PERSONAL UPDATE: The beauty of being introduced to the RunDisney races is that it leads to friendships and events you may have never considered before.

AIRFORCE MARATHON DAYTON OHIO, https://www.facebook.com/AirForceMarathon I’ve met so many of you who have come out to run the Disney races with me that I wanted to come out your way and run a few on the east coast. It’s only fair.

Last year I did the Inaugural Dumbo Double Dare Challenge with my friends Ron, Rachel and Becca. My friend Anita came out to join me, it was her very first half marathon and she got her medal. It was so much fun we all agree to meet in Florida to join Anita, my friends Kendra, Nancy and Liz for WDW’s Wine & Dine race. It was a new spin on girl’s night out. There was lots of food, fun and festivities as we shared all kinds of stories. Anita, Kendra and Nancy spoke of the Pigs Fly Half Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio. They made it sound so fun that I agreed to come run it with Anita.

We had a great time and while we were at the EXPO we met a couple of very nice servicemen. Anita stopped to tell them she was running the Air Force Half Marathon. They worked to convince me that if I had done the Dopey, why not run their marathon. So again I agreed. After all, who can resist a kind man in uniform? This made Anita happy as I told her she would be waiting for me to cross. She said that would be a first. As you know, my goal is just to finish and to have fun.

Just 2 weeks later here I was ready to run a marathon. I’m running the Dopey again next year so I called this race the loose Dopey, because unlike the Dopey, I had 2 weeks to rest before I ran this marathon.

It was incredible to get to run on an Official Air Force Base. Because it’s a Government Location, civilians are not usually allowed on base unless they are related to service personnel.

This was Jim’s (Anita’s Brother) very first Half Marathon. We all finished our race. Words cannot express the feeling of running between classic planes as you cross the finish line. Then have a medal placed around your neck by a handsome super fit Military cadet. Not to mention having Anita and her family there to give me a hug to get me through that last mile.

As many of you know, every October I travel the country teaching pumpkin sculpting to anyone who wants to learn. If you believe you’re not an artist, you need to be in my class, I guarantee that after one class you will be an artist.

Feel free to contact the folks here at MiceChat or myself on Facebook to learn more and to ask any questions you may have. You may also check out Book-Ka-Cha.com, to see past works of some of my students as well as my own projects.

#1 RULE OF BEING AN IMAGINEER: Your Attitude.

For this story I thought you might like to know what makes a good Imagineer.

I’d like to share with you some of the things that make up the type of person likely to get hired as an Imagineer.

First ask yourself what type of person are you? Are you optimistic? Do you find that when things don’t go your way you think about what happened and perhaps ask yourself what you might need to change in you? Do you to try to resolve it in a positive way, with an upbeat attitude for the most part?

Or are you the type that gets angry, perhaps you say mean things, cuss or kick things? Perhaps you blame something or someone other then yourself? How do you think? Do you see the glass as half full or half empty?

This may not seem important to you, but if you wish to be an Imagineer, it’s most important. In many cases it’s more important than talent. Not always, but most of the time.

Think about this for a moment, you’re the president of Walt Disney Imagineering, the home of thousands of creative types. You must have the ship run as smoothly as possible, so you look for talented types that can get along. You know that these types tend to make friends easily and get along. They love to collaborate and work as a team.

Those that tend to not make friends easily, often going to their respective corners, alienating most. Often trying to hide what they’re doing and sharing nothing for fear their technique might be stolen.

As I said, this isn’t always the case; however, lets pretend you’re doing the hiring. Standing in front of you are two people each with a different attitude.

There’s only one position available, so which person do you choose? Both are equally talented and nothing is different about them except for their attitude. They’re both eager to be Walt Disney Imagineers. Lets also say that neither has said a word to you just yet. They have simply walked in the door.

How do you know who to choose? They say first impressions are what sell who you are well it’s true, they do. This is something to remember.

However they’ve said nothing to you so how can you possibly tell? It’s easy, because it’s not what you’re made of on the outside that counts but what’s on the inside.

Don’t believe me. Lets see if you can guess.

The person on the left is smiling. They try to engage you in conversation. Their arms hang at their sides and perhaps sway a little. Even if one hand holds their portfolio it swings a little.

The person on the right has their arms crossed. This person is smiling too. But for some reason you’re not so convinced by their smile. Why is that? This person’s body is stiff and rigid.

If you had to guess, which one is most likely to view the glass half full? A better question to ask is, which person do you think you’d rather work with?

If you said the guy on the left, you’re correct, but why? It’s because the guy on the right has an unapproachable body language. When a person crosses their arms, it doesn’t matter how much they smile. This body language sends a different message. It say “Stay away, I’m guarded.” Or it can say,” I don’t trust or believe what your saying.” Or “I don’t trust you.”

Now if the room is very cold and you are wearing  a jacket and they are wearing a sleeveless shirt, it could be that they’re cold. You’ll know the difference in any case.

If you’ve ever wondered why people seem to treat you differently then what your self perception is, take a minute to see what your body is saying. What is your body language? Taking a moment to assess this can replace your confusion with clarity into what is really going on.

If you’re constantly dissatisfied it will show not only in your face but in your whole body. So, to be an Imagineer, you need to have a problem solving, positive and approachable personality. Of course you need to be sure that while you work to create that you also document your work so that you have the best portfolio possible. And don’t forget to work on yourself as well.

Imagineers are people who are very childlike, not childish. They remember what it was like to be a child and they tap into those feelings on a daily basis. This is what makes places like Disneyland and all the other parks Disney creates across the world so special. Imagineers reach into those memories much like Walt did to create a place for the whole family to enjoy.

Imagineers are also very teachable. They’re always excited to learn from other Imagineers they get to team up with. In many cases this means that the one teaching you could easily be someone half your age. How would you feel about that?

If your ego is so big that you cannot learn from anyone, even those younger then yourself, you won’t last long as an Imagineer even if you do get hired. Walt Disney designed Disneyland, but he didn’t do it alone. He knew the importance of being teachable and the magic of collaboration. Imagineers believe and embrace this concept.

When you have this type of problem solving personality, you’re able to deal with any curve ball thrown at you. That’s the core of an Imagineer.

Let me leave you with a story that can help you see how this works.

While working as an Imagineer, one of the projects I was assigned to create was the Tokyo Splash Mountain Boat. It was also going to be used for Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain and this meant it had a lot of supervisors with lots of opinions. This was challenging enough, however on top of that I was going to be relocated from the sculpture department to MAPO. This was because the size of the boat was much too large to fit in the doorway let alone inside the sculpture room.

I didn’t think much of this until I walked into MAPO and realized it was all men. Not one woman in sight except for yours truly and the looks on the faces told me they weren’t happy and I wasn’t welcome.

It felt like when a woman walks into a barbershop with her husband. The men are pleasant but not really that happy to see you as now they have to watch themselves. The men are forced to keep their acts and language clean. The man-cave has been violated and they can no longer hang loose so they aren’t happy.

This was the body language I read as I walked in the room. Just like the scenario above, no one has to say a word, their bodies and faces told me the whole story. “We don’t want you here.”

Our supervisors made the announcement that I was to be staying until I completed my project. However, to make it easier on all of us, they put a huge curtain all around my work area, concealing my boat and me.

This was okay as long as I didn’t have to go on break, but when I did, I felt like that geeky kid in high school that no one will sit with. It was not a great feeling.

A couple of weeks passed with no change, and what made it worse was that the supervisor in MAPO really didn’t like me. He would walk past me as I arrived in the morning and grumble a very unfriendly comment to me every morning.

Are you surprised to hear this, and are you feeling a little upset or angry? How would you handle this situation do you think? I assure you I was not feeling good either, but being a glass half full kinda gal, I tried to look at my situation from the guys point of view. I asked myself a question,. How could I lighten up what had become a very dark environment.

I could have just stayed in my little curtained fortress, eating in a safe place, working in a safe place and only venturing out when necessary. After all, the designers all came to me to arm-wave and change things as they often do at Imagineering. But that’s not the Imagineer I wanted to be, so what could I do?

I peeked out and just watched the guys. As an artist I noticed special traits of each man working there. I also noticed that right outside my curtain was a multi-tier shelf. I decided that I would sculpt little caricatures of each member of the MAPO clan that I observed.

They might get angry about it but it would make me feel better at least. I was going to take that chance. Looking for the good in each of these men I asked myself, what delighted me about them and that is what I sculpted.

I grabbed some oil-base clay (this clay doesn’t dry out in the air as water clay will) and I began to do these quick little sculptures of each guy. My first one was of a guy with a terrific handlebar mustache. Then when I was finished and no one was looking, I’d sneak out and set it on the shelf then dart back into my curtained lair.

Every break I’d do more and more of these funny little figures and at first no one noticed. They didn’t take much time. I found that I could make one in about 15 minutes or so. I wasn’t sure how they would react, but I just kept making more and more. One day when I was very absorbed in my boat I heard voices.

“Hey, what are these? Is, is that you?” That’s YOU man!”
Then, “Is that me? It IS me!”

This went on for a bit, then silence. My heart was pounding and I was afraid to look out to see what was going on.

The curtain parted and I jumped.

There in the opening stood half a dozen men. Honestly as I looked at them the seven dwarves from Snow White popped into my head.

“Did you make these?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
The silence seemed to last forever. Then,
“Can we have them?”
“I made them for you guys of course you may have them.” and I smiled.

They then asked me to come out and tell them about each one. I had done it! We were all friends. In the weeks that followed I was asked to do a little character of every guy at MAPO. MAPO became littered with bunches of these funny little creations as they sat on every desk, toolbox and worktable.

This worked so well that the supervisor, the one who really didn’t like me ended up becoming one of my best friends. He would sit with me as I worked chattering away and keeping me company well after his work day was finished. He then walked me out to my car. He did this every night after work to make sure I was safe.

Plus, the curtained wall came down as it was no longer needed. This became my happy accident. It could have been a real smash up, however instead it became one of my favorite times as an Imagineer.

Do you believe in the happy accident, because if you don’t you may not be best suited to be an Imagineer.

MAPO – Stands for MAry POppins. This is what the tool shop and animatronics studio was called at the time I was an Imagineer.

If you’d like to hear more of what it takes to be an Imagineer, I’m happy to write more about it in future columns. If not, then post what you would like me to chat about. You know how I love to chat.

See you soon.

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FEEDBACK FROM MY STAR WARS ARTICLE – First I’d like to thank all of you who continue to comment and share with me your feelings and memories. Yes, to remember what it really took to get a ticket to anything in the days before the Internet was truly a test of one’s desire to see any film back then.

Second, I’d like to welcome HT77. I love the fact that you just stumbled into MiceChat and read this series. Then got hooked. Thank you for not only stumbling, but taking the time to make a couple of comments. This means so much to me. Thank you again, and welcome.

Third, I’d like to address the comment made by rezpeni. I want you to know that when I make a statement it’s a little different then just an opinion. I know George Lucas, and he is the one that told me he was tired of being pressured by 20th Century Fox to produce the prequels. He wanted to do more short films like THX-1138.

He had to make them or 20th would have made them without him. My feeling is that he should have had folks that truly loved the films do them. If this had happened, they would have been good, instead of crap. They were not only incorrect, but lousy as well. I believe this is why he sold Star Wars to Disney. Now he has time to do the things he’d really like to do.

Only time will tell what type of job Disney with do with the new films. I’m hoping they’ll be good and on point.

I thank you for your posts. Thank you for making me feel that I have created a safe place where anyone can share their opinion and not worry about being cut down for speaking their mind.

I encourage more of you to post in the future no matter what your opinion is.

I look forward to hearing from you all. See you again soon. I promise!

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