Hauer Santos told The PIE News: “The GATE [concept] was created because I felt the need to broaden the concept of learning abroad. There are many other customers today that are looking for education abroad. It’s not only a student fair but is “global access to education”, which has broadened the age range  we are targeting.”

“The result we expect is our brand grows stronger in the market because we’ve brought something with such content”

The event took place over three days in the high end JK Iguatemi shopping mall in the centre of São Paulo.

The venue featured a press room, an auditorium, an STB pop-up store and 30 STB staff dedicated to showing prospective students and their families around the workshop.

“We are in a very sophisticated mall, so you tend to attract your target audience and not general public that will not understand the kinds of programmes that we are offering,” said Hauer Santos.

Speakers included industry figures such as Simon Collins, fashion director of Parsons The New School for Design and Brady Norvall, CEO of specialised educational consultancy firm FindaBetterU, who gave the talk: “How to apply to American Universities”.

“I believe the concept of GATE is much, much more to the educational level and reaching an audience that the schools and organisations that we work with are looking for,” summarised Hauer Santos. “The result we expect is our brand grows stronger in the market because we’ve brought something with such content.”

On the eve of the workshop, STB gave institutions a unique chance to attend a party at an art house designed by Brazil’s most renowned architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. At the party Hauer Santos told guests that the location was a reflection of STB, that it stands for something special and unique.

The GATE workshop has since received recognition overseas, and Hauer Santos informed The PIE News that he has already been approached by international organizations that want to replicate the concept in their own countries.