I did not get accepted for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference. I’m not happy. I’m a little sad, too. We were looking forward to taking the children to Disney. We go every 5 years. More than some. Not as much as some. We’re lucky…I know to be able to go to Disney at all.
On our last trip our kids were 3, 8, and 10. We’re due for another trip. This may be our last trip as a family. Our 14-year-old may not want to go on a trip to Disney in a year or two. The biggest selling point of the Disney Social Media Moms Conference was the cost. We’re on one income plus whatever I earn with my various writing, blogging, and social media gigs. The price of a trip to Disney for a family of 5 is outrageous. The conference price was a steal. Planning a trip will be very pricey for us.
Like many I spent over an hour trying to register using 2 computers, with various browsers open…you know the usual craziness that I do when confronted with an online registration process. Here’s the difference: I thought I was applying for a spot. I compiled my blog stats in a google doc so that I could efficiently add my stats in to the registration document. Now it seems that my efforts were useless. I did not think that the process was a “first come first served deal.’ Instead I thought it would be an honest and thorough evaluation of who we are as bloggers. How could they evaluate all of us in less than 24 hours? I’m annoyed that I was mislead. I’m also furious that I was late getting my daughter to the orthodontist. So irresponsible of me. Even after all of this I didn’t register. I e-mailed my stats to my husband who took time out of his job to register us.
There’s a contradiction…was the process 1st come 1st served or were we evaluated? Disney and the other affiliated mom blogger groups need to explain why there was a drop dead registration deadline. There should have been a lottery. Now there is some question over people who registered after others but were accepted. However the registration process worked people would have been upset over not getting to go to the Disney conference.
I know that not everyone who applies to an event with limited tickets can go, but the process needs to be clear and well-thought out.
Did you get a message saying you weren’t accepted? Or that all the spots had already been filled and unfortunately you didn’t get a spot?
It would surprise me if the conference was only for “the best” bloggers or whatever. Why would they need your stats? BlogHer doesn’t require stats for their conferences.
Either way, I’m sorry you didn’t get to go. I hope you can find a really good deal on a Disney package that lets you and your family go!
I totally feel your pain. I spent Friday afternoon preparing to register for the conference too! Starting at 145 I began refreshing the page, trying in 5 different windows, my phone, my husbands computer. I feel like I tried everything and I could not get the darn page to load. Why on earth did I waste 2 hours of my time? What did I get out of it? Frustration. I was even late to pickup my kids from school.
When I came home at 430, low and behold, the registration page was open on my computer screen. Excitement! Wow, i am not too late after all. I filled out all the spaces and pushed submit. Sorry, our registration is now full. WHAT?? No, it can’t be. I think I was in a depression over it all weekend. It would have been such an amazing trip for our family of 7. We went to Disney a few years ago and it was over $3000, this trip would have been under $1000. I am so sad that we missed out, hope everyone who got in has an amazing time!