Mickey Nemo & Small Business

by Alicia Arenas on August 12, 2009

When I think of Dori, small business is not the first thing that comes to my mind. But after a couple of conversations with Stacey Thomson, PR Manager for Disney Institute, I will be thinking about Disney and small business for a long time.

In case you haven’t heard of it, Disney has a world-renowned leadership program called the Disney Institute. Just a handful of super-star bloggers (including Michael Long, Mark Stelzner and Mike VanDervort) and I have been invited by Disney to participate in and, well, audit the course.  We will be taken underground to see the inner-workings of Disney and we have a private dinner scheduled with the Institute’s leadership.

Disclaimer: We are not being paid to attend this program. However, Disney is taking care of our travel, accommodations and the course itself.

In speaking with Stacey, she made her expectations really clear. If we see anything or experience anything we like, blog and tweet about it. If there is anything we don’t like, we can post that too.

What does this have to do with small business? Well as it turns out, their 5-day “Disney’s Approach to Business Excellence” program is one of their open-enrollment programs available to any leader from any organization. But they want to make themselves even more accessible to small business owners. They have recently partnered with Learning Tree International and Harvard School of Public Health and have some other exciting things in the works geared specifically for small businesses.

So when I’m there hugging Mickey and participating in the program, I will be blogging and tweeting about it, bringing you as much information as I can to help you in your business.

What do you want Disney Institute to know? Is there anything you’d like me to ask?

Tweet you at the Magic Kingdom!



(c) The Alicia Arenas Companies, LLC 2009

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Linda Farley August 15, 2009 at 7:32 am

Find out as much info as you can about how this course can be accessbile to small businesses. Tweet the cost if you can and what you see that will bring real value to the one owner business.

Enjoy and tell Mickey I said, “Hi.”

Reply

aliciasanera August 15, 2009 at 7:37 am

Great suggestions Linda! Thank you. If you think of anything else you’d like to know from Disney, give me a shout. And yes, I’ll tell Mickey “hello!” :-)

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Pattie Porter August 15, 2009 at 7:43 am

Have an absolutely fun time learning. I would agree with Linda w/her question and would like to learn more how small businesses can participate. I look forward to your tweets.

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aliciasanera August 15, 2009 at 8:19 am

Great Pattie! I’ll be asking how small businesses can participate and even solo-preneurs. Let me know if you think of anything else!

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Jim Jackson August 16, 2009 at 5:06 pm

Very funny. I look forward to reading what you have learned. Probably whale talk.

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aliciasanera August 16, 2009 at 8:09 pm

I’m looking forward to what we’re going to learn too! I just spent the evening with the PR Manager for Disney Institute (Stacey Thompson) and her fantastic intern (Katy Sears). I took a ton of notes and the formal classes have not begun yet. This is going to be quite a week. Any specific questions?

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