WDW Social 'Media' and Conspiracy

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<Are you advocating laughingplace.com be shut down?

Or just the ones you do not like?

All the Disney fan sites, including this one, uses Disney IP to make money.

I've asked this question several times and it's conveniently been ignored.

Andy>>

First, I'm sorry if it appeared I ignored you. I had meant to comment on the points you made, but the thread seems to sometimes explode based on 1-2 posts.

That said, LaughingPlace.com is a brand of its OWN.

This site does not misappropriate Disney IP, you do not see the Walt font in the page templates, and content from TWDC is noted as such. The products sold, if they infringe on any copyrights or trademarks, are not the responsibility of LaughingPlace.com or its owners as LP is simply the intermediary. After all, is Walmart responsible for the products it sells?

Of course not. The manufacturer is.

As well, LaughingPlace.com has been around from the 1990s ... just about the beginning of the online Disney world. It is a place where divergent opinions are voiced, welcomed and not silenced by webmasters who are kowtowing to Social Media folks at WDW Co because the WDW Co is in every measurable way the 'owner' of the site.

That, you see, happens when Disney is the foundation, the walls, the roof and, most troubling of all, the interior decorator of your site.

The owners of this site have proven themselves to both legit media and the fan community for well over a decade. For this reason, among many others, LaughingPlace has earned its place as legit media covering WDW among ALL the other Disney parks and resorts around the world.

Disney-centric? Definitely. Disney only? Not really. De facto arm of WDW Co's Social Media Dept? No freaking way.

This matter relating to WDW Co's handling of Social Media is NOT personal. Again, this is about TWDC's content and all of its leverageble media.

This topic is not about any person or website in particular. This is not the place for that. So why invite it? ...

It simply has no place here. This is about the Social Media Dept. of WDW Co. and the wisdom of their highly selective practices and policies in buying the messenger and controlling the message through less than appropriate methods.

Unlike LP.com, there are many sites out there that use the name 'Disney' in their domains. They post only Disney specific material. They sell DVDs of copyrighted IP of TWDC that they have taken on their vacations and even 'borrow' said material for covers and inserts. They emulate the Disney style in font and layout. They don't ever deviate from WDW Co's message. They may have tiny disclaimers/disclosures, but they absolutely want anyone who finds them to believe they are part of/affiliated with/endorsed by Disney.

Should these sites be shut down? Should these people (or some of them) be put out of business?

I'm not a lawyer and I won't play one here. And I'm not employed by TWDC right now to talk about these matters.

But I certainly have definite opinions. Reasoned opinions from a media background.

What are your thoughts? Do you think anyone should be able to piggyback off the property of others to make a living? What constitutes theft? What's reasonable? Or speaking to the heart of this thread, what's the upside for Disney in courting these people (and playing favorites and letting some get away with things that others get cease and desist notices for)?

I hope this answers your question and I hope you, likewise, will answer mine.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> He wanted ... DISNEY wanted ... to show these people ... these truly independent voices what it was capable of doing. And he hoped ... believed ... that even if Disney got some bad reviews they could use that information to better gauge the product they were selling. To learn what worked and what didn't and why.

Eisner didn't want to hear an echo chamber, unless it was a natural one.

He wanted unadulterated commentary. He wanted to see how others viewed the product, so Disney could make it good as it possibly could be.

So when Disney-MGM opened and some critics said there wasn't enough to do and that it wasn't worth the same price as a day at the MK or EC, he immediately greenlit plans to double the size/offerings of the park.

It was all research and it was priceless.

Good. Bad. And Ugly. <<

Perhaps Disney has developed a different strategy under Mr. Iger.

>> Now, how much value is there in having 486 bloggers drooling about Star Tours because you gave them a free vacation and let them talk to Anthony Daniels for two minutes with a handler close by? <<

I'm sure someone from the social media team could explain that easily in no time at all. If you can't be open with Disney fans about the way the Disney product, and brand is being presented who can you be open with?

 

Originally Posted By andyll

<<This site does not misappropriate Disney IP, you do not see the Walt font in the page templates, and content from TWDC is noted as such. The products sold, if they infringe on any copyrights or trademarks, are not the responsibility of LaughingPlace.com or its owners as LP is simply the intermediary. After all, is Walmart responsible for the products it sells?>>

What is the difference between having a video of a Disney show on a webpage that generates revenue ( <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/Lotion-View-574.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/L...-574.asp</a> ) and having that same video on a DVD that generates revenue?

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<Perhaps Disney has developed a different strategy under Mr. Iger.>>

Perhaps, they have. Iger seems to have fans on Wall Street and amongst many fanbois who don't understand major media and wish to vilify his predecessor, not realizing that Bob was the No. 2 when many of the bad decisions of the late 90s and early 00s were happening.

Iger seems as stiff as an overstarched shirt. Not that that has anything to do with the topic at hand, but I felt like taking a shot.

I see the big picture of the Social Media strategy in terms on things like D23 and The Disney Parks Blog. I get those things. And the desire to squelch discussions like this one.

I don't get the whole getting in bed with unsavory characters who greatly overstate the reach of their little homebased Disney businesses.

And, again, there are many folks in Burbank asking the same questions I am. This isn't a one Spirit crusade to get Lou working bussing tables at the family restaurant in Naples (fact you may not know: Naples is one of the top areas for the Witness Relocation Program) instead of living at WDW. That would just be a pleasant side effect.

>> Now, how much value is there in having 486 bloggers drooling about Star Tours because you gave them a free vacation and let them talk to Anthony Daniels for two minutes with a handler close by? <<

<<I'm sure someone from the social media team could explain that easily in no time at all. If you can't be open with Disney fans about the way the Disney product, and brand is being presented who can you be open with?>>

I so agree.

And that's why I am challenging someone from Disney, be it Thomas Smith or Gary Buchanan or Charlie Stovall to join in here and 'splain the rationale above.

Maybe I am just misinformed and misguided and clueless (we know I'm not, but let's play).

If everything is truly above board and these people are working to strengthen bonds between the company and its biggest/most loyal fans (and since I'm about to plunk down $325 for an AP for the 29th straight year at WDW ... and since I've visited EVERY Disney resort on the planet over the last 18 months and taken a transatlantic cruise with them, something I damn well guarantee not one blogger or podcaster can say, I think I qualify), then why not come on over to one of the most-respected fan site in the world and have a real discussion.

Again, if you have nothing to hide (what I am told everytime an incompetent TSA boob wants to play with my junk), what's the problem? Social Media exists to deal with sites like this and the people who frequent them.

Are you guys no match for a 'wittle old Spirit?

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

>>I don't believe you are possibly suggesting that people are opting to buy a new gaming system instead of taking a MAGICal WDW vacation or go see a film in Imax vs spending a day at DLR or buying iPads for the whole family instead of taking a DCL voyage.

That isn't what you are saying, right?<<

In a simplistic way, yes. In the 70s and 80s, there just weren't as many entertainment options, and certainly not as many that required the outlay of disposable income. Disney may not have been the only game in town, but it was far and away the biggest and best. Not so today.

>>...if you remember 1988, the big debut in WDW ...reporters from some major publications... were not so enamored... Michael Eisner... was none too happy. He actually seethed a bit when reading coverage.

Well, 1989 brought the biggest expansion in WDW history... Eisner could have reacted badly and insisted Disney not invite the individuals that ripped Maelstrom... but instead he wanted them all back and he made sure WDW Press and Publicity put out the red carpet for them. He even made sure to invite ADDITIONAL people from those organizations as well... He wanted ... DISNEY wanted ... to show these people ... these truly independent voices what it was capable of doing. And he hoped ... believed ... that even if Disney got some bad reviews they could use that information to better gauge the product they were selling. To learn what worked and what didn't and why.

Eisner didn't want to hear an echo chamber, unless it was a natural one.<<

The way I read this is that he wasn't interested one way or another in ech chambers, but that he wanted to read more good reviews. And in this Year of Our Lord 2011, that means the "ADDITIONAL people" you invite may just come from the murky realm of Social Media.

 

Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer

Excellent post in 581. Sums up a LOT of The Disney Online Universe.

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

Now THERE's a Freudian slip: >>ech chambers.<<

Ech Chambers?!? Describes some of those online sites that Spirit is railing against!

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<What is the difference between having a video of a Disney show on a webpage that generates revenue ( <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/L...-574.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/L...-574.asp</a> ) and having that same video on a DVD that generates revenue?>>

You didn't answer my questions above, Andy, after I answered yours. But, perhaps, you're just busy (I just got in myself from a long night at the office and a long wait at the drive thru where they screwed up my dinner) and you'll get around to it.

That's cool.

As to your point above, and again I don't wish to play lawyer (if you have questions as to what is legal or, better yet, legally/ethically smart behavior I'd consult an attorney and/or TWDC directly in Burbank) LP.com isn't making/selling DVDs.

The link that you put in your post is coverage of a new show (one that I've never seen) at TPFKaTD-MGMS. It was a show in preview as a matter of fact, so Doobie and Rebekah were probably doing a service to both fans and Disney by putting a report out.

It was coverage.

It was free.

You seem a smart guy, so you have to see and understand there is a difference between a report such as that on a legit fan website and someone selling a DVD of SpectroMagic with plagarized liner notes for $19.99 ... or $14.99 ... or even 99 cents.

Disney has already shut down people who make DVDs of their IP and sell them. I have no idea why they have, thus far, opted to not shut them all down. But I do see it happening.

But again ... there's a HUGE difference between what those people have done and continue to do and what happens here on LP.com

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74


<<In a simplistic way, yes. In the 70s and 80s, there just weren't as many entertainment options, and certainly not as many that required the outlay of disposable income. Disney may not have been the only game in town, but it was far and away the biggest and best. Not so today.>>

Doug, I have to give you credit. You are so good at confusing me, I often don't know whether I agree with you, disagree or am in between ... you should be a member of my family.

I will say that your last statement is quite powerful. Disney may be not be the biggest (if we're talking theme parks, I guess you could say chains like Six Flags have larger domestic footprints) or the best (anyone who has watched what UNI has built in FLA since the late 90s vs. what Disney has put on its swampland would likely agree).

Of course, that speaks to two fundamental needs for WDW:
1.) To raise its game again and;
2.) To find and tap new audiences (the exact people you'll never find on a site that showcases construction walls).
>>...if you remember 1988, the big debut in WDW ...reporters from some major publications... were not so enamored... Michael Eisner... was none too happy. He actually seethed a bit when reading coverage.

Well, 1989 brought the biggest expansion in WDW history... Eisner could have reacted badly and insisted Disney not invite the individuals that ripped Maelstrom... but instead he wanted them all back and he made sure WDW Press and Publicity put out the red carpet for them. He even made sure to invite ADDITIONAL people from those organizations as well... He wanted ... DISNEY wanted ... to show these people ... these truly independent voices what it was capable of doing. And he hoped ... believed ... that even if Disney got some bad reviews they could use that information to better gauge the product they were selling. To learn what worked and what didn't and why.

Eisner didn't want to hear an echo chamber, unless it was a natural one.<<

<<The way I read this is that he wasn't interested one way or another in ech chambers, but that he wanted to read more good reviews. And in this Year of Our Lord 2011, that means the "ADDITIONAL people" you invite may just come from the murky realm of Social Media.>>

I can tell you from personal experience that Michael absolutely craved people being happy with the product. But unlike so many of the execs at the company he left in 2005, he was willing to hear unhappy comments (much more from fans than underlings, but that's a whole 'nother subject).

As to having the ADDITIONAL people coming from Social Media today ... well, the problem is that unless someone is very pissed because they didn't get five free nights at the GF, while their arch-enemy blogger did, and they lose control of their emotions (as many of these folks have) and Tweet about it in a petulant way, the coverage is going to all be glowing.

I haven't followed Mermaid's debut at DCA closely, in terms of online coverage. But I wonder if any of it has been less than glowing because the people I know who have ridden, and it should go without saying that I greatly respect, have been either disappointed in it or say that it simply is a nice little C-Ticket ride that Disney (aided by fan sites) made into something much greater than what it was.

One is a friend who is an Imagineer currently, one is a fellow consultant and former Imagineer and worked on WWoHP at IOA, and one is an industry expert, who has worked for Disney, UNI and SW parks.

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

I don't know how I missed this, but in honor of Lee (who should be enjoying his first flight to Paris as I type this) I had to respond.

<<How I know I've been talking to Spirit too much...

I read Lance's glowing review of Mernaid on Screamscape. My first thought was "Yeah, but he got a free trip out there, so how can I trust him.">>

That's called being smart.

How do you trust someone who is being paid off to be somewhere when it is pretty implicit to everyone in the blogger/podcaster community that if they don't love everything Disney does, they won't be back in the future?

How do you trust those opinions?

I sure wouldn't.

 

Originally Posted By andyll

<<You didn't answer my questions above, Andy,>>

That's because you didn't really answer mine... I was trying to get you to clarify your stance.

<<The link that you put in your post is coverage of a new show>>

How about this one:

<a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/Videos-View-93.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/V...w-93.asp</a>

Not coverage... full parade.

There are plenty of videos on this site ( and most Disney sites ) that have videos of entire shows.

<<It was free.>>

Doesn't matter. You don't have to make money on nothers Trademarks or Copyrights to be infringing.

Just ask MPAA if they are giving BitTorrent sites a pass because they don't charge for the movies uploaded to their servers.

In any case LP has ads on all the video pages. They are making money off the videos.

<<You seem a smart guy, so you have to see and understand there is a difference between a report such as that on a legit fan website and someone selling a DVD of SpectroMagic with plagarized liner notes for $19.99 ... or $14.99 ... or even 99 cents.>>

Zero difference between a video distributed through a website and a video distributed on a DVD.

So you asked my opinion on it?

Unlike you... I believe Disney cannot pick and choose which sites to go after for infringment.

In my opinion if they want to go after the DVD makers they also have to go after all websites ( including utube ) that are displaying videos of their IP.

I don't think they have any disire to do so because the website videos and DVDs do not replace the actual Disney entertainment experience but instead is great marketing for them.

<<Disney has already shut down people who make DVDs of their IP and sell them.>>

I'd like to know who. There have been some DVD sellers around for years. I know because my wife bought a lot of them.

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<The link that you put in your post is coverage of a new show>>

<<How about this one:

<a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/V...w-93.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/V...w-93.asp</a>

Not coverage... full parade.

There are plenty of videos on this site ( and most Disney sites ) that have videos of entire shows.>>

Andy, as multiple posters have pointed out since you appeared here, you obviously have a pony in this race.

We BOTH know that, don't we? If I speak to one thing you link to, you'll pull up another 76 that you have at the ready and have since you discovered this thread and wondered what it would do to your business.

If not, why did you appear here and with such a defensive stance? Contrary to your view, this thread isn't about litigating the IP rights of the WDC. You are aggressively interjecting that into this discussion for reasons only you can speak to.

We're running on different tracks. I know what your agenda is. And I'm not helping you with it.

You know ... you don't need a cease and desist order from Disney Legal to know when you should just stop.

This couldn't be more clear cut. The one matter you avoid is payment. Covering an event and offering that coverage for free is a legit business purpose/endeavor. Burning DVDs of SpectroMagic and selling them for $14.99 plus shipping and handling ... you know exactly what that is and that's why you're being so defensive.

You are NOT going to use me (or LP.com) as a vehicle to get yourself on the Disney Whorefest List. To come on a forum like this and do exactly what you've been doing, in such a passive aggressive fashion too, shows precisely what a disaster WDW Co's Social Media Dept. has created for Burbank.

Bedtime ... one of us is a media professional that just ended a long day/night of REAL work ... and the other ... nighty, night. ;-)

 

Originally Posted By andyll

<<Andy, as multiple posters have pointed out since you appeared here, you obviously have a pony in this race.>>

Awe... you got caught being inconsistant in your views and now you're trying deflect away from what you have said and try make it about me.

<We BOTH know that, don't we? If I speak to one thing you link to, you'll pull up another 76 that you have at the ready and have since you discovered this thread and wondered what it would do to your business.>

Of course... that's the point. I can just click the menu link at the top of this page that says 'online disney videos' and find 100s of videos that violate Disney's IP.

That's the problem isn't it?

You cannot make the case that websites like LP are any different the the websites/people you want shut down.

<<If not, why did you appear here and with such a defensive stance? >>

My 1st post here was asking you to substantiate your OP... that small mommy type blogs are receiving free stuff from Disney.

I'm still waiting.

<<Burning DVDs of SpectroMagic and selling them for $14.99 plus shipping and handling ... you know exactly what that is and that's why you're being so defensive.>>

1st I was accused of being Lou's flunky and now I think I'm being accused of being Jeff Lange.

Wrong on both counts. I run a small Disney website... which happens to have videos of Disney entertainment on it just like laughingplace does.

I don't feel Disney has a problem with my website and the material I have on it... and yes I know they have viewed it.

BTW... you make it sound like I'm a troll or sock puppet that has appeared on LP just to disrupt your thread...

Hate to tell you but my wife and I have been members of LP long before you showed up. Some of us don't feel the need to use a forum as a personal blogl

Since we are getting personal...

Do you also know you were feed the name Lou Mongello on this thread because the person that did it knew how you'd react?

I read about it on that hated social media... twitter. LOL

Makes me wonder who else is feeding you tidbits of information because they know you how you will react publicly.

Just another way people playing polictics in large companies will use internet to push their agenda.

OTOH... You are a prolific writer and people seem to like what you write.

You should be doing it on your own website/blog.

I'd be happy to supply space on my server/database and install the software needed for a 50/50 cut of the ad revenue.

Let me know if interested.... you could become the next al lutz.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

I have to ask you Spirit...

If Disney contacted you and said that in recognition of your many years of professional service in WDW media, you were being invited to spend 5 days at no cost staying at the Poly and having all of your expenses paid for; would you accept it?

You bet you would!!

Would it change what you wrote? I very much doubt that it would. So since you would not be a whore, is it really fair to assume that everyone else in that situation WOULD be a whore?

I really wonder how much your opinion might change (not of the parks, but on perks given to social media) if all of a sudden YOU were also on the invite list?

 

Originally Posted By andyll

LOL...

Being accused of trolling made me wonder how long I've been reading here.

Google is both amazing and frightening... it took 30 seconds to find what I was looking for.

In 3 weeks we celebrate our 10th year since my wife 1st posted here... although I know we read it before then.

Amazing the path these forums have taken over the years.

I should be working on my Disney Android app (yes... another way I'm sucking at Disney's teat) and I've found myself reading years old threads that my wife posted in.

Geeze... Kar2oonMan has been here forever. (and the witches even longer)

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

Lee is going to Paris for the first time, why did you not point him my way to ensure he has an awesome time?

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> Would it change what you wrote? I very much doubt that it would. So since you would not be a whore, is it really fair to assume that everyone else in that situation WOULD be a whore? <<

Are you saying people who receive gratuities from corporations are not influenced by this, and it does not effect what they write RT?

Corporations, and special interest groups sure are wasting a lot of money in Washington DC then.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> 1st I was accused of being Lou's flunky and now I think I'm being accused of being Jeff Lange.

Wrong on both counts. I run a small Disney website... which happens to have videos of Disney entertainment on it just like laughingplace does. <<

Just curious Andy||, do you sell Disney specific DVD's on your website?

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<Andy, as multiple posters have pointed out since you appeared here, you obviously have a pony in this race.>>

<<Awe... you got caught being inconsistant in your views and now you're trying deflect away from what you have said and try make it about me.>>

Andy, there's nothing inconsistent about my views. And you're becoming tiresome with your AGENDA.
We both know that this thread is NOT about you, but you damn well want it to be. Why could that be ... ?


<We BOTH know that, don't we? If I speak to one thing you link to, you'll pull up another 76 that you have at the ready and have since you discovered this thread and wondered what it would do to your business.>

<<Of course... that's the point. I can just click the menu link at the top of this page that says 'online disney videos' and find 100s of videos that violate Disney's IP.

That's the problem isn't it?

You cannot make the case that websites like LP are any different the the websites/people you want shut down.>>

Yes, I can. And I have. And it's not my responsibility as much as I enjoy this community and respect its owners/creators to make a case for them. Leemac has already chimed in and hopefully will again as has Doug ... and if other members of the LP team feel like dropping in a post, I'm sure they will. I can't/won't speak for them.

Placing free video, often from events LP.com has been INVITED to (unlike say, yourself) on a web site as part of legit coverage isn't the same thing as burning DVDs and selling them and keeping all the profits. You aren't an idiot, I assume, and you damn well understand the difference.

You just are like a petulant child who wants in on the Disney Social Media Whorefest and you somehow feel wronged by the company because they don't deem you worthy because as you yourself have positioned here, they haven't given you the free trips, tickets, cruises, meals swag etc that you want. BOO. HOO.

LP.com isn't whatever your site is. There's a huge difference. One has created its OWN BRAND! The other is piggybacking on Disney.

Funny how people get up in arms over reusing refillable drinking mugs, but stealing IP is somehow justified in a way that would make a Wall Street banker or DC lobbyist proud.

BTW ... correct me if I am wrong, but weren't you involved in that 2007-08 era thread here on the Business Board about how to 'use' Disney's IP for your own personal gain and get away with it without having Disney Legal coming down on you ... or did you post that query on another forum or am I thinking of someone else entirely?

<<If not, why did you appear here and with such a defensive stance? >>

<<My 1st post here was asking you to substantiate your OP... that small mommy type blogs are receiving free stuff from Disney.

I'm still waiting.>>

You still upset your wife didn't make the Mommy Bloggers Panel with that free annual WDW trip for a week?

You're really great at the web ... find the info yourself ... it's out there.


<<Burning DVDs of SpectroMagic and selling them for $14.99 plus shipping and handling ... you know exactly what that is and that's why you're being so defensive.>>

<<1st I was accused of being Lou's flunky and now I think I'm being accused of being Jeff Lange.>>

No ... and no. You're anonymous to me. I have no idea who you are in the real world
And I've said my piece on Lou and Jeff. I don't know either character. I've never met either. I have no desire to. I believe what they both are doing is unethical and, possibly, illegal. And, much more importantly, people at TWDC (people much more important than those who selected the Moms Panel or make up the Star Tours opening party invite list) agree.

The Social Media community WILL see changes. They've already begun.

<<Wrong on both counts. I run a small Disney website... which happens to have videos of Disney entertainment on it just like laughingplace does.

I don't feel Disney has a problem with my website and the material I have on it... and yes I know they have viewed it.>>

I don't feel it is appropriate here, and it may in fact violate Community Standards, to try and plug your site on here (which let's face it, you've been itching to do because you, quite mistakenly think will get you in with the Celebration Place cabal.)


<<BTW... you make it sound like I'm a troll or sock puppet that has appeared on LP just to disrupt your thread...

Hate to tell you but my wife and I have been members of LP long before you showed up. Some of us don't feel the need to use a forum as a personal blogl

Since we are getting personal...>>

No, we aren't. YOU are trying to get personal because you have money riding on it. Which is exactly why any rational person would have stayed on the sidelines and just watched what was transpiring. After all, why make yourself a target for Disney ... because, as you said, they know you exist?

And I've been on LP.com since the site began, I didn't begin posting until years later. And I've often taken long breaks due to work, family and, my favorite, long trips to Asia and Europe and on the high seas where I've enjoyed the MAGIC of Disney, all on my own dime, and plenty of non-Mouse travel too!

When you first appeared, I checked your info here and I believe it said you joined about 3-4 years ago.

<<Do you also know you were feed the name Lou Mongello on this thread because the person that did it knew how you'd react?

I read about it on that hated social media... twitter. LOL>>

Twitter really is the stuff of morons (no insults intended here, but that IS how I feel about it). And I know exactly who 'fed me' and why. FWIW, I knew who the man was before this thread. I had no idea he was hosting tours that compete with Disney's on Disney's private property with the implicit approval of some people at Celebration Place and TDO, but NO ONE in Burbank.

How long do you think Lovable Lou's business is going to go on in its current form? Wanna start a pool here and the one with the closest date gets the kitty?

<<Makes me wonder who else is feeding you tidbits of information because they know you how you will react publicly.

Just another way people playing polictics in large companies will use internet to push their agenda.
>>

I bet you'd love to know who feeds me info both inside and out of TWDC. But ... do you know how many people also reading this would love to know as well?

Right now, I'm sitting on two HUGE pieces of info (one relating to China, one to Anaheim) because I have the feeling someone is trying to clog one of my favorite 'leaks'.

<<OTOH... You are a prolific writer and people seem to like what you write.>>

Really? Thanks. You don't seem to like what I have to say much. But good writers ... powerful writers ... often upset the apple cart. Don't trip on any apples.

<<You should be doing it on your own website/blog.

I'd be happy to supply space on my server/database and install the software needed for a 50/50 cut of the ad revenue.

Let me know if interested.... you could become the next al lutz.>>

Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I'm in a much higher pay bracket and as much as I love talking about Disney, I'm not limited by/to it.

Besides, I'm trying to make Kevin Yee into the next Al Lutz! It's a work in progress (just kidding, Kevin ... well, mostly!) ;-)

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<I have to ask you Spirit...

If Disney contacted you and said that in recognition of your many years of professional service in WDW media, you were being invited to spend 5 days at no cost staying at the Poly and having all of your expenses paid for; would you accept it?

You bet you would!!>>

No, Trippy, I wouldn't ... necessarily. First off, my career hasn't been in WDW media (unless you consider my voluminous postings here and elsewhere as such ... and I certainly don't). And what would they be giving me a free trip for (as many of these bloggers and podcasters are learning the hard way, there's no such thing as a free, no-strings-attached trip)?

If I didn't have to write/report/Tweet anything? Sure, I'd take a free trip ... anyone would. But Disney isn't offering me or anyone else free trips just for spending ridiculous amounts of money/credit at their resort (I'm about to renew my AP for a 29th straight year ... all with a huge $78 discount ... and that's if they honor the current pricing since they're raising prices again to justify all those construction walls!)

That said, I have often been invited to events at both Disney and non-Disney locations. And I have often attended events, but as an 'invited guest/VIP/consultant' not as 'working press'. There is a difference.

I was invited to attend (and planned to) last summer's WoC premiere at DCA as the guest of a Disney friend (no free flight, no free room, free admission/party only), but was unable due to an unfortunate event on the home front.

I am sure I could have attended last week's event in Anaheim if I had made plans to be out there, but it, obviously, wasn't a priority.

<<Would it change what you wrote? I very much doubt that it would. So since you would not be a whore, is it really fair to assume that everyone else in that situation WOULD be a whore?>>

Again, I'm not taking freebies to write about anything, be it Disney or non-Disney. Hypothetically, not that I would, but my voice/opinion can't be bought ... my integrity is priceless to me. If I can be bought it certainly wouldn't be for a week at the GF all expenses included.

And I don't for a minute believe that everyone who takes something from Disney is a whore. That's ridiculous. But it IS the ones who are most unaccustomed to getting such treatment whose integrity I would most question. They were the ones blogging and Tweeting before their Disney Dream cruise about how they were going to write glowing praise about everything they experienced because they were so happy that Disney included them.

That's not professional, but isn't that MY point here: these aren't professionals, and they aren't used to the territory.

<<I really wonder how much your opinion might change (not of the parks, but on perks given to social media) if all of a sudden YOU were also on the invite list?>>

I think I covered that above, Trippy. But I do feel you were whacking at my knees with a baseball bat, while claiming 'just playing with ya, buddy!' ... Would you say the same about Leemac? Not only does he publish Tales and is part of the team here, but he also is a high-level consultant for TWDC ... and he always looks at the product with a fair and critical eye and isn't afraid to take shots at the company and execs when he feels they are warranted.

Bottom line: as much as Disney throws (or used to anyway) a good party, it's MUCH better to be invited as a VIP or go with a friend than it is to go as media (online or traditional). You can have a great time and there is no quid pro quo involved.