Let me start by saying I love Disney. My family took fairly regular annual pilgrimages to Disneyworld – and even as an adult I kept going. We grew up on Disney movies and became animation snobs, even today preferring the beautiful depth and detail of Disney‘s style over all others. I still have all of my Disney figurines because I kept them to hand down to my children (that I assumed I would have.) We celebrated my mother-in law’s 60th birthday at Disneyland, all 13 of us, including custom matching Mickey T-shirts that only at Disneyland didn’t seem dorky to wear as a group. So, it’s with great disappointment that I think about what transpired over the last week between Disney and Mom Bloggers (and with a tinge of fear to even write about it, this is Disney after all.)
For months now excitement has been building in the mom-blogging community over the impending Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in Disneyworld in March 2011. Details came sporadically through Twitter – a save the date that explicitly stated registration would be on a first come, first registered basis, a vague time line for registration, and finally the actual registration date and time. When that time came the floodgates opened, servers crashed and mom bloggers everywhere were stuck looking at a twirling orange circle in place of real registration page with pure panic setting in. When I was finally able to register the registration process included giving all of my social media stats as well as the names of my advertisers and affiliates. In the end your ability to register was not a guarantee of conference admission anyway. The completely opaque process left many bloggers frustrated, angry and disappointed and Disney with a treasure trove of information. This would’ve been fine if that data was being used to “verify” my stats as the confirmation email implied, but I don’t think that was the case at all. And actually left me feeling pretty used.
Last year Disney invited the bloggers they wanted and they caught a huge amount of flak for seeming exclusive. This year was supposedly open, but I believe that they knew exactly who they wanted to attend and the open registration was in fact a farce. I received the rejection letter that stated “Unfortunately the conference reached capacity before your registration could be confirmed.” That would be fine if people who were literally registering at the same as I (and I mean I was on the phone with them!) didn’t get in. But they did. And I’m glad they did – but I wish I hadn’t spent 1 1/2 hours of my time trying to register for something that I never had a shot at being a part of.
In the end I don’t blame Disney for wanting to have a specific group of women at their “celebration.” When I look at the women I know who are going they are my friends and colleagues – women I would put at the top of any list I was making – what I wish is that Disney had just been honest. Take a page from The Sun Valley Conference and be open about the fact that you are inviting the select few who you want to invite. There’s nothing wrong with that. Will people feel excluded? Sure. But so what? Not every business owner gets to go to Sun Valley. But they do know what it takes to get there and they can aspire to it. The awful process Disney chose turned mom blogger against mom blogger, made people feel bad for being chosen and others resentful that they weren’t. That’s the most unmagical outcome imaginable.
(By the way I know many people (or PR reps) will say “why air this publicly?” and not just send a private email and to that I say that this conference is about social media and if these conversations can’t happen in that world then companies truly do not understand the power and use of social media at all. I think mombloggers everywhere are eager to hear answers)
Well, I’m in PR and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with airing your grievances. What Corporate America (or in my case, Canada) is learning about social media is that it’s a TWO way street; you take the good with the bad. Feedback and honest conversation is how a company improves in its consumer relations.
For a company like Disney to be caught up in this mess is, quite frankly, unthinkable. Disney is one of the most controlled business environments I have ever encountered; they knew exactly what they were doing with their information gathering technique (via moms’ entry ballots). (fyi, I didn’t enter the contest)
To me, they’re kind of like Big Brother…but with mouse ears.
Very nicely written. I too am ecstatic for the women I know who will be attending…and bummed that I won’t be.
Understanding that not everyone can attend and that people who can be the biggest asset to Disney should, indeed, be the ones to partner with them…. I also feel a little used.
One of two things happened with this whole campaign:
!) The Disney team was so disorganized that they fumbled on this time and again with release dates and important registration information…
OR…
2)They created an immense amount of hype for themselves and their conference using misleading information; if not intentionally broadcasting MISinformation.
Not very cool.
The point you closed with is also my truest feeling: I am bummed about not going. I am most frustrated, however, by being lied to. No, the conference was NOT full by the time you processed my registration. Even if we go with the assumption that you were cookied or “earmarked” (ha ha)… from the moment you clicked on the page… for your spot in line (which might explain why your friends who seemingly registered simultaneously got in and you did not) …. I registered myself and THEN someone else who couldn’t get to a computer. She was accepted and I was not. I opened the browser that completed her registration maybe 10 minutes after mine and submitted her registration a good 20 minutes after mine had been accepted.
Don’t lie to me. Just tell me I’m not what you are looking for.
It’s disappointing coming from a company as large and predominant as Disney. Perhaps their marketing and social media team is not as experienced as they would like to think they are….assuming, as some do, that this is easy and mom bloggers are not actually professionals. Who knows.
ANYWAY…
well written.
The thing with social media is that success really hinges on proper transparency. This was a huge fail from start to finish. What about the people who requested more information last year, got the first email and then never heard anything about final registration? Some of them probably don’t even know it has passed. So you don’t want to go with the first come, first served approach? That’s fine, but don’t imply that we didn’t register in time. The reason my registration “wasn’t processed” before the conference filled up is because someone on that side chose not to process it. Please just be honest. I am a lifelong Disney fan as well, because Disney represents the desire to make people happy. I can’t imagine creating a process less likely to have that effect. Regardless of the intent behind the process (which I would really like to believe is good), I do wish that the powers that be would have the grace to apologize for the confusion and frustration.
It’s funny how much I run into this issue – at school, in life, at work. People think that giving out information that might not be “happy” is worse than saying nothing at all. It’s just not true. Put the truth out there and have the guts to stand behind it, at least you will kill the rumor mill and the conversation will die down. Why are apologies so hard?
I totally agree with you! For what it’s worth I DID send a private email to Disney saying pretty much exactly what you said…..no response.
and to think I totally forgot about it
no really you’re right on so many counts – if you make it invite only then at least people that feel slighted really are…
I think in the end they will take this as a need to do things better next year.
Interesting, I did get the save the date email. But nothing else. Then, I did register using a different email then my original one that Disney has on file! Hummm.. Obviously, I got the email that said they were full. Oh well it was not meant to be. There is always next year!
Regardless of how you feel about the registration process, it didn’t “turn mom blogger against mom bloggger.” Mom bloggers managed to do that all by themselves.
Obviously that’s true. We’re all grown women (and some men) and attacking each other on Twitter or on blogs isn’t something Disney spurred on, but at the same time leaving a vacuum of information leads to speculation and it’s human nature for people to jump in and fill that void. I didn’t understand the people who attacked others for being upset. Disney can defend itself – they don’t need a bunch of mom bloggers jumping to their defense and that’s what I meant by mom blogger turning against mom blogger (or dad blogger as the case may be)
Well written, Becca. I started to write a blog post a few days ago, decided to let it percolate and am now going to just delete the draft. Everything you’ve said hit every important point.
I think the big thing that a lot of people still don’t understand is that social media is truly a two-way street, as another comment stated above. You can’t control social media, but you can manage it.
Disney’s people didn’t manage this process well. Now they need to look at some online reputation management actions. The hard part about having these types of “fails” is that they stick in the mind of the social media public a lot longer than the happy times.
FWIW, I, too, sent an email to someone up the chain of command. It’s my hope that they improve the process for future events.
As you said, if they want to be exclusive, go right ahead. Just be upfront and honest about it so that expectations, on all sides, are met.
Days have passed, and I agree, the problem with the process was certainly transparency. If this was an application process, then fine – just say so. I honestly think they were looking for a mixed bag of bloggers and writers. A simple application window could accomplish that and alleviate the confusion and frustration, & I hope they go that way next year.
The application only allowed limited info to be submitted. Social media is complex. I needed to be able to submit more links to truly verify all of my credentials. No one site is my ‘primary’ site.
Though I have been working in social media for a while, my personal blog is relatively new, and to eliminate potential conflicts of interest, for now at least, it is add-free. I think that, with the fact that I write for multiple media outlets, could explain my omission from the Disney crowd this year.
Oh wel, I still love Disney. I was able to help 2 moms plan trips to Disney just this weekend – one a first time traveller to WDW. Here’s to 2012!
Though I somehow got in, with so-so stats (definitely don’t consider myself a top mom blogger), I’m also curious about the selection process. I have a super-fast internet connection, and was able to register at 2:07pm, so my guess is that is what got me though. I do agree with the previous commenter, that they were probably looking for a mixed bag of writers. I blogged about my Disney trip last year, so maybe that helped. Hopefully they’ll share more details about the selection process.
I’m sorry that people feel used and that Disney handled it in a way that has left so many questions unanswered.
I did not participate in this at all, my kids have been spared Disney their whole lives (the theme parks, that is. We’re not complete savages.)
I hope that you and others get some answers soon.
Wow – great post about not-such-a-great experience. I agree with you. They should admit they want to be exclusive and own it. I hope they respond to this and let you know some kind of justification – even if it never makes you feel better. It’s too bad – the happiest place on earth… really?
Great article. I am new to blogging and missed last year’s registration completely. I too saved the date and was excited for the process to begin. I’m not a SAHM so I could not register on my computer at work, due to office policy. I was upset to see that registration had closed before I could get home from work.
Now that I know there is an actual selection process involved, it smells like they used some of the same demographics to select there “Mom’s Panel.” I feel somewhat betrayed by Disney, since I am a young 40-something with my only child being in college, not fitting into any of their demographics for there panels or social media events.
I wish Disney would do something special to cater to those of us who have grown up Disney for the last 39 years. Maybe Universal Studios will sit up and take notice!
Oops! I meant “their” instead of there.
The whole process seemed vague and unnecessarily hyped up.
I think if you call it a conference, it should be open to anyone who can pay the fee. If it was an exclusive ‘meeting’ then call it that.
I don’t think I’ll be trying again next year. I don’t agree with how they went about things this time.
Life As I Know It
@lifeasiknowit
I guess I’m alone in not feeling there was any wrongdoing. Maybe it’s because I’m friends with the women who put this together and know they are very organized, well-mannered, hard-working professional individuals. Maybe it’s because I am quite aware that the “first come, first served” statement people misunderstood was “to apply” and not to be “accepted.” Maybe it’s because I’m one of those people who, too, was excited and nervous and scared and afraid and oh-so-hopeful, but didn’t attach any assumptions upon it, I was genuinely surprised to have been accepted, really. I didn’t expect it, and so being given the chance, not only was a pleasantly surprised, but thankful I expected the worst. I don’t have any answers to offer anyone other than to be patient, these ladies are very busy and if an explanation is warranted, they will give it.
I totally appreciate where you are coming from. I have had the pleasure of meeting the women in charge and attending several Disney events run by them. I think Disney only hires the best. This however was not handled well. It clearly said on the save the date it was first come, first registered. I didn’t post the image of the save the date because it felt very confrontational to do so. But, it’s there and many people have it. Regardless, the momblogging world is VERY small and since many of us know exactly when some people registered who got in versus other others who didn’t there is no doubt that other factors were at work. I think everyone would be better off – including the women putting all of their hardwork and time into this event – if a better, transparent system were in place. Not everyone should apply to Harvard and knowing what you need to apply makes for a better outcome all around. That’s why in situations where exclusivity is in play everyone needs to know the ground rules from the beginning.
[...] if you paid any attention to it at all, you’d see that it made lots and lots of people very, very [...]
Thanks for writing post. I agree that some things needed to be clarified. After seeing all the info I needed to provided BEFORE registering I decided not to go this year. I’m not sure how things will turn our. Should interesting to see
I think social media should be used for these purposes though I have just one word of caution “Pinkberry” and my case of be careful what you wish for when it comes to communication. It can turn into excommunication quickly. Disney is silly not to invite you.
I totally thought of you when I wrote this and your whole Pinkberry debacle. I still won’t eat there because of how they tried to censor you. But I never accused Minnie of having any work done!
I like your post. I have a great followup on my blog http://www.fuzzysheepcrafts.com after receiving a call from the ones behind @DisneySMMoms…
[...] is an article I wrote for Mom Blog Magazine way back after the Disney Social Media Moms debacle. I think it still applies, and hopefully makes sense to those looking for guidance on how their [...]