IKEA employees having a good time – no assembly required
At PCM’s annual holiday party, everyone is a star
If you are on the organizing committee for your alma mater, high-school, college or university, and trying to think up ways to add some excitement to your event you may want to consider bringing in a photobooth. While the trend for having photobooths at events has been going strong for years, people seem to have an undying appetite for it. With our sister company, lePartybooth, we’ve covered hundreds of events from 9-year old birthday celebrations in the kitchen to corporate hallowe’en and holiday parties, and everything in between. Young or old, CEO or sweet sixteeny boppers, people just love having a space where they are sanctioned to act as silly as they want to. It never ceases to amaze and delight me to see someone walk stiffly into lePartybooth, wrap a sequined scarf around their neck and suddenly transform into an almost scandalous exhibitionist. As an event photographer with a real love for people and parties, running live action photobooths is really one of my favourite jobs. A partybooth is like a joyful confessional where sinners are given full blessings to be as outrageous as they want to be, in the safety of a play space that encourages creativity and acting out.
Having a photobooth onsite at your next company event can help with morale and team-building. There is something about sharing a frame with your colleagues, each wearing a different coloured wig, that helps break down communications barriers and gets people smiling and laughing together. And no matter what your corporate culture, real belly-laughing fun with your colleagues is going to have a positive spillover effect on how you work together when you return to your office spaces and resume functioning as a sane person. (Even if you show up at the board meeting with an errant pink tuft of feather boa stuck on your collar.)
Monkey see, monkey do
Here are some ways to make the experience useful for your company and fun for your guests:
- Have a branded background or have your logo included on each photo
- Match the props and accessories to the theme of your party
- Offer onsite prints so your guests can take something home with them (cheaper than most party favours and highly personalized and likely to actually be kept)
- Have senior management partake and share the photos live at your event – show your employees that while you take your work seriously, you don’t need to take yourselves too seriously
- Offer a photobooth at a company event and invite family – let parents bring their kids to a work event
- Use the photobooth as a fundraiser – sell prints and donate the funds to your dedicated cause
Partying like it’s 1974
Whatever your aim is in hosting an event, having a photobooth onsite can help keep your guests occupied and entertained, and bring a new dimension of fun to your evening. Many photographers offer this kind of service today and you can save money by hiring one who can bring both event coverage (pickup shots) as well as a photobooth service. Ask about it the next time you book a photographer for your event.
