What we do
No two events are the same, and neither are the teams behind them.
We work with B2B event organisers of all sizes and stages to design live experiences that are as powerful and memorable as they are commercially effective.
We’ve run large-scale events in North America, EMEA and Asia, from launch to maturity, and in industries as diverse as retail, financial services, education and healthcare. We’ve learned what really makes them work and what gets in their way.
Getting For Real in your corner means you skip the trial and error. You add the experience of people who’ve done it before — launches, turnarounds, complex portfolios, integrations — and the perspective to see what matters and what doesn’t.
Your team, super-charged.
There are 5 areas where we can give you extra firepower.
See the full picture. We start by understanding how your events and your team are performing and what’s needed to unlock your next phase of growth.
Strategic support
What we can help with
Reviewing event P&Ls, revenue models and margins
Analysing delegate, sponsor and exhibitor performance
Evaluating team structure, workload and gaps
Assessing brand, content and marketing effectiveness
Pinpointing where processes, tech or spend can work harder
It’s the same approach that’s enabled us to grow shows and portfolios from early-stage experiments into high-performing brands.
You’ll come away with a clear view of where your business stands, what to prioritise and how to move forward — a specific, actionable plan for your team to work with.
Fractional leadership
Sometimes what you need isn’t consultancy, it’s leadership. For Real offers fractional C-level roles designed for event businesses in moments of growth or change.
Hire senior expertise — for a set number of days a month or for a fixed period of time — to bring clarity, calm and commercial direction without committing to a full-time exec.
When a fractional leader might be the right fit
You’ve outgrown the current setup. The team’s stretched, operations are creaking and you need senior structure to scale.
You’re between hires. A key leadership seat is empty, but the business can’t pause while you find the right person.
You want to test before hiring. Try a fractional COO, CFO or CPO to see what the right long-term role looks like.
You’re scaling lean. You need senior capability and accountability, but not a full-time C-suite salary.
You need someone inside the business, not outside it. When the challenges are messy or shifting, a fractional leader embeds with your team to fix problems while diagnosing them.
Fractional leadership gives you access to senior expertise without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Adding heavy hitters to your leadership team doesn’t usually allow much room for manoeuvre - this way, you stay in full control and can scale up and down as you need.
At For Real, we’ve led large-scale event portfolios and operational turnarounds first-hand. We know how to step into a business quickly, bring focus and stability, and leave behind structures and habits you can maintain long-term.
Launching new events & products
Build the future of your portfolio. When you’re ready to grow, we help you design and launch new events, geo-clones or product lines that feel right for your brand and make good business sense too.
That might include
Testing market demand with your current and future customers
Devising sponsorship and pricing strategy
Designing event formats and audience journeys
Building hosted buyer or matchmaking programs from scratch
Project planning for launch (timelines, resources and team)
Identifying team gaps and helping you fill them
We’ve built new shows that generated over $10M in their first year of running and launched the world’s biggest 1-2-1 meetings program. Getting new things off the ground is kind of our happy place.
We’ll make sure your new event or product line delivers real ROI and feels true to your brand, not bolted on.
Hands-on help when you need it. Sometimes a show needs a bit of extra pace, focus or capacity, or just a fresh pair of eyes. We can embed within your team to manage a single workstream or project, or even take on full ownership for a while if that’s what you need.
Event delivery
What that might look like
Providing executional firepower to fill short- to medium-term gaps
Offering interim leadership across a portfolio, event or function
Leading marketing, content or creative direction
Overhauling operations and supplier management
Strengthening sponsorship and sales delivery
Driving attendee acquisition or ticket sales
Picking up a specific project that needs some extra love
We’ve run huge global events end-to-end, so we know what excellence looks like. The shows we’ve built have achieved some of the highest attendee and sponsor NPS results in the industry, and we’ve done it all while increasing employee NPS too.
Our role is to accelerate performance, build capability inside your team and leave you stronger than when we started.
Preparing for investment or acquisition
Get investment ready, or just growth ready. Whether you’re planning to sell or raise capital, or just want to increase the value of your business, we help event teams show their best selves.
That might include
Reviewing financials, margins and forecasts for investor confidence
Streamlining operations and governance
Refining brand, audience and product story for due diligence
Identifying growth levers to strengthen valuation
We’ve worked inside and alongside some of the largest event M&A deals of the past five years, leading portfolio integrations and advising leadership teams through investment prep.
We know what acquirers look for and how to tell the story behind the numbers, so you can approach the process with clarity and control.
Our team have worked with brands like
Let’s make it real.
We’d love to hear about what you’re building, even if you’re not sure we can help. We get pretty excited to talk events.
Drop us a line and let’s have a chat.