Give a Day – Get a Disney Day

Give a Day – Get a Disney Day Promotion

We were really excited to see what was in store for us this morning. We knew it was geared around the “Give a Day – Get a Disney Day” promotion.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Disney Social Media Mom’s event in Orland Florida at Disney World.  Our first morning there we were given a very nice breakfast and got to hear a great speaker, Guy Kawasaki.

From there we were walked over to another part of Disney Epcot (and for Florida it was a cold walk).  We were ushered into a huge room with a balloon filled stage and hundreds of chairs set up.  Yeah….we were here! To learn more about the Give a Day – Get a Disney Day There was all kinds of media in the back and cameras. The middle section was empty at that point and the Social Media Mom’s (us) had sections just for us.

They brought in a family from every state (except 2 that got held up by the winter storms) to represent the volunteerism that has been taking place. Disney started a promotion this year that you can give a day of service at participating places and get a free Disney park pass in return. Their hope was to get 1,000,000 participants and just 6 weeks in they have had 600,000 participants! Better than they ever expected. I think that is great. I knew someone who signed up at our local zoo to help take down Christmas lights. The projects don’t have to be big and scary. One of the points they kept making over the couple days we were there is how much better you feel and how just giving a day of service somewhere benefits not only those that you are helping….but it benefits you.

There are enough cans here to make up 70,000 meals for people who need them. Wow…is that fantastic. They then used many volunteers after this presentation was over to pack up the cans into boxes to take to those needy people.

They were colorful, decorative and had a message:

They really decorated and had the Volunteer theme going all around. Great

How can you help?  Check out the Disney site and see how you can also Give a Day – Get a Disney Day yourself!

If you liked that, maybe you would like to see this also:

Disney Social Media Moms

Disney Social Media Moms Conference

Thoughts on the Disney Social Media Moms Conference

As I write this post I am sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to board my flight home from the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and I am reflecting on how much I got from it.  I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it due to the weather and some other factors…and after missing my initial “great flight that would have had me there by noon” I spent 12 hours getting to Orlando and got into my room about 11:30 pm this last Wednesday.  But it was worth it.  Getting home is another story since I had one of my “old lady brain farts” when I scheduled my trip and instead of arranging my flight for Saturday the 13th at 7:30pm I scheduled it for Sunday Feb 14 at 7:30pm. (Yes…Valentines day). I changed that flight so that I at least get home by 10pm instead of 11:30pm tonight. Just because I’m an organizer doesn’t mean I don’t mess things up. (for sure)

Guy Kawasaki giving his presentation

Guy Kawasaki – Founding partner of Garage Technology Venture & Co-founder of Alltop.com

Our first speaker of the trip was Guy Kawasaki. He gave me some new insights on twitter.   He discussed twitter  and how he uses it and how we can best use it to further our businesses.  He shared that he was originally against it, not caring that “Jimmy was drinking his coffee” , but realized that it can be an invaluable tool in your business.  Some of the tips that I gained from listening to Guy was that we should tweet out 4  times each thing we tweet.  He schedules them about 6-8 hours apart so that he doesn’t lose page views.  He states that more than 4 times is too much, but less than that we are losing valuable page views.  He also doesn’t tweet what he is doing during the day and he is not talking about tweeting out responses to people 4 times.  He is constantly searching for information that others will find interesting and informing us of that on which is linked to his All Top Site which of course then brings him more traffic.  The site is a pure meca of information!  He also stated that we need to have a tweeter-feed. So that each time we post something new…it shows up on twitter. (I need to do that)

Maxine Clark founder of Build a Bear

Maxine Clark – Founder and Chairman of Build a Bear

Maxine if my new idol I think.  She is the founder and chairman of Build A Bear. She shared with us how she has a love of bears and how much her bear meant to her as a child. Persevering and believing in your dreams and working to achieve them was her message.  She was truly amazing. She told us about her 2nd customer and how neat it was that a boy can get a Teddy Bear and dress it up in Army gear and it’s acceptable for him to get that and be a kid too.  She has kept in contact with these people. She listened to a little girl in Canada who e-mailed her and told her she would like a Build a Bear store in her town and why. That little girl was at that store on opening day along with Maxine. How cool is that?  She manages her own Twitter account, e-mail account and answers people back. She is a very busy running a Build a Bear empire….but she still has time to talk to her customers and friends…she is real. She is a gem.

Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan – Eleven year veteran of Social media and Author of Trust Agents

To be honest I was excited to listen to Chris Brogan at our conference, but I didn’t know how entertaining  he would be. When I saw him at Blog World speak….he was on a panel with a few other people and no offense at all….he didn’t really get to “shine” like he did when he was on his own. I didn’t expect to be laughing as hard as I was. But he also passed on some really great information to us. Listening….Connecting…Publishing… The 3 pieces to Social Media that Chris spoke to us about and the importance of them.

Marissa Jaret Winkour

Marissa Jaret Winkour – Tony Award winning Broadway Actress and Veteran of Dancing with the Stars

You may remember Marissa on Dancing with the Stars. I never saw her in Hairspray the Broadway play she won her Tony for.  Since she was on Dancing with the Stars she has dyed her hair blond and lost a lot of weight and has a son. She told us she was due to have a baby 2 months after she was on Dancing with the Stars. She shared that she was a cancer survivor and before she under went her treatments she froze some eggs and her surrogate was 7 months pregnant with her child. She then went on to tell us about her life as a actress with a baby and how difficult it was.

Kathy Ireland – Surprise guest appearance

Kathy Ireland was not on our programs and we didn’t know she was going to speak to us. She came out looking beautiful as ever. She told us about her work ethics and a business she began going bankrupt, her 22 year marriage and her new book about daily devotionals due to come out soon. (She didn’t push her book, I think someone knew about it and asked her the question…and she answered)

Maryellen Hooper absolutely cracked me up.

Maryellen Hooper – Veteran in the world of Stand-up Comedy

I can’t tell you how hard I laughed. She was cracking me up.  Her act was about motherhood and life as a wife. She has a blog called  Stinky Flowers that you will have to go visit. You will have to get her DVD…she is really entertaining.

Disclosure:  I was not sponsored to go to Disney Social Media Moms conference.  I paid for the conference on my own. We did however get a discounted rate on the conference, our room and Disney tickets, and some of my meals as that was part of the conference package I purchased. I was not asked to blog on it, so any blogs or pictures I post are because I have chosen to do so.

Organizing to Traveling

I have started my traveling this year….in a big way.  So I really have been organizing to travel!  I just went to Austin, TX to be a judge for the Genesis Today Bloggers Immersion. I got to help pick one of the 5 finalist for the Genesis of a Great Idea Contest.  Debba Haupert won by the way from Girlfriendology.com

I leave on Wednesday to go to Nashville for the BlissDom conference. I am going to see my boys who live there on Wednesday and go to the conference the next day. I will be driving there. I flew to TX.

I come back from there on a Sunday and leave again on Wednesday for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference. I will be flying there also.

Here are a few tips that I have used to make getting ready to go easier.

1) Make a packing list.  Ok..I always do this. But I took it a step further and have it on my computer now. So I just have to print it out and tweek it for each trip.  It has all the items that I am always worried I will forget…like the phone, computer, camera chargers and sync cables, business cards.  I have a section on it for things to take on board the plane.

2) You can also make another list like the above for things to do before you leave.  Cooking meals for the family, make a copy of your itinerary for your husband or wife, leave insurance card and schedule for kids activities.

3) If possible use a little larger suitcase to go with, so you will have room if you get things on your trip to bring home.

4) Pack a base color of clothes and use accessories to change your look to reduce clothing. Scarves are great accessories (I am just learning how to use them myself)

5) Be sure all your electronic items are charged before you leave.

Genesis Today Social Media Contest Whrrl Story!

I have updated my pictures from the last 2 days when I was in Austin Texas with Genesis Today.  I went there to be a judge for the Genesis of a Great Idea social Media contest.

Not only did we get to hear the presentations but we got educated by Dr. Rob and Dr. Lindsey on the superfruits and what they could do for us, how they are processed and how to use them to improve our health.  We got to ask questions (and I think we could have been there for HOURS asking Dr. Lindsey questions)

There were 5 finalist (2 were teams) that presented their ideas.  I will tell you what…they all were good plans and I was really impressed with their presentations.   I had thought it might be one or two really good ones that would stand out as a clear winner. But no….it wasn’t that way at all.  Thank goodness it wasn’t completely up to me, because my scores were so close, that I had ties.  We judged them on originality, presentation and marketability.  It was a 1-10 score.   We all did our own scores and then Genesis Today announced the winner at the dinner later that evening. We were dying to know who won. Probably not as much as the finalist were….but we knew it was going to be close.  You can check it out on my other blog Chat with Sandy blog.

Hoarders…what is it all about?

Hoarding….What is it all About?

Did any of you watch the new show on A&E (Mondays at 10pm est).  It is called appropriately enough…”Hoarders”.
It gives the real life picture of what a hoarding house looks like….the thought process that the hoarders go through and their reasoning in why they “need” to keep their “stuff” and how they get rid of it…or do not get rid of it.  This is real life (from what I can tell) and shows the real emotions of these people. They get very anxious when people try to throw their things away if they have not made the decision themselves.

Hoarding. This is an Emotional Problem

This is an emotional problem.  There needs to be a psych. Dr. involved and helping to treat the person for the changes to stay in effect.

The picture above is a garage.  If you will notice that the boxes almost touch the garage door hardware on the ceiling….yes that is the ceiling! This is a woman I worked with last year. She is a hoarder…and knows it. She has books on organizing and is determined to get out of the mess she is in.  She has a very limited budget ….a disabled husband, and no real help.  She wants to move into a 600 sq ft house that her son (deceased) used to live in. Her house is a 4 bedroom home with basement and garage full. It would be cool for her to be on a show like that and get the physical help she needs.

But I love hearing what these people are saying….because I feel like I have heard most of it out of the mouth of my client.  They have a reason for each thing they have and have a hard time giving it up.

Hoarding is a serious emotional issue…it is not just lazy people.  Would love for you to see the Chaotic Kitten of Dehoarding Diary.  She is a hoarder who is decluttering her house and blogging on it. She has before and after photos. Love her and so proud of her.

You also might be interested in these pasts posts of mine:

What if I’m a Hoarder? What do I do?

Hoarding

Dehoarding Diary Works it Out

Swag at BlogHer

Swag

I have had several people ask me questions lately about the “swag” we received at the Blogher conference and the opportunities I have had being a blogger and what that means.
I have to admit that it has been a lot of fun meeting new people and companies and that most bloggers I have dealt with are more than happy to help you in any way they can.
The MomSelect Swag Suite at the Blogher conference was a very popular place to be. Maria Bailey (founder of MomSelect and Co founder of MomTV )and BSM Media were in charge of that and they had a line out the door. They had some trouble getting some of their products delivered on time…so when the response was so huge..they had to shut the doors for a few hours to restock and get things organized before they could open back up.
Here is a list of the things they had for the bloggers (for those of you who have asked what kinds of things we received.) By the way…I am not trying to brag in any way here..I am trying to thank those involved for all they did for us and the companies for all the samples and products they handed out to us.
These were things that were available. They had them spread around the room and started us out with the Land’s End Backpack to use as a goodies bag. I did not pick up everything because not everything was appropriate to my family.

AdoraPet DVDs – Triplets will love to watch it.
Beaute de Maman Samples
Build-a-Bear Workshop Bears -So cute!
CharcoCaps
Cultural Care Au Pair Memory Card Game
Cystex
Disney T-shirts/hand sanitizer
Easy Mac Cups
Enfamil Gift Bags
ItzaBitza DVD Game
Kindermusik Gift Bags
Lands’ End Backpacks – Wonderful…to give to one of my boys to use.
Latitude Tools – Great level, can’t wait to try it.
Moving Picture Books
My Princess Party To Go- Princess favors
No-Slip Grippies Tights
Paci-Plushies
Precious Moments Baby Clothes
Seventh Generation Organic Tampons
SoftLips I threw in my purse…nice
Wisk

It was fun to get all these things…but I would have loved to have just visited with Maria and others I have not been able to meet at Mom TV and Mom Select.

I have also had the opportunity to work with Walmart in a promotion to remodel one of my teens bedrooms. You can follow the progress of that and there will be a chance to win a make over yourself at the end of that.

I was asked to attend a P&G Bounty Experience today at COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus. I will be posting on that later in the week.

I have had many other opportunities lately and hope to have even more in days to come.
As a Mom blogger I will let you know that I look forward to working with more companies and other bloggers. I will be honest about what I tell you about and if I should promote something…it is because I like the company or product. They may offer to sponsor me or give me a product to review…but if it is not something that would be beneficial to my readers..I don’t really care what they offer me…I won’t be a part of it.
I will also post about contest or do a post because of a contest (as part of this one is) but again…if I don’t believe that it is something I should post about or don’t feel good about it..I won’t do it.
But I am more than Happy to blog and thank others for the opportunities they are giving me or the products they have introduced me to.
Thanks!

Black Friday Shopping …Organized

Organizing for Black Friday Shopping

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Do you set your alarm for 3am and have the drive in the dark and sometimes snow. Standing out in the line that you can’t believe is already THAT long? If you have never experienced the craziness…you are actually missing some fun. I don’t shop every year on Black Friday am, only if there are things that it will benefit me and I am in the right frame of reference to do so.
But I love to do it and usually make it about 75% of the time.
But I think once you get yourself on the road (the getting up is no fun), then you feel like you are off to tackle a battle and its really fun.
I usually go to Walmart because I would rather wait inside..thank you very much. They just have all the “door busters” covered up and you are guessing at which big covered thing in the middle of the aisles is what you want. Then at the given time of the sale there is supposed to be an employee by each one…they tear them off and everyone starts diving for them. I have never been in a situation where people are literally fighting or pushing or calling names. I know it happens, but usually everyone is friendly and tend to help each other out. You are there on the same mission.
But it is easy to get caught up in the frenzy and buy too much. You may go with one thing in mind, but if you don’t have your shopping trip planned you may walk away with oodles of things you really didn’t budget for or you may walk away without any of the deals you went for.

Before you go

1) Make your list on Thanksgiving day with the sales ads in hand. If you know the
layout of the store, mark down a map of where you plan to go.
2) Plan which stores you are going to go to and at what time (plan early for
your first store). Some stores match prices so you can take your K-mart ad into
Walmart with the exact same item and if there is a given price (you can’t use a
percentage off, they won’t honor that)during the hours of the sales, they will
match that. (Check to make sure your store matches prices)
3) Get to your store early (everyone else will too) Make sure you have your list
with you AND the store ads. (keep them in a folder)
4) Go for your most important item first. Then try your best to stick to your plan.
5) Try to resist grabbing the last ticket for that 52″ big screen that you don’t
need or want just because you are in the right place at the right time.
6) Go light hearted and plan to have fun. Having a positive attitude can make
your experience an adventure instead of a disaster!