Twitter for dummies. Or something like that.

Part of my current job is to write tweets for clients. Pretty simple stuff, right? Read some content, know the client's "voice" and compose a few tweets. Not exactly brain surgery.

And, I'm not exactly new to this whole Twitter thing.
In fact I've been tweeting since February 22, 2008.

For those of you keeping track at home, that's FOUR YEARS, 6 months, 1 week, 9 hours, 7 minutes and 56 seconds (as of August 31, 2012 at 2:57 pm ET).

So imagine my complete and total frustration annoyance today when I received an email where someone essentially tried to school me in the proper usage of Twitter.

In part it read:

Twitter only allows 140 characters, inclusive of links and hashtags. Tweets need to be created to be punchy and direct, saying as much as possible in the shortest space. Every word matters, so articles like "a" and "the" should be skipped when possible. Think of it as a form of shorthand communication.

Also, hashtags need to be targeted based on what you are trying to get people to search for….

Alternatively, you can create your own hashtag to start a trended discussion  - something that really speaks to what [the client] is trying to say and also sets them apart as the leader of the conversation and not just a small voice.

Whew. I'm so happy I received this email because to be honest, I had no idea how Twitter worked. I have obviously been doing it all wrong for the past four years. I sure hope those 30,955 tweets I've sent out weren't all bad. And to my 1,921 followers... I'm so sorry that I suck at Twitter. Forgive me. Please.

Anywho...

In all seriousness, this really makes me angry.

I'm OK with someone giving me CONSTRUCTIVE criticism - and I'll take that. But to think that she should give me "Twitter for Dummies" in an email is ludicrous. 

I don't need someone to tell me how Twitter works. I've been doing it long enough (and well enough) to know what works and what doesn't. I didn't just start tweeting yesterday. I've been to enough social media conferences and read enough social media news (um, hi...DAILY) to know what I'm doing.

And with that, I'm going to go tweet about the #fullmoon and how it's making people #crazy.

An open love letter to Twitter

I have a confession to make.
I love Twitter.

As in, I seriously L.O.V.E. it.

It all started back in February 2008 when I joined Twitter. At first, I wasn't sure if I really liked that little blue bird. I mean, it was cute and friendly and seemed to have a good purpose. But I just wasn't sure if it was meant for me. I had a long-standing, serious love affair with another social networking site (ah-hem, Facebook) and we were quite smitten.

But I gave this Twitter thing a chance.
I flirted with it for a while...testing those sometimes murky social media waters.
I tweeted, some people responded.
It was OK fun.

I would get a few new followers every week or so. I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing or if anyone was actually reading what I was tweeting. Most of the time it felt as if I was talking to myself.

But I kept on tweeting, thinking that maybe someday it would all click for me.
And it did in June 2009.

I had recently lost a job and found solace in Twitter. I would tweet out a few things every day and people would respond. I started following more people and those people followed me and it just kept growing and growing.

And by the end of that year I was having a full-blown love affair with this thing called Twitter. I tried to explain it to everyone I could - and most of the time they looked at me as if to say "you're crazy!" The most common response was "why do I want to tell people what I'm doing?"

Oh yes, they didn't get it. They didn't understand what a magical, wonderful conversation tool Twitter really is.

Because for me, that's what it is all about - conversation. Talking with people. Talking to people. Saying "good morning, hope you all have a wonderful day!" - I don't know how many people actually read that tweet, but at least it's out there. At least I made the effort to start that conversation.

I love when people say "good morning!" or "sweet dreams" or just ask "how is your day going?" - it's those little things that spark a conversation. I ask for advice on Twitter. I vent my frustrations sometimes. I "live tweet" reality shows just for fun. And, I get support from my friends - even at 2 a.m. one night last year when my husband had to take my youngest to the ER for stomach pains. I had a group of friends and strangers talking me down from the heights of a mother's anxiety and keeping me company with reassuring tweets until my husband called and said all was OK.

Twitter is so much more than just a place to talk about what you're doing or what you had for lunch. It's about the people and the place and the brands who are out there every day - making a connection.

I have made so many amazing connections thanks to Twitter. And, I have created life-long friendships with people I've met on Twitter. People I never would have met if not for this wonderful, crazy, incredible social media world. It might sound silly to some, but my life is bigger and better and more fun thanks to a few thousand tweets.

You can find me on Twitter @TraciLeigh.

Ten things on Thursday

OK, so you're all visiting my blog and reading about my crazy hectic life and well, I decided to do a little bit of sharing today. (Because, as a blogger I don't quite share enough, right?)

So here's today ten things...you might not know about me.

10. Tailgaters and others with bad traffic manners annoy me.
'Tis true. If I see you tailgaiting me as I'm driving I will slow down. As in, below the speed limit. Just to annoy you. Especially if you can't pass me. I will make you hit your brakes. And if you do it at a red light, I'll be sure to pause dramatically before I go when it turns green. Good rule of thumb - if you see a blue minivan with a Disney family on the back window...back off my bumper.

9. Litterbugs bother me.
This is a new one that I've added to the list due to recent events. Certainly I never held a special place in my heart for people who litter - because honestly, how hard is it to find a garbage can?!? But in the past few days I've seen people literally THROWING GARBAGE OUT THEIR CARS as they are driving. Yesterday, it was a large fast food cup followed by the ENTIRE bag of food. Today, it was a juice box. Just tossed out the window. I really wanted to take photos of their license plates and post them on Facebook and Twitter. But I didn't.

8. I have an unreasonable fear of spiders.
I will walk/run the other way every time I see an eight-legged beast. I scream when I see spiders. I don't care if it's one of those little spiders or a giant oh-my-gosh-where-did-that-come-from monster spider. I. Will. Scream. And make my husband kill it. We don't trap and release in this house. No way. If there's a spider in the house, it is dead.

7. If I had a million dollars....
I would not buy you a house. Sorry. I'd buy me a house. In Florida. And I'd pay off my law school loans. And our credit card bills. And buy an annual pass to Walt Disney World. And do some other fun things too. But first and foremost, I would QUIT MY JOB.

6. I prefer breakfast to all other meals.
True story. My favorite dinner as a kid was pancakes. My mom would only make breakfast for dinner (brinner?) when my dad was out of town. Because my dad didn't like breakfast at dinner. I love making pancakes and/or waffles for dinner. Of course, I love breakfast for breakfast too. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon...it really is the best meal of the day.

5. I don't like sunbathing.
In fact, when we're at the pool, I sit in the shade...only venturing out into the sun for a few minutes at a time. I won't just "lay in the sun" to get a tan. Ick. I prefer the pale look, thank you very much. I think it's because I had 2nd and 3rd degree sunburn when I was 12 and since then I'm very, very overprotective when it comes to being in the sun. SPF 1000 for me please.

4. I don't watch horror movies.
I can't really explain this one - I used to watch them. I remember watching "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and not being too scared. But now? I cannot stomach a horror film. Especially the gory kind. Scary movies (Alien) are OK. But I'm more of a drama/comedy/romance kind of girl, I suppose.

3. I love Twitter.
I've been "on" Twitter since February 2008 and I am in love with it. I love the interaction. I love the connections I make. And I have so many wonderful friends whom I would not know if it wasn't for social media (specifically Twitter). So I send Twitter a valentine every February. It must be love.

2. If I could have any job in the whole wide world...
Um, well...I sort of already have it. I'm a mom to two wonderful, amazing, beautiful girls and that my friends is the BEST job in the whole world. And if I could pick a second job, I would be a writer. Which I guess I am with this blog. So hey....I do have the best job in the world - I'm a mommy and a blogger! #yayme

1. If I was on a deserted island, I would need...
Lip gloss, some books, a toothbrush, my family and access to Twitter.

Wordless Wednesday - tweet tweet

Photo credit: The Walt Disney Company

A few words....yes, this is a common scene at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration ... lots of tweeting going on....

Magic, mom, Mickey and social media (again!)

Yesterday afternoon my e-mail inbox received a sprinkling of pixie dust that still has me pinching myself today - just to make sure I'm not dreaming.

I'm still walking around on cloud 9 with a silly grin on my face.

Because, you see, yesterday I received confirmation that I am attending the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration!

I was lucky enough to attend the first DisneySMMoms (it's so much easier to shorten the name like this!) in February 2010. It was the most amazing, incredible, magical, epic...(did I say amazing?) event.

In addition to learning more about social media in a few days than I thought possible, I also came away with an incredible group of friends - and they are friends I miss on a daily basis.

(Read about my 2010 adventures here, here, and here).

After February's event those of us who attended kept talking about DisneySMMoms - how great it was, would there be another event, would we be invited - and somehow we all managed to keep the hashtag #DisneySMMoms alive for an entire 12 months on Twitter. The chatter was reaching near manic levels recently with so many people hoping, wishing and praying for a chance to attend.

I'm not going to get into all the registration stuff here - mainly because I didn't go through the actual process - Tracie, who is one of my roomies (along with Ashely and JL) was the "lucky" person who had to contend with the "yellow circle of doom" on her computer screen. (A seemingly never-ending spinning circle that appeared on screen as the pages loaded).

And then yesterday, at about 2:45, the e-mail appeared in my inbox.
I was 'in' and I will admit this - I cried when I read the word "congratulations!"
I am so thankful for the opportunity to attend this conference - and it goes beyond the Disney brand.

Anyone who knows me understands my love of social media.
I absolutely ADORE social media.
I live on Twitter (basically).
I am beginning to love Facebook again (sorry about that Facebook, but for a while you just bored me).
And then there's this blog.
I love my blog.
I really do.
I feel terribly guilty when I neglect it (which has been happening a bit lately).

(There is also my 9-5 job where I am responsible for all social media for the organization - Twitter, Facebook, and a new blog).

So you see, attending this conference is HUGE for me.
I am beyond excited for everything that awaits us in March!
The fact that it is at Disney (at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, no less!!!) is just the cherry on top of this whole kitchen sink sundae.

I know how lucky I am to have been chosen to attend this conference and I am sending out a huge THANK YOU to Disney and Leanne and Laura.
You have made this blogger's dream come true (again).
I cannot wait to see all the #DisneySMMoms in March!
I just KNOW that this year is going to be more amazing and more magical than this year!

Where did this month go?!?!?!

Oh my good gracious.

Where in the world has the month of September gone?

My last post was September 6th.

Today is September 22nd.

I suck at blogging lately.

HA!

So.....

What have YOU been up to?

Me?

The "big" news is this - I applied for the Walt Disney World Moms Panel. Again.
This is the fourth time I've applied.
Last year....I made it to the second round.

This year I am hoping. And praying. And asking for tons of pixie dust to be sprinkled on my application so maybe, just maybe, I might be one of the lucky few who make the panel.

I dream about Moms Panel.
No really.
I do.

I love Disney.
I love helping people plan their Disney vacations.
To be able to combine my love for Disney with my love of planning vacations...well that would just be beyond magical.

I try to explain my love for Disney and sometimes people 'get it' and sometimes they don't.
If you want to try to understand, read this post.

I am doing my best to remain positive and not 'stress' too much -- the answers are in and it is totally out of my control.

(But....a little bit of good luck and pixie dust would be helpful!)

Moving right along with the Disney theme....

Next Friday I am flying to Orlando for a whirlwind weekend at Disney.
Well, it's not really a weekend.
It's more like a DAY! I fly in Friday night and fly out Sunday morning and in between those two flights I will be having an EPIC time at Epcot (and other locations) with so many of my amazing, wonderful, incredible Disney friends.

I can't wait.
I am beyond excited.

And maybe, must maybe....some of the Disney magic will 'rub off' on my next weekend and in a few weeks I'll hear the good news that I made it to the next round in the Moms Panel application process.

After all...all we need is faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust!

A love note to Twitter

My darling Twitter,

Oh how I love thee.

We've been seeing each other since February 22, 2008, (that's 2 years, 5 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 10 hours, 28 minutes and 53 seconds as of RIGHT NOW if you're really keeping track).

At first, I wasn't sure if I really liked you. I mean, you were cute and friendly and seemed to have a good purpose. But I just wasn't sure if you were meant for me. I had a long-standing, serious love affair with another social networking site (ah-hem, Facebook) and we were quite serious.

But I gave you a chance.
We flirted for a while.
I tweeted, some people responded.
It was OK fun.

And then last year something happened.

You introduced to me an amazing, incredible, funny, charming, engaging, magical group of people. (Yes, that would be you, my Disney friends....but you probably knew that.)

And suddenly....just like THAT...BAM!...I was smitten with you.

Head over heels in looooooooove.

And today we celebrate a milestone of sorts in our 'relationship' .... because today I hit 13,000 tweets. A friend called it "tweeterific" and I think that is the perfect sentiment for it.

So Twitter....you are absolutely tweeterific.
And I am so happy we met.
Thanks for the memories we've made so far.

Here's to the next 13,000 tweets.
(I'm guessing I'll hit at least 20,000 tweets by the end of this year.)

Love,
me

It's a lot like this

A true story about ER visits, poop and Twitter

Friday night started out like any other night at our house - you know, thunderstorms and the kids sleeping on the couches in the living room. Just a typical Friday night in T-town.

Once the storms settled down, we tried to put the girls back in their own beds. Olivia - who never woke up during the storms - was an easy 'put down.' Emma...not so much.

Around 10 p.m., Emma started complaining that her belly hurt. We thought at first that maybe she was hungry, because she often says 'my tummy hurts' when she wants to eat. So, we tried some applesauce. And then some graham crackers. She didn't want anything.

We tried to get her to sleep - but every time she would fall asleep she would wake up 10 minutes later, screaming and crying 'my belly hurts!'

At about midnight we decided to call the on-call nurse. We told her the symptoms and she said it might be appendicitis. She wanted us to make Emma jump up and down (one of the tests for appendicitis, apparently). Emma refused.

The nurse said she would recommend we take Emma to the ER because based "it's better to be safe than sorry."

Oh man.

And so at 2 a.m. Kevin strapped a crying and screaming Emma into the carseat and headed to the emergency room.

I stayed at home with Olivia (who was sound asleep and had no clue what was going on).

Unable to sleep and totally freaking out, I signed on to Twitter.

I was hoping that maybe one or two people I knew would be online so I could talk and not go crazy with worry at home alone. (It wasn't like I could call anyone either -- calling people at 2 a.m. for an ER visit and no diagnosis is not a great idea - all you do is (1) wake up your family members and (2) freak them out so they can't get back to sleep).

So, I tweeted out at 2:14 a.m. - well, DH is taking DD3 to the ER. she is crying and in pain and we don't know why. on call doc hasn't called us back.

I didn't know if anyone was 'listening' but soon enough, I was getting tweets sent back to me from several of my Twitter friends. I am so thankful for the words tweeted out to me that night. I had people asking my questions about Emma's pain and her temperature. They were sending out words of care and concern and it was all appreciated.

For about an hour I tweeted back and forth with the following people: @Lynne_from_Texa, @DisneyAlli, @discollegeblog, @IAmPumpkinQueen, @5minutesformom, @DisneyWorlds.

And to all of you, I want to say this: Thank you.

I had a place to go in the middle of the night when I was freaking out and didn't want to wake anyone up with a phone call that said "I don't know what is going on"...and my people were out there for me. I was able to say "I'm going a bit crazy and I'm here all alone and will anyone listen" and you listened.

And for that I am very grateful.

After about an hour, I was calm enough by 3:45 a.m. that I was able to go to bed for a short time, and then I woke up in a total panic because Kevin hadn't called.

Of course, I started panicking. WHY hadn't he called? What was going on? I paced the house for a few minutes and then, at 5:45 a.m. I called Kevin and he told me that Emma didn't have appendicitis (no, she was just constipated*....of course, because it's always about the poop, right?) and they were driving down our street, coming home.

I tweeted out the good news that she was home and healthy (and just needed to have a good poop, really)...and I would like to thank everyone who took a minute to say "so happy to hear that Emma was OK." You have no idea how much those tweets of 140 characters or less mean to me.

Yes, this time (thankfully!) the "emergency" wasn't anything more than a lot of poop ... but I think it's fair to say that if it had been something more serious, my Twitter community would have been there for me - and it's nice to know that there is an outlet for my anxiety in the middle of the night.

You might not 'get' it, but after 11,359 tweets, I can honestly say that I still love Twitter.
And to my 511 followers I say this - thank you for being there.


*(We determined that Emma was 'holding it in' for fear of going potty in her PullUp -- yet another issue with the on-going potty training drama in my house!)

Sometimes life would be easier without e-mail and smartphones

I spent 6 and 1/2 hours yesterday trying to resolve an issue with my Verizon online/e-mail accounts. Yes, that's right. SIX AND A HALF HOURS.

See, anyone who uses Verizon for their Internet/e-mail provider found out a month ago that our Verizon/Yahoo e-mail accounts were going to be migrated to Verizon.net as of March 27th. We were told that it would be a simple migration and then we could use TrueSwitch to transfer any old e-mail and our contacts from Yahoo to Verizon.

For future reference - nothing is ever simple.

I tried to transfer my old e-mails and my contacts.
It only partially worked.
Then I tried to transfer my husband's old e-mail and contacts.
Nothing worked.

And then my e-mail accounts stopped working completely.
As did my BlackBerry's e-mail delivery from Verizon.
At the same time.*

So, I did what any social media savvy mom would do - I went to Twitter and 'shouted from the rooftops' about how I had no e-mail and how it was @Verizon's fault and that I was going to keep tweeting @Verizon until (1) the cows came home or (2) someone responded.

Five minutes later I had a direct message from @Verizon - "We would love to help. Please let us know what is wrong."

Success.

See.....Twitter is a wonderful thing.
You talk.
They listen.

And, let me say this - @VerizonSupport was wonderful. ^CP was the screen name of the individual at @VerizonSupport who spent his entire afternoon trying to fix the e-mail issue. He made me his #1 priority (and even told me I was his top priority). He did everything in his power to fix the issue before his shift was over at 5 pm.

The best part? He was able to get the problem fixed. His tech people forced the migration of both e-mail accounts and by 4 pm yesterday all was right with the inboxes once again.

However, I still had an issue with my e-mail not being delivered to my BlackBerry.
(And the 'tech support' for @VZWSupport on Twitter was horrid).
I assumed it was due to the migration from one server to the other.
I should really work for Verizon.
I was right.

After spending two hours this morning on the phone with tech support at Verizon Wireless (they were kind enough to spend 45 minutes on the phone with me the first time and then they CALLED ME BACK to check if the issue was resolved and when it wasn't we spent more time talking).

The very nice tech guy today listened to my 'assumption' and he said "you're right...it is because of the migration - the switch to the new server messed up the BlackBerry service."

Hmmm. Now call me crazy, but don't you think it would have been a REALLY GOOD IDEA for Verizon to notify BlackBerry customers that this could be (and likely would be) an issue after the migration?

Un-freaking-real.

Long story short (ha!) - the e-mail is being delivered to my BlackBerry again.
And I am happy (about that, at least).


*I have to say, at this point yesterday when I had NO e-mail, I tweeted something like "I think I fell into the hot tub time machine and landed in 1994. No e-mail!"