This past weekend (March 2-4) Disney's MGM Studios hosted its annual ESPN weekend. The event went extremely well and it was especially successful for Disney's MGM Studios because of the publicty and attention it received from the media and ESPN. Famous athletes such as David Robinson, Charles Tillman, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Adam Vinatieri, and many more. They participated in interviews, live game shows, ESPN shows broadcasted live from MGM Studios, and guests got the oppurtunity to interact and with the athletes and ESPN broadcasters.
Because I have a great interest in hopefully writing for Disney or ESPN one day, this past weekend was a great oppurtunity for me. I was privilaged enough to be able to work for the special events team under the management of Mike Lolli, Disney's Special Events & Production Manager of MGM Studios. Although I didn't get the oppurtunity to directly network with any of the ESPN broadcasters or journalists I was able to become more familiar with their names and personalities. One of my managers for merchandise knows one of the ESPN employees and she said she might be able to introduce me to him in future. Overall, it was a great oppurtunity for me to become familiar with and make my name known in the two major companies I would like to eventually work in.
It was also very interesting to see the way in which Disney hosts special events. They have such a particular yet logical way of treating and transporting celebrities. For example, instead of having a group of body guards move the athletes from place to place and event to event, they had one person from guest relations transport the celebrity to where they needed to go. This particular way was not overwhelming to the guests, but yet kept the athletes safe and accounted for. I thought this was extremely successful for Disney to do and once again something they did that made them stand out from the other companies. They also involved all ages in the event so that the entire family could be a part of the event. For example, they hosted a Motorcade Parade in which the atheletes would ride down Hollywood Boulevard (the main street in MGM) in fancy sport cars and sitting right next to them would be a Disney character such as Mickey Mouse. This way Mom and Dad would be interesting in the parade, and yet the kids would enjoy the event too.
I was also very excited to meet and get autographs from David Robinson, Jim Palmer, Brian McCann, and Charles Tillman. I don't think I have a future career in the NFL, NBA, or MLB but it was a nice oppurtunity all in all.
This past Wednesday ( 3/7) I attended my first Disney's Exploration Series in Guest Service class. This weeks topic was resorts. The class was taught by Mayra Santiago, the head manager of Disney resorts. It was extremely interesting to learn the ways in which Disney designs and themes resorts to cater to certain audiences. For example, Disney resort cast members use a 5 step cycle to advertise and cater to guests. It goes from Anticipation, Welcome, Experience, Farewell, and Savoring. Basically Disney looks for ways to cater to guests as they are anticipating on coming to giving them the best possible guest service even when they leave and are planning their next vacation. The guest service simply doesn't only exist during the vacation; it is also before and after as well. Next week's topic is Park Operations and Guest Service in which we will hear from Park Operations Managers to teach the ways in which guest service can be seen through park operations at Walt Disney World.
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