Blog 1 media portrayals

The Esalen Institute, commonly just called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California which focuses on alternative humanistic education. The Institute played a vital role in the Human Potential Movement beginning in the 1960s. Its innovative use of encounter groups, a focus on the mind-body connection, and their ongoing experimentation in personal awareness introduced many ideas that later became mainstream. On February 1, 2017, the Institute was cut off when Highway 1 was closed on either side of the hot springs. The institute doors were closed and evacuated all guests via helicopter, and was required to lay off 90% of its team through at least July. When the Institute resumed with limited workshop offerings. Also, the institute decided to revamp its offerings to accommodate topics more relevant to a younger generation. As of July 2017, due to the limited access resulting from the road closures, the hot springs are only open to Esalen guests. When the Esalen Institute reopened, they created an Instagram account under the name of "Esalen" and is posting picture actively every day. 

 In the article, The Hollywood Reporter states that Don Draper's seaside getaway in the Mad Men series finale has set off a massive surge in interest around Big Sur's famed Esalen Institute.  The conceivable motivation for the peaceful retreat focus delineated in the show. When Mad Men series finale aired on May 17, an Esalen representative told The Hollywood Reporter social media and institute's website experienced a record-breaking views. They went from doing 1,000 sessions per day to between 3,000 to 6,000 sessions per day on the Esalen website. Since the finale, they have also been an increase in calls to our reservation line.


The president of Esalen, Gordon Wheeler, tells The Hollywood Reporter that they love the attention that Esalen Institute is getting because it drives people to go to their website and social media platform, and also states that they "appreciate the traffic." Wheeler recommends guest to book their stay in one month advance to secure a spot because their registrants are at near capacity almost all of the time and retreat programs have grown in the past decade. Any overflow guests are accommodated at a nearby hotel since Esalen Institute can house about 140 guests on-site.

Wheeler was approached in filming Mad Men series at the retreat in 2014 and turned the producers down. The producer found alternate venue nearby. Wheeler denied in shooting Mad Men series because he was interested in Esalen guests experience. As Wheeler stats, "Because we are a mission-driven nonprofit and we’re interested in our guest's experience," he says. "Our guests are here to become more effective in their own lives and their own personal missions. We don’t want them disturbed in that process."

Overall, Wheeler enjoyed Esalen Institute retreat in the finale, even though it was an alternate venue.
According to Wheeler, finale showed that Don Draper found his creativity at the retreat and had an authentic feeling.

As for some religious commune, media portrayal has a lot of negative views that is showered on the public. But for Esalen Institute, media portrayal was positive and helped approach guests to reserve a spot and have people view their website and catalogs. Who wouldn't want to go to Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California to see an amazing view and relax? I know I would.


Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 22, 2017 at 5:01 PM

    Great blog. This is a change for once. I feel like since we have been studying all these different religious groups we have heard more about how they receive negative feedback from the media. Most are portrayed as cults and many people don't take the time to actually read about there beliefs or practices. Esalen like you said is an example of a religious commune that has received positive feedback from the media and it really helped them out. It was a big help for them in trying to expand, but also it is nice when you have positive feedback on your website page as well as people wanting to come visit the institute.

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  2. UnknownDecember 12, 2017 at 10:51 PM

    Great article. Reading the title I assumed this article was going to discuss the negative image that the media painted but was refreshing to discover that the media was very honest and showed a different picture. I also enjoyed the article discussing how Esalen thought the coverage increased their brand recognition.

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