemed like I rode each of them about 100 times. I even got my mom to go with me a ton of times. I think this was definitely my favorite part of the whole trip! The Fairmont Princess Scottsdale has a lot more activities for kids to do, we just didn’t get a chance to do them. I saw a kids club online, called the Trailblazers Club, that looked really fun. On the weekends they have zip lining, fishing, fireworks and even Dive In movies that you can watch while you’re in the pool. I am begging my mom to take me back really soon so I can do all of the other things that I didn’t get a chance to do. If you were wondering if YOU should take YOUR kid(s) to the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, I’d say “YES you should!” Follow the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess on Facebook here, on Twitter here, and on Instagram here.

My First Blogger Conference: Blended

October 28, 2013 / Lifestyle, Social Media Conferences

It’s almost a month later and I still smile when I think about how much fun I had at the Blended Conference. Blended was a one day event held in Tempe, Arizona at the Double Tree by Hilton. It’s a beautiful property to stay at and when you check-in you’re always greeted with a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie! (They were so generous that we got a cookie when we checkout out, too!) In the case of Blended attendees checking in, each one of us was also given one of these adorable Shamrock Farms coolers, which were filled with goodies for our hotel room. There was a bottle of half & half, some milk, 3 flavored sour creams and chips to dip them in! Shamrock Farms was one of the generous sponsors of the conference!

Blended was my first blogger conference and I wasn’t sure what to expect prior to attending. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was excited to meet both of the SUPER ladies responsible for the great conference, mainly because they’re both named Wendy also! I just KNEW we were meant to meet! I was also excited to hear all of the guest speakers’ presentations! Normally, I’m not a shy person but I would say I was bit intimidated going in, just because I’m so new to the blogging world. Although I’ve been a blog reader for years, I hadn’t actually sat down to blog on my own until this past summer. I brought my best outfit, a pad of paper for note taking and a stack of my pretty new business cards that were designed by Tania Fischer Designs. (And seriously, my cards turned out SOOO cute! You’ll see them in this picture amongst some my new blogger friends’ cards that I got at the conference)

It was great to connect with some of the other ladies at the informal meet up on Friday night in the hotel bar. It’s always exciting to meet some of the bloggers in person that you’ve only communicated with online. It was even more exciting to chit chat while we enjoyed some Fairytale Brownies (another one of the conference sponsors) that were in a giant basket on the table! What a great conference sponsor to have! Mmmm!

On the morning of the conference, while I was getting ready, I may or may not have had a solo dance party in my room! I’m not used to having a big giant room all to myself where I can make as much noise as I want! With my coffee in hand, I dressed in my signature color, pink, and headed over the conference room. It was just the best day! I learned so much from each of the amazing guest speakers, (click here to see the list of talented ladies who presented), talked with some of the conference sponsors that were actually present in the back of the room, ate tons of yummy food, and met so many other bloggers like myself. I also appreciated the break-out groups that were led by Wendy Wright of Choosing Love and Arizona Moms Network and Wendy Bevill O’Neal of Around My Family Table, because you could basically ask them ANY question you might’ve had about the blogging world. As if all of that wasn’t enough, they then held a raffle for some awesome prizes, including each of the centerpieces in the room. I actually won one of the centerpieces which had been provided by Fry’s Food Stores! My daughter was ECSTATIC when I brought it home!

At the end of our day, we were each given two huge bags filled with even more swag that had been provided by the sponsors! (Click here for a list of ALL of the Blended Conference sponsors)

These are just some of the business cards I collected!

Two fun peeps I met that day: Heather from Brie Brie Blooms & Laura from Pink Cake Plate

And after the conference, we kept the party going over at Joe’s Crab Shack! As you can see, Laura & I are NOT afraid to wear a bib!

The entire event was just an amazing experience and I cannot wait to go back next year!

So….the word on the street is that next year’s Blended will be a 2-day event! I’m crossing my fingers that it is! To sign up to receive information about next year’s event, click here. I hope to meet you there!

I’m Going to Blended 2013!

August 19, 2013 / Lifestyle, Social Media Conferences

I can barely contain my excitement about the fact that my first blogger conference is going to be Blended! When I first found out that the 2 SUPER WOMEN behind this conference are BOTH named, “Wendy”, (Wendy from Around My Family Table and Wendy from Choosing Love & Arizona Moms Network), I just KNEW this was meant to be! I’m thinking we’re going to need to start our own “Wendy Club“, right?
Blended is a one-day conference which will be held on Saturday, September 28 at The Double Tree by Hilton in Tempe, AZ. It’s a great opportunity for bloggers to gain knowledge from some powerful guest speakers, meet some of the sponsors and have the chance to network with other bloggers, which I’m finding out, usually up turning into fun, new friendships!
In addition to the hosts, there will be 3 guest speakers at Blended. Maureen Fitzgerald from Wisconsin Mommy, Kimberly Sneed from A Night Owl, and Christine Pittman from Cook the Story.
I am anxious to hear all of them speak and meet them in person, after having followed them online.
You can look at the full conference agenda here.
The ticket includes all sessions, materials, snacks, lunch and what’s sure to be everyone’s fav part….SWAG!!! Everyone loves SWAG! If you live in, or near, Arizona, you should attend! I’m coming from California! You can register for Blended here!

So what are you waiting for? Get registered and come meet me in Arizona! I just KNOW it’s going to be fun! (mostly because I assume that fun follows me wherever I go!)

Make sure to connect with Blended on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

and sign up for the Blended Newsletter here.

Disclaimer: I’m a Blended Conference Ambassador. I was provided a discounted ticket for my promotion.