Tuesday, January 31, 2012

My State of the Community Address


Allow me to first say that everything that is about to be said is my opinion and mine alone, which I am entitled to and it does not represent any other opinion of anyone I am affiliated with.

I am done watching from the sidelines. I need to speak my mind and it is going to happen now.

I entered this community nearly 3 years ago as a twitter novice just to make friends. And wow have I!! It was those friends who encouraged me to start a blog and speak my thoughts.  Without this community’s support, I know for an absolute fact that I would not be the same person I am today. Having this supportive network has helped me in countless ways and I would not trade it for the world. Just through an internet connection, I have made friendships that will last a lifetime! This community is just so full of love!

And then….it’s not…..

Sadly, I have also seen negativity in our community. People trying to get ahead of others, knocking others ideas, bad mouthing people’s opinions, complaining when one person gets an experience that they do not get. Newsflash: This does not make you or your ideas look any better when you put others ideas down! Not to mention the fact that it is SO un-Disneylike! Allow me to remind you what commonality this community shares: a passion and love for Walt Disney and his dream. Our common thread is based on a man who brought so much joy and shared so much with the world. How can a community based around such good principles fall off the wagon?

One of Walt’s visions was people being able to live, work and play together in a community. While his actual community was never made, I honestly believe that we have done so here, in this technologically connected community.  We are living Walt’s dream…or at least that is what I believe we should be doing.  We should be giving each other a helping hand, promoting each other, supporting each other, sharing ideas, building each other up.  That is what a community is all about.  None of this back stabbing, swindling, cheating, sneaky shenanigans that I have recently been seeing and hearing about.  That is so not Disney!

People who are paranoid that others are stealing your ideas or freak out when someone says something to you about your blog: Stop Caring!! Blog for you and you alone. Writing should be a therapeutic experience, it should not want to make you start drinking. Stop stressing and just have fun with it! If other people like it, good for them, but do it for you!

Let’s make this easy:

How to be a Good Disney Community tips:
- Be Genuine, be yourself!! Love you for you and others will follow! If people don’t like your opinion, that’s their problem, not yours.

- Give a helping hand to your fellow community members…This could be something as simple as retweeting an article of theirs that you enjoyed

-Congratulate someone when they get a special opportunity instead of pouting because you didn’t get it.  Be happy for them, show them support and learn from their experience to improve.

- Show support for other people’s work. Everyone works just as hard as you do to make their mark on the community, what’s the sense or thought process behind putting someone down? What do you gain?

- Compliment someone’s blog post, pictures or layout

- Say hello to someone (Seriously, this has become a dying art, what’s up with that??)

- Drop the negativity and attention seeking acts and tweets, it is not attractive and after a while, people will ignore you and your negative energy…you can guarantee I already have.

- Make friends with people because of who they are, not who they know.

- If you have a problem with someone, go to them and talk it out, do not start rumors about them or talk about them behind their back. (How old are we, seriously?!)

If you do not like this post….good for you.  As I stated above, this is my opinion. If you have your own opinion and would like to share it with me in a calm, adult manner, I would love to hear it. If you have constructive criticism, fire away, I’m all ears.  If you want to rant and rave about how this is unjust and an unfair portrayal of the current state of our community, I will be glad to listen, but do not expect to sway my opinion.

All I want is to be in a community who cares for each other, looks out for each other and wants the best for each other.  We should be working together to lift each other up and help each other to reach our full potential.  We cannot do that when we are so busy trying to best one another. Let’s all work each day to live up to Walt’s dream and the values that make us love his dream so much!

5 comments:

  1. Like. Wait... scratch that.
    LOVE!

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  2. Jess, I just got a chance to read this, but I love you for it!

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  3. Amen sister! Never thought of Walt's community existing via the web - what a brilliant way to look at it.

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  4. I really like these things you wrote, it's so true. I guess you are good person. I don't know if i'm blind but i almost can't see people like you around me. And if so, it's just few of them. Maybe it's because i'm in different country.

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