The Continuing Story of the Adventures of a CM! - Page 84 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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This is one of the best advices i have read.
I also found interesting information about moving to FL and working for Disney
My decition was to keep it special and a place i go to relax but not work.
Dawn, may I make one suggestion for your coaching. You're a really positive person. So focus on only a single thing that you want your team member to focus on at a time. Then in your approach start out with "I really like the way you do..." and work in something positive. Then move one to "Next time I'd like you to try... because this will..." and give them the thing to work on. That way they can see that they are not totally worthless and that you are trying to make them better and what the REASON for that change is. I think we forget to mention the reason a lot and that can make some folks resistent. If they come back with a "But I always to it this way and it works just fine..." just in a gentle positive way stress "Let's try it the other way for a while and then assess again." Hopefully they will be successful with the new technique and incorporate it. But follow-up is really important. You have to reinforce when they are doing well or if "I notice that you are still..." This approach to coaching can work with sports or in the office. Hope it helps. But you TOTALLY get Disney, your managers see that, and now you can pass that on to your team. Good luck.
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Wonderful report, Dawn. Sounds like everyone involved likes what you can bring to the company!
Glad your DD was a responsible owner and realized the dog needed to go somewhere else. Sometimes the hardest and most responsible thing to do is let go. Kudos to her - it shows real maturity on her part. Good news about the younger ones liking their school work. And, to get to go to WDW as class work - how lucky is that?
Hey, Dawn...I've been lurking on this thread for a long time and I really want to tell you how much I respect you making a career change. I'm a new manager myself, and I've really been helped by listening to the podcasts at Become a more effective manager and leader | ManagerTools.com. They're really practical (not as much theory as "these are the steps you should take") and the "Manager Tools Basics" section has great podcasts on providing coaching and feedback. Maybe that can help you as it has me. Best of luck to you!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Very Happy things are turning around for you and your DD's !!! Your oldest made a very wise and adult decision giving away he dog, and maybe in time she will be able to see this was the right thing to do for all of you and her dog too. Hope good things continue at work too LouigiAnne
Oh what a night! It was crazy busy in the shop, then we had someone come in who was having a difficult start to their vacation (no fault of ours, just a situation). I was able to help out a little bit, but it made a huge difference for the Guest. That's exactly what I live for, right there! (sidenote: if your child has special product needs, PLEASE do NOT pack them in the suitcase you check, but in a carry on or ship ahead with a trackable service such as UPS or FedEx. Just sayin') While I was helping, I had other Guests approach me to talk about front desk issues, so I just pretended I was THE PERSON they needed and took notes (to give to the right people! ) I even handed out a couple of towels...
Tomorrow I'm a mid, so hopefully I'll have a chance to get some office work done. I'm setting up a new make and take for a Magical Moment and need to get that in all 3 themes.
The views and opinions expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily represent or reflect those of The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies