If you have read this blog or know me, you probably are aware that I am a major Disney freak. So when I heard that Disney was going to be putting on a Social Media Moms Celebration, I was all ears. So, so sorry for the pun.
2010 was the first year Disney hosted such an event. I read a bit about it in the blogosphere because our author Chris Brogan participated. I assumed it was invite only, and couldn’t imagine how someone could be so lucky as to get an invite to a shindig like that. Attendees were put up at a deluxe resort, had meals and park tickets taken care of, and were treated to a wonderful family vacation while learning more about how to succeed in social media. What could be better?
This year, I followed Twitter feeds that gave information about the event. I learned that it would held in early 2o11 and registration would be sometime in the late fall. Guests would be staying at the Grand Floridian, and would receive park tickets for the whole family. Amazing speakers, great events, and time at Disney with the family, what wasn’t to like?
Soon, we all learned that registration would open at 2pm EST on December 2. According to the site for the event, registration would be “first come, first served”. They did however imply they were going to be asking questions about your blog traffic, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends. Luckily, I was going to be in the office that day and could sneak away from meetings to try to sign up.
I got to my desk at 1:50 and went to the site. It said it wasn’t up but would be soon. So I waited. 2pm came and went and I still wasn’t in. I was starting to get nervous. I opened 2 other windows. Nothing. Until 2:10 when I got into the site and completed registration by 2:18.
I hopped onto Twitter and noticed there were a lot of folks getting anxious about the whole process. Understandable. Even though we had all “registered” we were told registrations would need to be verified. I panicked, thinking my blog traffic and Twitter influence would simply not be up to snuff.
December 3 became more than my birthday. It was the day I was obsessively checking email for that confirmation. Or the big NO.
You can only imagine my joy when I saw that I had indeed been accepted into the conference. I called my mom and let her know that she was getting to go with me next March. To stay in the hotel we’ve always dreamed about staying in, lest for the cost.
Next, I hopped on Twitter. I imagined that there would be Tweets of all kinds – happy tweets, jealous tweets, angry tweets, ungrateful tweets, and everything in between.
Sadly, I was right. It made me sad, thinking about how much people were invested in this, and was it really worth it for all the agony it brought them when they didn’t make it.
Certainly I hoped I would get in. But I didn’t know the odds, so I didn’t get my hopes up. And other than my mom, no one in the family knew it was even a glimmer of a possibility. It wasn’t until yesterday that I dared to dream, knowing full well that my hopes could easily be dashed as they could be lifted.
Hearing about moms who told their kids weeks before that this was going to happen, showing them pictures of the resorts online and talking about how great the trip WOULD be, way before the trip was even a possibility, make me sad. Hearing these moms get mad at Disney and talking about how heartbreaking it is make me mad. That’s not the fault of anyone at Disney. Counting your chickens before they are hatched is saying, no?
Would I be saying that if I wasn’t picked? Absolutely. If I didn’t get in, I would be upset and a little jealous, but I’d like to think that I was raised to be (outwardly at least) happy for those who got in and wouldn’t be all riled about it on the interwebs. I don’t think I would have called out Disney to explain the criteria for who got in and who didn’t. Now more people are jumping on the hashtag to partake in the drama and call out “mom bloggers” for bad behavior…can’t wait for that to die down.
So, why me? Why not me? I have no idea how I made the cut and how others didn’t. I’m happy that I got in, and am feeling very blessed and very grateful, while genuinely sad for those who won’t be joining us in Orlando next month.
If you are going, introduce yourself so I can have a friend before I go. Now that I am able to dare to dream, you can bet I will.
