Barcelona Weekend Intensive

This year's third annual Barcelona Weekend Intensive was a great success, with 21 participants. Mary Cuneo from the Breema Center joined Felipe de Oliveira and Salena Irion to teach this workshop, which took place at a masía (old farmhouse) converted to a retreat center in the country just outside Barcelona.

I had a chance to interview Felipe and Salena about their promotional efforts:

What did you do to promote this weekend?

Salena: We started at least six months before—in everything we sent out we put at least one sentence about this workshop with the dates and information.  It was posted on our web page and included in all emails. So it received six months of energy leading up to it.

Felipe: We also saw that our presence in the fairs and booths we do every year brought some people. Not necessarily from the booths we did in the spring, but one person came who received a session in the Feria de la Tierra four years ago, and a couple who saw us in BioCultura last year came for sessions with us all year, and then signed up for this workshop.

In BioCultura we usually do one Self-Breema class, and one class that includes Self-Breema, a Breema demonstration and one simple bodywork exchange. These classes had a very strong atmosphere, and that is what attracted one man to come to this workshop. We're grateful for the help from the other local Breema practitioners, Maria, Xavi, and Esther, giving sessions in our booth. We always have a signup sheet at the booth for people to leave their email addresses to receive more information, and that has helped our email list to grow to over three thousand.

Salena: We see that this year's results grew out of seeds we have been planting for many years—many participants have come for sessions, or to our classes in Barcelona. We've used free online listings, there was a new article that came out this year, and we paid to be in one newsletter. We did one mailing of a flyer for the workshop, which brought back the woman who had a session four years ago!

I know that you have been working a lot with your Facebook page, did any of the students come from that?

Felipe: I think that Facebook is more for a constant reminder that you are there. Sometimes people get too many emails, and Facebook is an easy way for people to see what we are doing. We are still experimenting with Facebook.

Salena: This year we also emailed all our Pilates contacts, and one woman who had come to one Pilates class came, and brought her friend!

How about the workshop itself?

Felipe: It was interesting because of the diversity of people—they would never be in the same place normally. Some were very alternative and hip, some were more business types, a wide age range, but it was incredible—during a practice session there was a very calm, quiet, and centered atmosphere. 

Salena: It was good for me to see through my concepts. I was concerned about this 83 year old client, because she has some problems in her body, but in the supportive atmosphere of the class I saw she could work with body comfortable, and the whole class benefited. I saw anyone really can benefit. For me it was a challenge because of all the work involved but the atmosphere and experience paid for it all.