I read an article from BizBash magazine entitled “The Photo Booth That Can Capture the Whole Party.” It talks about a new portable photo-booth — AKA, the Boothomatic– which rolls around the party, enabling guests to take photos wherever they might be.
After reading the short article and checking out the photo, here are my off-the-cuff thoughts as to whether the Boothomatic would work in silent auctions.
Designed for the younger set
My immediate thought is that this is something for a younger crowd. I can see as where Generation Y or Generation Z would get into this!
But I don’t envision most of the guests at my silent auctions (age 40+) comfortably jumping in front of the booth without encouragement from an outgoing photographer. I’m still unclear after reading the article as to whether a photographer supervises the booth. If he does — and if that photographer is a gregarious type who can comfortably corral guests for photos — this would work.
If the booth is unsupervised, my crowds would give it an eye and ignore it.
How level is your floor?
In many hotels, the Boothmatic would work fine.
But if your silent auction is to be held in an unusual facility — such as a historic home, an outdoor garden, or even a hotel hallway with tight quarters — I’d consider alternative forms of entertainment.
You’ll want a venue (and a floor!) that allows the booth to roll unencumbered.
Easy download of photos
I love that photographs from your event are available for download from a website.
They also offer customized photo packages. My only concern is that — once again — some of my less savvy older guests won’t understand how to download photos from a site. Those same guests *would* take home a photo of themselves if it’s printed onsite, but they would be less likely to check a website in the days following the gala.
Rates
The price in New York is apparently $2500 for a 4-hour rental. I don’t know NYC rates well enough to gauge if this is in-line with other forms of photo entertainment or not. But given that there are no printed photographs available to guests onsite, I would hope that the Boothomatic would be less in price than something, say, like portrait photography.
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