Jentasmic! Disney Marketing and the Independent Media

I started blogging a few years back because there were things I wanted to hear in the Disney online fan community, and I couldn’t find anyone else who was saying them. I also discovered (before and after beginning my own blog) a lot of other writers with unique voices that I do not believe would have ever come from within the Disney corporation.

Hence, last week’s mash note to independent media in the Disney online community. Here’s a snippet, from my Jentasmic! column at StudiosCentral:

Disney’s marketing team is doing a good job crafting social media communications and advertising to apppeal both to the “average” Guest (who may occasionally see an ad, or check out Disney’s Facebook pages), as well as keeping the official content steadily streaming to those of us who are a bit more fanatical. But there will always be a role for independent media, and I’m glad to be a part of it here on Studios Central.

I also must take this moment to again plug my absolute favorite Disney fan-fiction novel: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow. He’s made it available for free download in a remarkable number of formats, so you’ve just run out of excuses for not having read it.

Jentasmic! How I Know I’m a Disney Freak

Many are fans, but some of us are freaks. Some evidence of my freakishness is posted in last week’s Jentasmic! column at StudiosCentral. Here’s just a few:

• When I need a photo of myself for professional reasons, I usually have a hard time finding one where I’m not wearing Mickey ears. Sometimes I’m actually tempted to submit one. And in fact, the program from one meeting I’ve attended includes a picture of me taken at Le Cellier.
• I was so depressed about missing MouseFest 2007 that I held my very own Mr. Potato Head meet in my office.
• I have several editions of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. They’re not even all major revisions. One of them is autographed by Mr. Len Testa himself.

Head on over to StudiosCentral to read the rest, plus plenty of comments from other freaks.