How to make your dreams come true, give back, and some Disney fun from the #DisneySMMC Session 2

 ****I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Land and Sea Celebration conference. I paid a conference fee to attend. I received a discounted rate for my stay. All opinions are my own. I have not been compensated or asked to post about Disney.****

After a whirlwind trip to Disney World, we were off on our sailing adventure! As a part of this adventure we would have another informative conference session. The session was filled with more informative speakers and lots of great information. Here are some of the highlights and guest speakers from this great Disney Media Moms event!

As the session started we were able to hear from Sharon Siskie, she is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy who leads the sales and marketing efforts for a number of high-growth businesses within Disney Parks & Resorts. Her teams support Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney and Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa. 

Sharon was excited to let us know a little more about the Disney Cruise line. Did you know that there are 3 new vessels setting sail in 2021, 2022 and 2023 each new ship will be approximately 140,000 gross tons and each is currently planned to include about 1,250 guest staterooms. Well that is pretty exciting! There will also be more planned Marvel & Star Wars Day at sea’s. They are so very popular and Disney is listening and giving the cruisers what they love. 

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

We were entertained by Tom Warburton the Producer, of the newest version of “Muppet Babies”. Tom Warburton is best known for creating the hit animated series “Codename: Kids Next Door” and his additional television credits include “Doug,” “Schoolhouse Rock!,” and Disney’s “Pepper Ann,” “Fish Hooks” and “The 7D.” Tom gave us a  glimpse into the making of the reimagined animated series “Muppet Babies”. You remember Muppet Babies right?

I loved the show when I was a kid, it was such a fun way to escape and explore with my favorite characters. The new version brings back your favorites  Miss Nanny, Baby Gonzo, Baby Fozzie, Baby Piggy, Baby Kermit and even a NEW friend (yes a new Muppet, exciting right?) an adorable penguin Baby Summer and their fun playroom antics . We checked out an episode, and it was adorable, it really brought me back to watching the original show. And they kept the theme song.. YES! That song is iconic, glad to see that that stayed. Your kids are going to love the show as much as you loved it as a child. The CG-animated series is slated to debut on Disney Junior in early 2018.

We has a presentation from an award-winning video content producer and as an Editorial Content Director Bob Hitchcock. Bob leads of a highly creative producing team at Walt Disney World Resort.  His adventures with Disney have taken him around the world creating compelling video content for the Disney Parks Blog, Disney social platforms, media distribution and internal and external partners.  Prior to joining Disney in 2009, Bob had a successful career in television news as a Videographer, Managing Editor and Assistant News Director. 

 Whether it’s a successful television news career, current Disney public relations and marketing projects or running a marathon, passion is the common thread that ignites his creative spirit and the key to his success. Bob told us all about what we needed to stand out and make posts and social shares that will be noticed. It is the little things that make the difference, be fun, people like fun! 

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

Next up was Alex Ruiz who is a Senior Manager, Digital Content Development for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Alex brings extensive success and expertise in keeping Disney Parks on the forefront of rapidly evolving technologies and social trends. He has a “hands-on” style and hyper resourceful approach in addressing creative challenges – a key factor in his ability to find new solutions and inspire engaging content. His work has received recognition across the industry, including features in Adweek, Variety, TechCrunch, Mashable, BuzzFeed, and The Huffington Post. Alex was full of great tips to help us get our creative juices and engaging content flowing and with all of these influencers in one place boy was the great content flowing! 

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

Remember I mentioned that there were tears during the conference, well some heartfelt tears would flow with the deeply moving stories from John Breckow the Director of Corporate Citizenship for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. John Breckow gets to oversee the philanthropic and giving effort across Disney Parks worldwide. John began his Disney career in 2006 and has had a number of interesting jobs since then – including 6 years in Walt Disney Imagineering as head of communications – prior to his current role. He’s excited to be here today to share a little glimpse ‘behind the magic’ of Disney Parks’ social outreach. I never realized how much Disney gives back. 

John was not here to boast and to advertise about how great Disney is and how many great things they do.. just the opposite he just wanted to share what he loves about Disney and about his job. The joy he gets from helping others and how you can get the same joy when you help others. Did you know that Disney sent $ and Minnie and Mickey to help out the folks that were displaced by hurricane Harvey? 

It was so moving to see the reactions of the people who had lost so much, to just see their favorite characters, to get a hug from Minnie and Mickey really made them smile during such a trying time. There was not a dry eye in the hose, each story John told was more moving than the last. John has the most rewarding job with Disney, and he loves what he does.

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

Tom Smith, Editorial Content Director and the Founder of the award-winning Disney Parks Blog, Tom is editorial content director at Disney Destinations overseeing the teams that create, manage and execute the stories you see each day on Disney digital platforms.   Tom gave us some background information about the wildly popular Disney Parks Blog.

He even hinted that there is to be a meetup coming soon. I would love to be able to sign up for a Disney Parks Meetup, it is a great way to get to do some pretty cool stuff in Disney for free, you just have to be fast! They sell out in record time, you have to check back to the blog daily hopefully you will get lucky and while you are checking out the useful park info a meet up will come up and you will be able to sign up! 

Photo credit: "Disney, Photographer: Alex Mirabal".

We were introduced to Ashley Eckstein, who is known to Star Wars fans as the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, this actress and entrepreneur, also founded Her Universe – the groundbreaking fangirl fashion company and lifestyle brand. Ashley has been widely recognized as a business woman and Fangirl trendsetter. Ashley was very excited to be able to talk to the Disney moms and dads, and we were excited to hear more from Ashley. I am a big fan of Star Wars Rebels, and to meet Ahsoka well that is pretty cool. Ashely seemed to very down to earth, wearing that adorable tea cup skirt (note to self, I must get a skirt like that!) so cute. 

Ashley shared with us some of the tips she got when she started her business, including search out for people who are smarter than you, you will not always know what to do, and with those who know more than you, you will be in a better position. You will hear the word no a lot, again and again, but learn from why they said no and make your business better. Ashely encouraged us to follow our dreams, follow and dream but don’t just wish, you have to take action to make those dreams come true. Her inspiring story is shared in her new  book It’s Your Universe due to be released on May 8^th 2018.

Overall the conference was so informative I know I will be sharing tidbits for years to come! Now we are off to enjoy the rest of the cruise. I will have more information about that soon, including the divine food and Castaway Cay… Stay tuned!

Disclosure: The reviews and or opinions on this blog are my own opinions . No monitory compensation was received. I was not required to write a positive review. Your experience may differ. The opinions I have expressed are my own I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising .