By offering a specially designed series of events in the United States, in Portugal and in other countries, Open Media and its founder Bruce Hawker are providing expert advice directly to potential expats all in one place.

The project was established by a media organisation which had many years of experience in publishing in Portugal—the same team that had been in charge of publications such as The Resident and Essential Magazines—and its move into live events was initiated in 2019 as a strategic diversification. Having resided in Portugal for 48 years after moving from the UK with his parents in 1978, Hawker noticed an increasing gap in the way information was being provided to international buyers, investors and retirees.

The idea was simple but revolutionary in that it aimed to go beyond digital articles, real estate listings, and automated online advice by setting up a face-to-face forum at which prospective expats could have all their questions answered in one place by reliable specialists.

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To put it simply, the whole idea was always to get the information across face to face, rather than, for instance, having to read about it in a newspaper or on a website when considering a move to Portugal. Or, rather than getting the information from a real estate firm or a law firm or some other such organisation, people looking for information could in fact have the opportunity to go to one place at one time, no matter where they were, and have all their questions answered there in one go. That was the essence of the concept.

The project, which at first was delayed due to the global pandemic, finally got under way in 2022 at the Tivoli Carvoeiro Hotel with the first Living in the Algarve seminar event; since that time the format has expanded quickly and Open Media has been organising four regional events each year in southern Portugal

Building on its earlier successes, Open Media began its international expansion in February 2023 with an event at the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Because the response was so great, the team went back to California just four months later, in June, to meet the demand followed by an event in New York.

To date, the organisation has held more than 30 events in 16 US cities attended by more that 4500 people, along with seminars in South Africa and Brazil. Instead of being large-scale sales exhibitions, these carefully selected events include 12 to 14 specialists who cover the key areas of relocation such as tax advice, legal advice, healthcare, private health insurance, logistics, real estate, currency exchange and investments qualifying for Portugal’s Golden Visa.

Attendees are welcomed in an exhibition area with coffee and snacks before sitting in on a series of short presentations, after which they move back into the exhibition area to taste Portuguese wines and have one-on-one conversations with the experts. As Hawker points out, "people frequently get the wrong idea about what we’re doing and assume we’re an organisation trying to sell them something. To make that clear, we stress that our role is that of publishers and that we carefully choose the companies that join us to ensure a variety of specialists are present. In the United States, almost all of the people in the room who are speaking have come from Portugal specifically. Ninety per cent of what the audience hears is being conveyed by people who actually live in Portugal".

Hawker points out that practical observations—like the state of healthcare in Portugal—often come as a surprise to people from abroad. “The Americans will never actually believe that in Portugal we can obtain health insurance—even for someone of my age, who is turning 60—for about €1,600 a year. In the United States, that would be what they pay monthly. “One of the main advantages of the in-person format is that it allows people to deal directly with complex legal and regulatory changes. Since recent amendments to Portuguese nationality law have caused a great deal of confusion on social media, some people considering applying have thought the routes to residency were closing."

To clear up these misconceptions, Open Media’s forthcoming seminars will emphasise that although citizenship timelines have changed, the basic possibility of obtaining Portuguese residency—including through the qualifying investment funds available under the Golden Visa programme—still exists and remains fully intact.

Yes, the rules regarding citizenship have changed, but that does not affect the residency rules,” Hawker stresses. “That is now being realised by people. The purpose of our current events is to deal with this and to put the misinformation which has been spread on social media to rest.”

This focus on humans is in line with broader developments in the industry. A study carried out by the US event company Freeman shows that 80% of consumers place more trust in face-to-face events than in any other type of marketing, and 95% say that their trust in a brand increases following a live event. "Webinars are in fact becoming less and less popular, since people prefer face-to-face, one-on-one interaction," notes Hawker. "It is quite different to find something online to be able to sign up free of charge and then choose the person you want to meet in person."

Open Media is now starting its autumn tour of the US and will be visiting a number of important locations. The tour will begin in California with a stop in San Francisco on 19 September, then move to Seattle on 23 September and afterwards visit Phoenix (Scottsdale) on 26 September. For people already living in Portugal or those who are here and considering moving, the next Living in the Algarve event takes place at the Conrad Algarve in Quinta do Lago on 30 September.

The US tour will continue later in the autumn, with events in Dallas on 28 October, Atlanta on 31 October, Charlotte on 17 November, and a two-day event in Boston on 20 and 21 November. For general questions or to express interest in participating in Open Media’s events e-mail info@open-media.net.