Grumble Grumble… Social Media and runDisney
I’m pretty much the biggest runDisney fan around.? If you look at my race schedule every year, it’s heavy on racing with the Mouse and light on pretty much everything else.? If I am going to travel for a race, I might as well go to my happy place.? Racing close to home??? It’s an option, certainly.? And I love those experiences as well.? But? with the kids’ games and activities and church commitments on the weekends, it’s not something I feel I can do as often as I’d like.? If I am going to ditch out on my family, I’m going big, you know?
So runDisney has been my “thing” since I started running long distances in 2011.?? I’m still a fan.? A hardcore one.? I’m running a lot of the races on their calendar this year and I’m incredibly excited for each one.? But I’m not sure that’s something I can keep doing for a number of reasons.
It’s not me, it’s you, runDisney.
First I want to state this as clearly as possible. ? There’s a ton of things runDisney does right:? I don’t worry about my safety; I don’t worry about them running out of water or food; I’ve never heard of them not having enough medals or food and drink at the end of the race.? The race experience on race day is fantastic.? Communication is high and my stress level is low.? My #BRF from all over the country meet up to dress silly and have fun on the course.? It’s why I keep coming back race after race.
There’s a lot of things runDisney does that make me say… what the whaaattt?!? The biggest whaaattt for me is the social media.
My personal gripe comes from what appears to be a lack of personnel in this booming organization.? Particularly in the social media of Twitter and Facebook. ? Why is this important?? Social media is to blame OR thank for the explosion of interest in running Disney races.? Depending on how recently you started running you may choose the former.? runDisney as an organization used bloggers and social media to build the brand, cultivating relationships and working to increase the hype.? Well played, y’all.?? It totally worked.? You got us.
Then it did a 180.? It all went away.? By “all” I mean the social interaction we once enjoyed online. ? I’m not hating on the people in charge of the runDisney Twitter or Facebook.? I assume the staff assigned to the social media outlets also have about 20,000 other jobs at Disney.?? I think they do a great job- but also think they probably aren’t given the leeway to give the accounts the attention they deserve.? When they are able to Tweet (race weeks tend to spike the activity) it’s fun and entertaining.? But on a day to day basis, Tweets go unanswered.? This is not the case company wide.? In contrast, Disneyland Today and Disney Parks Twitter accounts will often talk back and forth with guests.? It’s a delightful two way experience.? Putting the social in the media.? You know… what Twitter is all about! Instead we get a lot of autoposts and company line informational tweets from @rundisney.
Borrr-iiinngg.? You’re losing us, runDisney.
Facebook?? Oh lawdy, please do not even bother.? I won’t even link that page over here because it’s a waste of cyber space.? Go ahead, take a look if you wish.? It’s painful to see such a world class organization become a place for ugliness and pettiness.? All of this could be avoided with some moderation and some time spent answering legitimate questions on the page.? But this obviously takes someone away from their other 20,000 jobs and winds up low on the priority of an organization stretched thin.
Simply put:? I wish some of the increase in race fees- that I gladly pay-? could go toward staff.? You could even hire someone remote to work part time.?? Like say someone in Arizona.
My friend April recently wrote a post that summed up a lot of the observations I’d had myself.? Some of her concerns aren’t mine, but you’ll get the gist of it.? It’s a great summation of why I will likely be running less races in 2015 through runDisney. I am absolutely NOT worried about them though; for every person like me backing off there’s probably 100 people waiting to take my spot-? and they don’t give a fig about Twitter or Facebook.? No need to point out the obvious.? runDisney won’t be crying that Queenie Shenanigans won’t be at their races next year.? I totally understand we are talking #FirstWorldProblems here.
But sometimes you just need to take a step back and decide what drew you to a race in the first place.? And if that piece isn’t there any more, maybe it’s time to find another race to take it’s place.? For me, runDisney was the magic created by cast members.? I felt like they “knew” me and wanted me there.? Some of that is gone.? Or maybe I’ve just become a bigger diva in my old age and want all the attention all the time.? Who knows?
Here’s April’s post.? Have you runDisney lately?? What do you think about the points April brings up and how would you like to address them?
Patty Holliday is the owner and creator of all things No-Guilt Universe. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.
While the title of our blog is still “We Run Disney”, that is not our primary focus anymore. While we love the races at Disney, “the bloom has fallen off the rose”, and there are many other superior races that have caught our eye. Like you, we are less than impressed by the runDisney social medial. And the way they handled the meetups demise was not very smart, IMHO. We (Christine and I) are race ambassadors for the Rock ‘n Roll Dublin race this August and can’t wait to experience an international long distance race. C will also be an ambassador for the Virginia Beach race on August 28th. We love those R ‘n R races and maybe you want to join us! It will be a fun girly weekend in VA Beach!
Forget VA, I want to run Dublin! Lol. Sounds like a wonderful future and maybe a new We Rock N Roll blog coming out?
Yeah the races are great and if it fits into my schedule and budget, fine but I’m getting 4 races this month for $100 and no travel expenses. I’m also running with my dad which is priceless! While they aren’t huge races, it’s been fun meeting local runners and seeing my community from a whole new view point of view. This spring I’ve ran a race almost every other weekend and it’s been fantastic! I’ll still run Disney but not nearly as often. The lack of communication is killer :/
This sounds like a great month Lesley! Have fun running with Dad.
Oh I plan to! I’m also going to enjoy my Disney trips sans race. I get to pack a whole lot less and be less stressed about what I eat and ESPECIALLY what I drink ๐ Hopefully they can get it together, but if not, they’ll still get my money from time to time, but not nearly as often. Maybe once or twice a year because I do love Wine and Dine.
Thanks for the linkup Patty! Obviously I agree. I keep trying to get the right analogy… It’s like how I get frustrated when my gifted son gets a B+ even though it’s a great grade, I know he could do better with a tiny bit of effort…
I know I know. We just expect so much from the Disney brand, right? Their B effort is like a D in our eyes.
I’ve been less and less impressed with runDisney lately, so I’m focusing elsewhere. Their FB page is great if you want to read drama, but I’ve never seen them answer questions on that page, ever. So much of the focus isn’t the races anymore and I don’t need the hype of other stuff I’m not interested in. It’s kinda like the Super Bowl. They hype all the stuff except the main event.
Oh man- that’s a good analogy. Yes, I agree!
What’s odd is the FB page and twitter account are handled by two entirely different departments (never made sense to me). FB is def a hot mess, but twitter had gotten better over the past year I would say. And trust me, I have tried to volunteer my social media services many, many times ๐
I figured I was about 1006 on the list of volunteers! Lol.
I agree with your post (and April’s post, and We Run Disney’s comment).
Social media really helped shape runDisney to what they are today. If it weren’t for everyone talking about them on a daily basis, getting others excited, promoting them (essentially for free) online everywhere, runDisney wouldn’t be as popular as they are now.
I feel somewhat like it’s grown to a point where they think they no longer need to deal with social media in any way, and that could ultimately be their demise. They really need someone to handle their website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter on a daily basis and be personable. It’s shocking how many people attempt to reach out to them via these avenues and they are completely ignored.
I mean, if Wawa responds to me every time I tweet to them, why can’t runDisney comment to a Facebook post? Or at least monitor the page so that the abusive trolls go away?
Yes and yes. Exactly. It would be more professional off them to delete the FB page at this point. Mercy.
Between this post and April’s I think ya’ll have definitely gotten to the point of what I think many are feeling. Though you’re also right, for every person who wants it “ALL”! there is someone happy to put in the cash and run the race – without all the extra personal-ish touches.
And, without runDisney social media (Twitter specifically, cause I think their Facebook page has been a hot mess of whining and complaining for a long time!) I’d have never discovered some AMAZING people that I get to hug when we’re at runDisney events (and even some home events!!!
Okay, that sounded a *little* creepy…but …we all know I’m not ๐
Lol. You aren’t. And exactly. Without SM we wouldn’t have each other!
I hadn’t really noticed anything specifically about runDisney’s social media, but the CA parks used to have two different Twitter accounts. Recently they were combined. Perhaps someone decided to cut costs in the communications department. If they had a dedicated person doing all of that and then decided to farm it out as an additional duty to someone else…
In terms of RD, perhaps they decided that their own strategy worked and they have enough people repeating everything they DO announce through personal blogs and pages like #teamrundisney that they don’t need to do as much. They created a monster that’s thriving on its own.
Oh, my gosh, yes. Standout – TOT 2013. Whoever was manning Twitter for runD that night was a PRO. Other than that…. nothing. I’m not seeing any of the bloggers I used to see involved with them. I gave their SM up for dead when I saw one of the head honchos finding random people on Twitter and asking them if they had blogs. Is that their SM strategy?
I’m gonna have to agree. You know I love Disney and runDisney as much as the next person, but I don’t understand how some branches of their social media excel and some leave much to be desired. It’s frustrating.
I’m coming from a non-blogger, social media world. The only social media I ever get on is Facebook and then its just to talk to certain people. For people like me, it all comes down to the race and how well its run. I try not to get caught up in this type of stuff but being around bloggers I know yall have had a rough time of it. I think sometimes when you get so involved in something you start seeing and experiencing parts that you are not going to like and then you know its time to step away a little bit. I like to just not know ๐
You and April both have some really great points. Not being on Twitter as much lately I haven’t really noticed the change. But it looks like maybe it’s time to revamp their social media strategy.
I do 1-2 Disney races per year. The costs associated with them are so high and I feel like they aren’t really doing anything to make the experience better. Soooo up the cost without up-ing the experience is a great way to lose customers. But it’s runDisney so they won’t lose customers and that is like you said, first world problems. I want to run at each race at least once, so I’ll continue to go, because I really do have fun! The good outweighs the bad for sure!
It would be nice to see a little more friendly interaction. I mean, Disney is known world-wide for their outstanding customer service, right??
I agree with many points in your post and also Aprils. Communication is big and runDisney kinda sucks at it. But I have to say even worse than RunDisney is Nike womens series! They still haven’t “announced” their SF race date though you can find it all over the inter. I’m so annoyed that I’m probably not even going to try to get into the SF race. Now I’m no where near that point with runDisney yet. But its still plenty annoying that all these rumors are floating around and you know they have everything well planned out already yet they wont just make the announcement! I’m a planner, I need to plan. I can’t plan until I have an announcement. The runDisney prices dont bother me (yet.) Like you said, I know the support on the course and at the finish line is going to be dependable. And well its pretty much the most fun you can have while running. Sure I wish it cost less but clearly I keep paying the prices.
Yeah the FB page is the least happiest place on earth and people there are very condescending….its obvious no one really reads the comments, because it can get very ugly. Its great they keep adding races but its sad that they are not there via Social Media outlet like other brands. They will have one good day of someone on Twitter and then crickets.
I learned about RunDisney through blogs. And one lead me to another and then another. LOL
I read and marvel how all these runners have the budget and the vacation time to run all the Disney races year after year. I’ve got sticker shock just planning a regular Disney trip with my DH! I tried to register for the Wine and Dine 5K which coincides with our trip and it was sold out so fast. It felt like trying to get concert tickets!
Maybe now with the addition of new races and themes, new runners will have the opportunity to try out the RunDisney experience and the seasoned veterans will pick and choose their favorite races on the calendar?