The Way of St. James - Avila, Spain
In my travel to Spain to do research for a book on that topic, I journeyed through the north to Santiago de Compostela and by staying in a small inn outside of the city (the terminus of The Way of Saint James, the pilgrim’s paths through Spain to the Cathedral where the relic remains of Saint James are held and revered), I was able to walk the last mile or two of the Camino that led in from the west of the city. And throughout my travels, I searched for the Camino path wherever it was in proximity.
As I near completion of my travels through Spain, I had been thinking about walking the Camino for a longer distance to capture the connections that pilgrims make with the beautiful countryside, the other pilgrims who walk the path, and of course, with the Divine source that inspires all to make it a spiritual journey – like that of the fisherman from Galilee who walked to the end of the (known) world to spread the Gospel to the people on the Iberian peninsula – all the way to the rugged cliffs overlooking the Atlantic in the northwest corner of Spain.
In planning my subsequent trip through Extremadura and Castilla, I did a Google search on Camino de Santiago and found several links to a film entitled, “The Way” – (completed in 2009-2010) by Emilio Estevez and featuring his father, Martin Sheen. I followed these links to a Web site and to a Facebook page created to support and promote this film.
On the Facebook site, I read a message from Emilio in which he laid out his plans for the premiers and possible distribution of The Way. To my surprise, it appeared that he was filming in and near Santiago de Compostela when I was there on that previous trip and he was more recently premiering and promoting his film in Madrid during the time I was there on my last trip.
What struck me was that broadcast and print media had not made me aware of this film or its production, premier, and promotion occurring when I was physically proximate, such as to attend the premiere in Madrid.
Yet, through the freely available Web-based search and social networking sites, I was able to become informed of it and to interact by making a marketing suggestion in a reply comment on Facebook. By crowdsourcing on his Facebook page, his plans and invitation for ideas to promote the film, Emilio is not only providing the equivalent of a powerful broadcasting message, he has also initiated an equally powerful interaction with many people who might become advocates in promoting the distribution and performance of this film in the United States and throughout the world, especially in situations where there might not otherwise be enough support from traditional media companies.
And by creating this initial content on his Facebook page and Web sites and the outbound and inbound links to it, Emilio is creating a snowballing effect that can achieve higher ranking on search engines – which is how I originally made a connection with his film and promotional efforts.
So in close, I want to thank Emilio, not only for making a film on this important topic, but also for showing the way that we can use our online presence to promote the ideas and artifacts that we value, and share them with others who in turn receive and invest in that value.
And in that spirit of sharing, I welcome your comments on these topics in reply,
Doc
The Way (movie) Web site: http://www.theway-themovie.com
The Way (movie) Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Way-A-film-by-Emilio-Estevez/149700758373570
Hello Doc,
It is amazing what they have done, but how can you accomplish it if you don’t have the star power of an Emilio or Martin to attract the attention of your audience?
Alex
Hi Alex, thanks for asking that question because I think it lies at the intersection of social networking and media on the Web and traditional marketing and advertising. As you are associated with the marketing of a tour company and using social networking, you are probably discovering or already know some answers to your question. As I also used twitter to direct twitter followers and those who search for tweets by topic to this blog entry, you may have found my post via search and/or social networking. My sense is that a complementary use of traditional and social networking marketing can yield more in the sum than the parts, and that complementary use of social networking and social media sites can achieve similar “network effect.” See my blog post with link to an online presentation I made on the topic: Social Networking and Social Media Innovation in an Online E-Business Course.
Comments welcome in reply there:
https://programhouse.com/wordpress/?p=325
Thanks for sharing – buen camino!
Doc
Couldn’t help but want to reply to you Alex…. Tis a lot harder without star power for sure! I am doing a documentary on the Camino for PBS right now – Emilio and I were both in pre-production at the same time and then their shoot was delayed a couple of months and I went and did mine. I came back, put together a trailer to show potential funders the characters, visuals and themes that were going to be addressed in the final doc. I sent it to Martin and he loved it. Emilio showed it to his cast so they could understand the Camino better.
I only had enough money to do my shoot and am still fundraising for the post production phase of my project. I’m working on getting the word out via Facebook. Am figuring if I have a ton of likes on our page it will really help me once I have a rough cut and am talking with distributors. I will be doing a big campaign come Jan – new website, lots of new clips et. Am planning on getting a lot of input during the edit from our facebook fans – sort of like a test audience and a great way to brainstorm with lots of pilgrims at once. It is fantastic to find so many Camino lovers like me out there.
Thanks so much!
Lydia
http://www.facebook.com/TheCaminoDocumentary
http://www.caminodocumentary.org
Hi Lydia, Thanks for sharing your plans to promote your film (and its funding) via social networking sites. What I find fascinating is the many ways you plan to leverage these sites to achieve your goals, such as crowdsourcing facebook fans on your edits in progress and launching a crowd-funding campaign to raise the funds necessary to edit the 300 hours of footage shot in Spain into a finished 90-minute show. Your sites appear prominently in search results and it’s obvious that you have built strong community support by providing relevant value in your content and in your interactions. Other than continuing along the lines you have developed, consider additional channels of promotion by tapping into more types of social networking and social media sites (such as I have listed in my online presentation cited in my response to Alex) to further build on the “network effect.”
Doc,
I was not familiar with The Camino until I read your blog. A friend of mine had seen the movie you mentioned, but I never took time to investigate it for myself. Now that I know the significance of the road and where it leads I am much more likely to watch the movie. My best friend is currently in Italy, and watching some of the footage is reminiscent of the countryside he has posted pictures of from his travels.
Thanks Eric for sharing your feedback on the blog post and how social media like this blog can create connections – both social and business. For example, by placing the link to your godscoffee.com in your comment, you open up avenues of connection with like-minded readers of this blog post who will appreciate your divinely-inspired way to sell coffee as a fund-raising arrangement that helps people who share the good news of salvation through Christ.
The Way sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity to find out what you are made of. Sometimes we get loss in the shuffle of work and home life, until something happens, then we find out life is about people and their feelings
Thanks Cynthia for sharing your thoughts about the importance of The Way, both as a movie and as a pilgrimage. Promoting both of these important activities through social media such as this blog, twitter, youtube and other sites is key to reaching out and helping people find themselves as you suggest.