You’ve most likely heard the phrase ‘location, location, location’ when it comes to real estate but have you ever thought where you are set-up at an event will effect you? The placement of your booth will have an effect on how much traffic you see, how engaged your guests are, and even the flow of your booth. Colin and I deal with these effects, but by association we also see how this effects other vendors at events.
When we go to any event-wedding, corporate gig, birthday, dance party- we are there to create an amazing guest experience around the Selfie Scene. This means everything to us because the host hired us wants their guests to have a blast at their event. It’s a big deal for any event planner or host to have their party to go off without a ‘hitch’. You can imagine how it feels to be an empty photo booth tucked a way in some corner.
We have been asked to set-up in some terrible spots and most of the time the space doesn’t permit us to move. We can typically tell if we’re going to be busy or not based on where we set-up. On the flip side we’ve been placed in some perfect spots and our booth is on overdrive to ensure the best experience for hundreds of guests.
It’s stressful to be the most popular attraction at any given event with little traffic. We feel bad for the host and their guests because they pay us to entertain but how can we if we are in the locked in the dark basement across the street from the venue? Okay, it’s not that bad but the exaggeration is funny. After many events we have a few tips to ensure higher booth traffic, more engaged guests, and nice flow of you booth. You can apply any of these to more than a photo booth.
Tip One: Be Where the Action Is
The best events are the ones where you get to be right in on the action. We are a part of a series of dance parties for a friend and we are set up on the dance floor. This is so fun for us because we get to be a part of the huge party and the booth stays busy the whole three hours. Every wedding we do where we are set-up in the reception area, the guests line up. When people are enjoying themselves at a party they aren’t so stiff and shy, which means they have more fun at the photo booth. Parties take a while to warm up, the same goes for booths. Once the first few braves souls muster up the courage to enter the booth to take a picture and to their surprise they are still alive, more people start to line up. It’s called social proof, once others see it’s fun or enjoyable they immediately want to join. When others see a line to your booth they cannot resist the curiosity and desire to want to “see what’s going on over there” for themselves.
Tip Two: Stay Away From Separate Rooms
Don’t get shut out! Stay where you can be seen by the crowd, if you don’t you’re out of sight and out of mind. There is too much going on at most events, you can’t let yourself be locked up in a side room like the cousin that gets left behind in the game of hide and seek because no one wants to be around them. You’ll be waiting and hoping someone comes to find you. This is spatially convenient but it’s a pain for you, a bore to the guests, and a regret for the host. It’s nice to have a separate room, it’s cozy, it’s easy set-up and tear down, and it’s roomy-pun intended. The hosts already have a lot on their plate the last thing on their mind is to direct 250 people to go take a picture in the room that is down the hall, fourth door on the left, up the stairs, and six doors down on the right. You might as well let us set-up at home and send people to us in an Uber.
Tip Three: Position Yourself for High Visibility
When you’re in a good spot position yourself so people can see you. For us we have a large 10′ x 8′ back drop, now if we have that as the first thing people see, it might look like a curtain that is hiding the extra chairs or tables. We make sure people see our station, strobe light, prop table, and our gorgeous smiling faces. Don’t tuck yourself away thinking you are helping, because you’re not helping yourself at all.
Tip Four: Position Yourself for Good Flow
The flow of your booth makes the experience much better for the guests, but don’t worry it saves you a headache too. We set-up so the guests enter in one way and leave the other with their picture and a bigger smile than when they came to the booth. Our props are there to grab, they jump in line, take their pic, grab their copy, and as they leave put the props back. Don’t block one side so all the traffic has to converge, if one side has to be blocked then direct people in behind the previous guests and the ones who just finished can slide right out.
Tip Five: Make it Work
You won’t always have an ideal placement, so you gotta just deal with it. Make it work the best you can. Find ways to make yourself stand out. Be creative with how you figure out how to set up in the elevator sized space with a 10 ft. tall rubber plant invading your already tiny area like a tree from Jurassic Park and the only outlet is too far for the two extra extension cords you bring so that doesn’t happen.
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