So here’s the skinny. If there is anything I have learned from the last year and a half of pro-blogging it’s that you’ll never get anywhere unless you put your ideas out there. l have been an entertainer my whole life, so I am used to putting myself in front of the public, but it took me a moment or two to figure out how to put myself properly in front of businesses. Part of that was because I didn’t believe that I truly had something to offer, from a marketing stand point. But what I have gained more than anything from my time spent in the blogosphere is a clearer sense of marketing, social media and most importantly myself. I’m not just a performer who blogs a little. I am”marketainer”. (more…)
March 3, 2010
February 25, 2010
Miss Lori needs OSCAR® cliff notes before her Kodak Red Carpet trip.
I’m going to the OSCARS®! (Boy it’s fun saying that!) Kodak is sending me and 10 other bloggers to work the red carpet bleachers at the OSCARS®! Woo Hoo! However, with all that I have been busy doing for the past weeks, (months, year, decade…well whose counting), I find myself not as prepared as I would like to be for the event. For one thing, I have not seen all of the movies that are nominated. With my own live performance schedule, and my main job as personal chauffeur for my children, getting to the theatre is hard won. Plus, my subscription to US magazine expired over a year ago, so I am totally in the dark about whose hot and whose one the way of the leg warmer. So, I need the cliff notes for the OSCARS®. (more…)
February 23, 2010
Miss Lori is going to LA to sit on bleachers and look at the stars!
I have been an actress since I was a child. So of course award ceremonies have always been a great source of fascination and fantasy. None more so than the Oscars TM. Singing into my hairbrush, and then practicing my acceptance speech in the mirror for my great movie musical starring role debut, was common place in my bedroom growing up. 3 decades, 3 children and what sometimes feels like 3 lifetimes later, my theatrical career has been a strong one, but didn’t lead to the movies. Instead the path I have walked has been rooted in live performance and interaction, with a sprinkling of television. I am very proud of what I have achieved thus far, and hopeful about what I have yet to achieve in the future. And yet still when awards season comes around I get a little twinge, a slight longing for what might have been. But not this year, (more…)
February 21, 2010
Build a Bear Workshops’ Maxine Clark says kindness is at the heart of business and bears
About 3 years ago my family and I made a vacation of our city of Chicago during Spring Break. It was a lot of fun. The highlight for the kids was the day we spent at Navy Pier, most of which was done in the Build A Bear store. We had never been there before, mostly because it seemed a little pricey for our monthly budget, but this was special. So, we went, and all three of my kids made a special friend. It was a great time. A lasting memory for us all, but especially for my youngest. That day a friendship was born that would stand the test of time, doctors and hospitals.
This story is not unfamiliar to Maxine Clark, CEO and founder of Build A Bear Workshop. I had the pleasure of hearing Maxine speak recently at The Disney Social Media Moms Conference. She shared her very personal, and inspirational story behind the creation of her corporate phenomenon. But Build a Bear Workshop is not your typical International company, because what Build A Bear runs on is kindness, compassion and dreams fulfilled. (more…)
February 20, 2010
Miss Lori needs to get back to Disney World
Ever since I got home from the Disney Social Media Moms Conference I have had a string of bad luck. Truthfully it actually started at the airport on the way home. First my son’s carry on bag broke. Ok, well there are lots of stores at the airport. In fact the Disney store was running a special; you get a great Disney carry on bag at a discount if you buy $20 worth of other merchandise. My girls get some souveniers, and my son gets the bag. Great! Except as soon as he filled the new bag up the zipper broke. Ok, that can happen. No biggy. The store exchanges it quickly and my son just has to take everything out, again, and put it into the 2nd new bag. Problem solved. Now I can finally pay for the items. But wait, my gift card from the conference came up as inactive. In-what! But it is brand new? It’s supposed to have money available on it. Ok. Whatever. We got so many nice things on this trip, no need to quibble, right?
We get home and there were a few more little issues that started to arise, like my garage door remote was missing from minivan, and my TV remote was missing from my bedroom. Well, that kind of thing happens all the time. Right? Nothing to fret about. I’ll just goto sleep after a long day of travel. Ugh, my Ikea bed is broken…again. Truth is I’m way too tired to worry about sleeping on a slope. Sleep on any angle is what’s most important.
Next day I wake up to serious chest congestion. Aww rubber nuggets. Well, I guess I could see that coming. I got barely any sleep all week in Orlando, plus it was cold and I had to fly on airplanes with lots of people coughing and sneezing. (Not to mention the fact that I have had my own wheezing cough since November). So…. Well, the Mommies don’t get to be sick. I’ll just muscle through. We know the drill. Gotta keep on keeping on. Well, maybe I can get on keeping on after one more hour of angled sleep. (more…)
February 14, 2010
Back from the Disney Social Media Moms Conference, and now for the real work; POSTS
We are back from our whirlwind trip to Disney World and the Disney Social Media Moms conference. I am bone tired, but for good reason. So much happened that it is going to take me weeks to recap it all. And not just recap, I need to muse about some great thoughts and conversations that came out of my interactions with the phenomenal participants and speakers at the event. Such as, “What does ‘Princess’ mean, to Disney and to you?” I’m very excited about the posts to come. You can get preliminary exposure to some of my video highlights on both of my youtube channels, MissLoridotTV and MissLorisCAMPUS, and, soon to come, my Whrrl stories. In the meantime, I can tell you my best and worst right now. Best; spending an hour with Chris Brogan coming back with my kids back from Epcot to the hotel. Such an amazing conversationalist. My worst; not getting to take my kids on the “It’s a Small World” ride or to any of the live shows. There just wasn’t enough time. (more…)
February 2, 2010
Miss Lori believes in Disney magic
In five days my kids and I will fly to Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms conference. It still seems unreal even as I type this. Here’s why…
A little background:
Last year my youngest daughter was very ill. The whole year was about fear. Fear for her health. Fear of the medical bills that were overwhelming us. Fear of what would befall us next. It was very hard. Through it all my daughter remained positive. She consistently had a sparkle in her eye and light in her heart. That’s the way she’s always been, truthfully. A bundle of hopeful, creative, inquisitive energy. The illness robbed her of much of her daily energy, but she never let it take her smile, at least not completely. I ached for her because she was robbed of so much, particularly the magic of Kindergarten, which she had looked so forward to. She lost most the year to doctors visits and procedures. It was a disappointment. She is better now, though we are always watchful since the Doctor’s never did figure out what it was that she had.
Now for my story: (more…)
