When A Photo Booth and Fujifilm Birthed an Epic Event

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When A Photo Booth and Fujifilm Birthed an Epic Event

Well known for its photographers, mini-workshops and knowledge-sharing expos, Fujifilm is at it again. This time, they’ve hosted a two-day photo booth event to showcase its newest gadget adoptions, photo op opportunities and slew of creative screens, filters and talent.

Fujifilm invited an audience to try out its all-new, instant-digital camera. As if it wasn’t enough, the company created a photo-friendly playland to display the product across various high-energy environments. The immersive event highlighted the new camera’s capabilities, giving event-goers the chance to snap their own art.

Bathouse Studios and a Hybrid Event

On May 17, Fujifilm hung out at Bathouse Studios, inviting influencers and guests alike. The event featured the Instax Square SQ10, a hybrid camera made famous for its instant-digital design. The camera was set up in several screen-centric booths, and attendees were invited to try out its many filter options. As a bonus, operators could edit their photos, share them and print them;

The engaging environment was inspired by the recent popularity of instant-square photography. It was also established to prod customer imaginations. Performing at the event, pop band AJR created an emotionally heavy environment to supplement the event. Influential foodies were later granted entrance to an exclusive brunch hosted by Fujifilm partner, Tasting Table. Bathouse Studios opened the floor for a three-course-meal, an expansive menu and a hands-on food photography class. The workshop, of course, featured the Instax Square SQ10.

A Public Activation for Exclusive Options

The Fujifilm way of handling a product release was unique. Known for its top-tier B-to-B marketing events, the brand has produced a number of popular events in the past year. Its recent Instax line’s success can be attributed to the product’s capabilities alone, but the brand’s willingness to connect to its audience can’t be ignored.

The activation was open to the public. Over 500 visitors and guests arrived, exploring the brand’s products and services across two days. Fujifilm reached its target audience and more, connecting with its audience at the individual level. Fans explored the event’s double-floor design, enjoying a mirror maze, lounging at the event’s secret bar and sipping on signature cocktails.

Social Media Outreach

Meanwhile, Fujifilm hooked up with Jackie Gebel to use the @noleftovers name in a social media marketing movement. Alongside chef Branden McHale, Gebel gave event-goers the opportunity to reach friends and family by sharing event photos on social media.

The New York event was huge, and it was Fujifilm’s final destination in its multi-city launch party series. It hit Berlin, Tokyo and a slew of others. Expected to travel across the United States in upcoming months, Fujifilm’s event hasn’t slowed down at all. New locations have always inspired new photographic urges, and Fujifilm’s recent focus on the public is certainly a step in the right direction.

Fujifilm’s fan dedication was also evident in February, when it hosted FijuLove LIVE. Guests were invited from around the nation to explore the art of photograpy. Featuring artists like Elia Locardi, Valerie Jardin and Karen Hutton, FujiFilm LIVE was a fantastic kick-start to the brand’s eventual fanbase exploration. Fujifilm has a reputation for educating, presenting to and sharing work with its audience. Likely, we’ll see much more from Fujifilm in this department. For now, however, let’s appreciate their recent campaign for what it was: a pretty swell time.

How to use Photo Printing Backpacks for your Next Experiential Event

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How to use Photo Printing Backpacks for your Next Experiential Event

Marketing tech firm, M-ND, connected with the B Positive Foundation, expanding nonprofit support into the baseball stadium. Their photo-printing backpacks were a huge hit, heightening much-needed awareness of kids with cancer. The technology which regularly promotes social media pictures is wide-ranging and varied, but a hashtag, a little organization and trending technology goes a long way.

The #BePosNYC Movement

On August 8, Texas Rangers attendees were invited to engage the B Positive Foundation campaign via social media, promoting the #BePosNYC hashtag via backpack screens. The screens, designed to display real-time picture updates, were directly connected to the campaign’s photo print awareness plan. Attendees posting game photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram could use the #BePosNYC hashtag, both raising awareness for the event while connecting with other baseball fans.

The Andrew McDonough B Positive Foundation has conducted similar events in the past. Their slogan, “Kids Helping Kids Fight Cancer,” has historically been a useful tag for humanistic ventures. Recently being used at City Field, the slogan headlined their movement for young cancer patients as well as their supporters. Attendees who weren’t part of the event, meanwhile, were invited to print event photos at home.

M-ND and B Positive

M-ND has plans to work alongside B Positive in the future. A donation-by-text campaign is, reportedly, in the works. Focusing on raising funds for charity, M-ND will likely take advantage of new opportunities with B Positive. Creating a unique experience for event attendees is difficult. Often, promoting interactive designs capable of garnering attention is met with technological barriers and audience-reaching difficulties. The partnership worked, however. It worked splendidly.

The B Positive Foundation has assisted thousands of United States families treated in over 200 hospitals. Intending to alleviate the financial burdens of ongoing healthcare, the foundation continues to grow. Many B Positive initiatives have offered research grand cycle options, too. On every level, the Foundation promotes the study of cutting-edge childhood cancer research. In the past, the Foundation has supported St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical Center.

Where Experiential Marketing and Proactive Care Meet

Both groups are assisted by some national childhood cancer collaborations, too. While childhood cancer charities may not be directly connected with events conducive to funds, they’re well-connected to communities. This presents an interesting angle for groups breaking into the experiential marketing world. Nonprofits have had historically tough breaks, fund-wise, in the experiential marketing world. Numbers change, however, when mass audiences are met.

Advocacy via social media, here, is a great takeaway. The B Positive Foundation and M-ND proved individual-level digital promotion works. Photos taken at the game served as memorabilia for those who were part of the foundation, raising awareness for both the foundation and its few causes. Mets colors were used, making the event highly personal. Curated social media photos are influential when aligned with an event’s overall theme. If you’ve ever wondered what a successful nonprofit social media marketing campaign looks like, look no further than the B Positive Foundation’s addition to the baseball diamond.

Emerging Trends in Experiential Marketing Events

Emerging Trends in Experiential Marketing Events

Trends are everything in advertising and marketing. Campaigns across several industries often share certain themes at any specific time. This is true not just for things like logos and packaging, but also for big meeting events and experiential marketing extravaganzas.

Despite this, it's important to do more than just copy what the other marketers are doing. In order to make your brand stand out from theirs, you need to put your own twist on any trend. With that in mind, here are some of the emerging trends and some tips on how to personalize your versions:

Allowing the Audience to Partake in Making the Event Happen

This is becoming more popular thanks to improvements in technological capabilities. If you hop on this trend, your event should be done in a way that ties into your guests' interests and skills. One good example is an event that used the Slido audience participation app. It let the audience write a third of the code needed for the event's computerized features – in real time. Participants got to see exactly how the code developed and how Slido works, all in a way that drew their full attention.

Most companies don't have audiences that can jump into something as complex as coding right on the spot, but all can find something that their expected guests can do. Choose an activity that fits both your company and your audience for great results.

Make Your Event Emotionally Driven

Studies show that human decision-making is influenced far more by emotion than hard reasoning. Keep this in mind when designing the experience and atmosphere of your event. Avoid dry, facts-only presentations and go for the gusto. Otherwise, people will find them boring and tune out.

The Elimination of Psychological Barriers in Learning Environments

Typical conference tables – or even worse, school-style desks – put psychological barriers between attendees, presenters, and the audience. The new trend is to get rid of all of those things and replace them with interactive displays or pods. This puts your audience right into the midst of the learning and makes your messages much more memorable. It's an especially good replacement for traditional seminars, which are normally boring precisely because of their school-like formats.

Is Silence Golden?

For some presenters, it most certainly is. More and more often, events are being broken up with quiet or even silent activities like yoga, meditation, and similar things. These breaks give participants a chance to unwind, and more importantly, regain their ability to concentrate on your messages.

Despite the benefits, silence breaks aren't fitting for all events. If your company's image is that of excitement and endless vigor, you'll be better off finding another way to recharge your audience. On the other hand, if you focus on subjects like how to become a more effective businessperson, this type of diversion should go over great.

Choose the Right Venue for Your Event

One thing that will never become obsolete is the need to choose the right venue. This will be the scene of your show and can make or break the event.

For a versatile venue in Miami that can be customized to meet the needs of nearly any event, come to Soho Studios. We have up to 70,000 square feet of indoor space available as well as two outdoor pavilions.

How to Make Your Corporate Event or Party Eco-Friendly

How to Make Your Corporate Event or Party Eco-Friendly

Every company can get extra goodwill by making their event or corporate party more eco-friendly. However, it can seem hard to do this when you have to serve or entertain large groups of people. How can you minimize the environmental footprint of 100 or even 1,000 event attendees? Fortunately, there are ways to set up your events so that even large ones have elements that are easier on the environment than their alternatives. Here are some ideas you can implement without much trouble:

Choose Reusable Tableware

Washing dishes requires soap and water, but the alternative – paper and plastic – is even worse for the environment. Paper production uses much more water than washing, and it typically results in large amounts of pollution thanks to the use of bleaches and dyes in the production process. Plastic, of course, is a petroleum product. Even worse, plastic doesn't degrade within a reasonable timeframe (some say it takes 500 years to disappear). Eliminating both paper and plastic is clearly the eco-friendly move.

Serve Vegetarian Meals

A good caterer can make vegetarian food taste great, and if your event calls for snacks and sandwiches instead of dinners, your guests may not even notice that meat isn't on the menu. The environmental benefit results from the efficiency of growing vegetables and grains compared to that of raising meat.

Why avoid meat? Raising meat animals produces pollution in the form of animal waste, contributes to greenhouse gas levels due to methane excretion, and requires more food since the feed has to go through another layer before it gets to you. Plants are much cleaner to grow, and they're more efficient because when you eat them directly, you essentially "cut out the middleman" of the food chain.

Hold Your Event in a Big City

When you have your event in a big city like Miami, your guests will be able to reach the venue via public transportation. This, of course, cuts down on the amount of gas used and air pollution produced. As a bonus, the area will have plenty of other things to do after your event ends, and your guests will love the extra entertainment possibilities.

Use Digital Signage

Many events are festooned with a wide variety of posters, pennants, and other printed materials. When the event ends, all of this paper is simply thrown away. Avoid all of that waste by using digital signs. Thanks to today's lightweight flat screens, these signs can be mounted in stands as well as hung on walls. Since they're digital, there's no need to throw them out when the current graphics become obsolete. Simply program them with new images for your next event. Alternatively, rent digital signs and simply hand them in to the rental company after your event ends.

Use Recycled Paper for Printed Materials

Digital signs eliminate the need for much paper, but you still may want to print out programs, brochures, or business cards for your event. In these cases, use paper that is totally or partially recycled to minimize your ecological footprint.

Avoid Plastic Water Bottles

Provide reusable bottles instead and have refill stations set up so guests can get more water as it is needed. If you just can't see going without the traditional plastic kind, set up recycle bins to collect them as they're emptied. Look for water brands that use recycled plastic for their bottles, too.

Rent Durable Materials

Venues such as our Soho Studios offer the chance to rent props, carpets, and other essentials for your event. Choose this option to avoid needlessly throwing away or endlessly storing items that could actually be used for years. If you do buy your own accessories, donate them to charities if you won't be reusing them.

Use Energy-Efficient Items

Many events require special gear. Make sure to choose the most efficient versions that will do the job. One suggestion is to make sure that you have LED lighting whenever possible. These lights are some of the most efficient readily-available ones on the market today.

Mention How Eco-Friendly Your Event Will Be

Helping the environment is great on its own, but the purpose of a corporate event is marketing. Be sure to let everyone know that your event is as green as possible and mention specific steps you've taken to make it that way. This will ensure that you get the expected bump in goodwill.

These are just some of the ways you can make your event more eco-friendly. Even if you can only implement some of them, you'll have a greener event than you would if you used the old-fashioned versions of everything.

For a highly flexible venue in Miami, choose Soho Studios. We have up to 70,000 square feet of configurable space and rental options for all major event elements.

Event Trend: Photo Booth Ideas for 2017

Few things bring guests together like a photo booth. Whether you’re presenting a new product line, getting creative with an expo or simply want to land a new brand perspective, installing a photo booth is a good idea. We’ve already seen a few photo booth trends in 2017 worth mentioning, and we’re sending them your way. Check out these awesome, tech-centric photo booths, and take charge with this year’s latest gadgets.

One: The LEGO Photo Booth

LEGO’s UK flagship store installed the world’s first “Mosaic Maker,” which is a photo booth capable of transforming self-portraits into LEGOs. A lot of brand providers have taken advantage of the trend, coming up with inspiring, unique ways to change the visitor’s face. LEGO’s mosaic kit, available after the photo is snapped, lets customers shape their own pictures.

Two: Movie Photo Booths

Apple, among other big tech providers, has expounded upon the recent Face Place photo booth series. It’s honored as the nation’s “Manufacturer of the Year,” and it isn’t toning down its creative approach to everything customer-centric. The Movie Photo Booth utilizes marquee-style lighting, Apple’s own green screen technology and digital photo sets which harness fantasy film backgrounds. Spice up the typical photo booth experience, and give your guests something to remember, scene-wise.

Three: The TapSnap Photo Booth

Whether you’re putting together a small event, a corporate soiree or a lavish expo, a TapSnap photo booth can enhance your visitor experience. It focuses on the customer’s perspective, using today’s leading technology to offer customized digital photo options. It’s rentable, too. Powered by a well-trained staff, TapSnap is quickly becoming a leading photo booth rental option.

Four: Social Media Booths

Social media has become a popular photo booth tool, and brand are using Facebook and Twitter log-in prompts to capture online moments and build brand awareness. These photo booths still have in-depth photo options, and they still showcase a variety of digital snap options, but having social media accessibility has changed the game.

Five: Gif Booths

Gifs have been around for a while, but they’ve only just taken off in the photo booth world. Alongside slow-mo booths and g-force “wind booths,” gif booths are becoming a staple of mall-based marketing events. Once again, social media plays a part. Facebook’s introduction to short-looping video has only fueled the trend.

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into photo booth technology, customers will start expecting lavish displays. Online metrics, social media and even virtual reality have come a long way. Today, even small marketing campaigns benefit from unique photo booth ideas. Where do you stand?