In only 13 hours, the search will begin for the next panelists to serve the Walt Disney World loving community as members of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel. For your chance to win this once in a lifetime opportunity, you must submit your application beginning at 9 AM tomorrow, September 10th
I’ve been asked a few times in the past few weeks – well, okay, a few hundred times – how someone can become a member of this incredible panel of knowledgeable Disney fans, so I thought I throw a little something together for those of you seeking your shot at what I can’t help but call the happiest gig on earth.
First, be yourself – the one you want people to see. When I applied the first time for the inaugural 2008 Moms Panel, I wrote my essay answers the way I usually write. I was a smart ass. Yep – sarcastic, but witty; clever, but maybe a bit crass. I don’t usually act like that live and in person – I’m much more refined and dignified (I only fart on paper, not in real life). So when the time came to apply for 2009, I opted to answer my essays with the answers that came from the heart. I can’t say if it helped, but I’m sure reminiscing about family vacations helped my essays come through with a smile as opposed to a sneer.
Second, ummm, proof read. Yeah, really. I know you have Spell Check – now’s the time to use it. But guess what? You might spell a word completely correctly, but it’s the wrong word anyway. Go over your essays. I know you’ll feel pressure to hurry up and submit to be one of the thousands of people who get their foot in the door for the first round of consideration, but check your work, dammit! Don’t send in something that makes you look like you didn’t really care.
Lastly – don’t give up. I am hoping that the Walt Disney World Moms Panel is something that will be around for a long, long time. If you didn’t get on the panel last year, and you don’t get on the panel this year, try again next year. You never know when the right person will catch the vibe you have put in your answer and just feel that special connection.
Oh – and one more thing – I don’t think I have any special talents or any remarkable ability that helped me become a member of the moms panel. I’ve gone over in my head a million times why we were chosen. I can’t tell you if it was a memory I recalled; a suggestion I made; or the fact that someone liked the names of my children that got me a spot on the panel. Remember this above all things – faith, trust, and pixie dust. Have faith that you’ve done an excellent job. Trust that whatever the outcome, you’ve done your best and you are probably just as worth as a spot on this panel as the rest of us. And know that to all of you applying tomorrow morning, I am sending you a big sprinkling of pixie dust to wish you luck and keep you happy, no matter what. So smile, damn it, that stuff’s expensive!
