I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Conference – Disney On the Road Chicago 2014 yesterday.  I was beyond excited to attend.  I LOVE Disney.

Registration was to open at 7:45 am at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Tree Terrace.  I arrived ready to go at 7:25.  Already there were about 40 people who had registered ahead of me and were waiting for the doors to open.  Wow!  This really was like Disney World.  Everyone just waiting to get it.

We received our name badges, tote bags and began to network.   It was great talking with all the other conference attendees and hearing about their blogs and lives.  I was able to meet many writers for Disney Blogs I follow.  It was so exciting.

About 8:15 the doors to the conference opened and the Disney music began to play.  Yes, I was tearing up.  The #RockYourDisneySide banner hung over the podium.  It truly felt magical.

Gary Buchanan was the first speaker.  He updated us all on the new happenings at the Disney Parks.  There are new rides – the Seven Dwarfs Mining Train, Ariel Under the Sea;  new lands – New Fantasyland and Cars Land; and new reimagined restaurants – California Grill.   Also, the Rock Your Disney Side and the #DisneyKids Promotions for this year.  This year it is all about those magical moments, memories of your Disney firsts and how Disney makes you feel.   Just being at this conference I had to say was pretty magical.   I laughed my way through his videos and was later able to have my picture taken with him.  How awesome!

Jen Fickley-Baker, PhD the Social Media Manager gave an overview of how the Disney Blog plans their stories.  She told the story of how they promoted the New Fantasyland over 5 years.  They could have just announced the building of the new land and left the story until it was closer to launch time.  But instead they built excitement over 45 blog posts and 100 images to update fans.  They gave milestones as they were reached, delivery dates and videos of the progress.  Their best series though were the live chats with the Imagineers.  All of these things gave fans an investment in the new area and created heightened excitement as the new land came closer to opening.

Lois Lorenz, HP Direct Print Services, presented on their newest campaign “If you can dream it we can print it.” #HPSmartMoms and their new connected printers opened my eyes.  I did not know I could print from my phone and now need to go and investigate a new printer.  The 2Smiles.com and HP Photo Creations look like two great items to help busy families create great gifts when you need them.

This was the first half of the conference.  It was amazing and exciting.  I can’t wait to share with you about the rest tomorrow along with lots of pictures!