Top 10 quotes from the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Speakers #DisneySMMC

Rachel
May 15, 2015
9:50 am

Disclaimer: Disney invited me and my family to Orlando to attend the wonderful 2015 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, we were provided with park tickets, hotel accommodations, meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about the conference or sponsors in exchange for our experience, nor was I compensated, but I’m excited to share our experience and my thoughts/opinions on it, which are 100% my own.

The Disney Social Media Moms Celebration this past weekend was an incredible experience. I learned a great deal and laughed often as I made friends and created memories that will last a lifetime. There were amazing speakers who shared a remarkable amount of knowledge and wisdom, and I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

“You might not remember what we say, but you will remember how you feel.” – Victoria Lim, Managing Editor, Walt Disney World Public Relations

Victoria Lim spoke about creating memorable video content with your phone at a breakout session I attended at the conference, but her point about people hanging on to feelings applies to much more than just video. Realizing that people hang on to feelings far more than they do to specific words is true of pretty much everything in life, and it is especially true of parenting. As adults, we remember just a fraction of what our parents said to use when we lived under their roof, but we certainly remember how we felt when we were with them, be it love, respect, humor, joy, thoughtfulness. Similarly, our kids will remember how we make them feel.

“We’re better than selfies. We should turn the camera around and instead focus on a world that needs our help.” – Vivienne Harr, 11-year-old Chief Inspiration Officer for STAND

Out of the mouths of babes, or tweens, in this instance. This young lady blew me away. When she was eight, Vivienne saw a photo of children enslaved in Nepal. She felt bad, as anyone who sees the photo would, but she decided to take action to free them and end childhood slavery around the world. She started with a lemonade stand and she ran it every day for a year, raising more than $100,000. From there, her movement has only grown. In fact, Stillmotion Studios created the #standwithme documentary that tells the story of STAND.

Vivienne says that we need to turn our compassion into action. “We must help one another, we must have empathy, we must stand together.”I love that. And the conference attendees stood to give her a standing ovation, and I think we are all motivated by her to stand together to bring about positive change.

“We can forget just how important parent feedback really is.” – Dr. Tanya R. Altmann, Disney Imagicademy

When explaining what goes into Disney Imagicademy and why there is a way for parents to give kids virtual high fives for their progress, she dropped this truth bomb. We do sometimes forget that our kids crave our approval, and when they get that positive reinforcement from us when it comes to their learning, it launches a wonderfully positive cycle.

“This movie is a love letter to our kids.” – Jonas Rivera, Producer of Inside Out and VP of Production at Pixar

I’m so excited for Inside Out, the movie about what goes on inside the mind of a tween girl that premieres next month. I may be partial because I’m the parent of a tween daughter who is an only child, just like the main character Riley in Inside Out. This feels very much like my story.

As frustrating as tweens can be, I love that the film makers came from a place of love. We were fortunate enough to get a sneak peek of the first two-thirds of the film and we all loved it. Best of all, it is obvious that this film was a labor of love. I’m such a fan of parents being inspired by their kids and being open with how much they adore their offspring. It goes right back to Victoria’s point about our kids remembering how we make them feel. We all want to feel loved.

“The best bragging is about other people.” – Chris Brogan, New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of Owner Media Group

There’s an overabundance of negativity in the world, and what we all need is some positivity. Why not shout from the rooftops about the amazing people in your life? “It’s so much better to share about other people,” said Brogan, and that’s in part because it leads to connection, and that’s a win-win for both parties. Also, it’s fun. I love it when kids overhear their parents sharing good news about them. They light up. Go for it – brag about that relative, friend, colleague and other people in your world who are making good things happen. You won’t be sorry.

“Stars do not struggle to shine, rivers do not struggle to flow, and you will never struggle to excel in life because of the power of your passion.” – Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers star

Having achieved huge success on the gridiron with the Green Bay Packers and on the dance floor with Peta Murgatroyd, Donald Driver knows about excelling. He inspired us moms to know exactly why we blog and to use our platforms to create something truly special.

Donald Driver emphasized that success is a choice and success requires tapping into our passion. That’s true of everything in life. One reason I was really excited to attend this conference with my family was that my daughter would see just how passionate I am about my writing and about becoming a better communicator.

“Children are a blessing, grandchildren are a reward.”

We got to watch this video that included this quote and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

“Shorter is NOT always better!” – Eva Smith, Head of Marcomm and Insights at Pinterest

I know, I’m a little shocked that I included this one, too. But even though I’m super short at five foot nothing, Eva Smith makes a great point. She was talking about Pinterest descriptions and encouraged pinners to include all the information necessary to explain a pin and how it is useful. It feels like brevity is prized in our world, be it in our speech, our writing and all else. Information is meant to be shared, not just abbreviated. We are all rushed for time, but slowing down just a bit can be so beneficial. Taking the time to give a full explanation, savor family dinner instead of rushing off, or hear the long version of your child’s day can be beneficial all involved.

“Be curious.” – Thomas Smith, Social Media Director, Disney Parks and man in charge of the Disney Parks Blog

This is so simple, and so incredibly important. It’s easy to get complacent, to stick with what we know and what’s comfortable. But when we get curious, it’s easier to see differently, which was another piece of advice from Smith. It makes sense that as our world expands, so does our perspective. We want our kids to be inquisitive throughout their lifetime, so we need to model for them what it means to be a curious adult. It can be as simple as saying, “That’s really interesting. Let’s learn more about that together!”

“Let’s all join forces.” – Janice Balgemino, Director, Global Brand Marketing for Disney Infinity

So it’s possible that Janice Balgemino said this in reference to Disney Infinity 3.0 that will include Star Wars characters, but the conference reminded me of the strength and power and awesomeness of the other bloggers who I was fortunate enough to meet. These women were fabulous, and I can’t wait to join forces with them in the future to share our love of family, Disney, and storytelling.

It was truly an honor being invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. As you can tell, I learned so much from all of these amazing speakers who were dropping truth bombs left and right. Click here to see my favorites quotes from my family while on the trip!