If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen that I was beyond excited at the chance to join a group of women like myself who love all things Disney and being in the social media world. The event in question was Disney Social Media Mom’s Celebration 2011. This will be the second year the event is to be held, and the main difference between this year and last is that this year was open to everyone (more or less, it turns out). Last year only a few hand selected people got to attend, and I was not chosen. I figured I would not be chosen at the time because I was relatively new to the social media scene. This year I really felt like I had a chance, even if the event was limited to a hand selected few. I really did.
Then came the “Save the Date” email giving details on when/where registration would take place. Sweet little SnowWhite and her little bluebird told me that the registration would come “in late November” and would be “first come, first served.” You can bet that I jumped up and down and got excited! No chance I’d be the one kid on the sidelines not picked for the kickball team. Meeeesaka-Mooooseka-Mickeeeeeeeeeeey-Mouse!
Soon there after, tweets from the official @DisneySMMoms event twitter started coming out giving hints and adding to the suspense. This mouse knew how to work the social media world! Eventually an exact date and time was given: Dec. 2nd at 2pm EST. I set aside my afternoon, rented a few new Disney movies from the library for the kids and sat waiting to get in. I was able to register (thanks to my husband and fiberoptic connections at work) at 35minutes after registration opened, while tons of other people were still not able to get in. I got my confirmation email immediately that told me my credit card information was holding my spot in the registration process. And then I waited, as the email stated that they had to verify each registrant. I got my hopes up (something I know better than to do, but it happened). I watched the #disneysmmoms feed as more people struggled to get registered for the next 2 hours or so. I tried to help where I could, offering that I was able to get through myself at home after clearing my cache.
I assumed, rightly so, that each registration was checked to make sure a real person signed up, and not one who was just buying up registrations just for the chance at a Disney vacation at the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious price of $375 for a family of 4 (at the Grand Floridian with 7 park hopper passes and dinners included).
A couple more tweets from @DisneySMMoms reminded everyone to be patient because there were only two little pixies processing the registrations and we’d be getting information as soon as they could get things done. I woke up the next morning to a letter saying “Unfortunately the conference reached capacity before your registration could be confirmed.” I was sad and disappointed, but I didn’t let it ruin my day. When I went on to post to my newfound connections via #disneysmmoms that I hadn’t made it, things were a buzz. People posting about not getting in, but the person they helped register an hour later getting in. People who were registered at 5 and 10 minutes in, some who went the year before, not getting accepted.
Of course, at this point, I became a little concerned but I certainly didn’t let it ruin my day. Had this, in fact, just turned into a popularity contest? Was I left on the sideline while the team played? I admit that I felt this way at first, and then the messages started coming in that more and more people were not accepted in order of the “first come, first served” as stated in the registration process.
So I sent a kind email to the folks behind the Disney reject letter address asking for clarification on the process. Nobody likes to be the one left out, and I wasn’t going to let it happen to me (I’ve had enough of that in my life, thank you very much!). I got another canned response about things being full before my registration could be confirmed. Another email later again asking for clarification, and I got an email and a personal phone call from Laura who runs @DisneySMMoms and is Walt Disney World’s Social Media Manager, Disney Destinations Global Public Relations.
Let me tell you, I think Laura is a class act for calling me on her personal time. Sure, there is a bit of damage control going on as the #disneysmmoms trend is filled with nasty things from some pretty irate people (it sure won’t help your chances next time, people!), but she was honest and admitted where/how things went wrong.
So what went wrong? As I was told, things boiled down to this: registration WAS first come first served and the registrations bounced to one of two email boxes (at random, in batches, so it seems) to two people who both have full time jobs besides this conference. Once the registration was received, Laura and the other person had to verify the information submitted and say “YEA or NAY” to them. Some people, even though they got in first had to be turned down if @DisneySMMoms felt they were registering just to grab a cheap vacation (as some on twitter blatantly posted). So each person was processing emails as they came in, while attending meetings and attending to other work. Laura admitted that meant that people didn’t necessarily get processed in exact “first come, first served” order but they did the best they could with the way the “Disney Conference” system is set up. So this was the inherent flaw.
@DisneySMMoms admitted to me that they have to change things for next time, that they basically screwed up this time. There isn’t anything at this point that can be done about the results. Sure, I wish there was. I’d still love to go, or perhaps a nice consolation prize is in order for those who were robbed of the chance to go by this flawed system. I still want to go, very badly indeed, but what’s done is done. I am still trying to get my head around how Disney thought this process would work, afterall, this was not a bunch of doctors signing up for a conference. It was the social media world! So next time they’ll predict this, right? I hope so. Next time they’ll go in real first-come order, using time stamps on credit cards to make sure? I hope so. Will Disney do anything to make things better for those of us skipped due to the flaw? No, and while that kind of sucks, it is understandable.
There you have it. The expectation, the suspense, the disappointment, the mistakes. But you know what, this wasn’t just a cheap vacation for me. As a SAHM, it can be hard to feel connected to the outside world – and I have a hard time getting out there to meet other moms because the Chaos Twins throw monkeywrenches in the most well laid plans. The social media world is somewhere where I have connected, made friends and found productive ways to share my time with the kids and still feel like I am more than just a butt wiper and floor sweeper. It sounds weird, but it’s true.
Anyway, here is my favorite Disney memory from Disneyland last November. We got a personal visit from Mickey and Minnie Mouse while we were in the First Aid station because LittleMiss got very sick due to her food allergy. We got to giggle, hug and honk Mickey’s nose. What fun!
ps- Laura told me that some people are being far from kind about being rejected. Is name calling necessary? Didn’t your Mom ever tell you that catch more flies with honey? Be nice people, it was an honest mistake and they did the best they could with what they had. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just a conference that will happen again!Hindsight is 20/20, you know?