Homecoming is one of the most exciting times of the year on campus and a chance to showcase Missouri State pride. This year, in an effort to pair the excitement of homecoming with recent efforts to develop the Alumni Association’s social media presence, we decided to try something new that was fun and festive: a MarooNation photo booth. The idea behind the photo booth was to provide a way for alumni and friends who made the pilgrimage back to campus to continue connecting with the Alumni Association online once they returned home.

Making a DIY photo booth

  Since this was the first year for the photo booth, we decided to keep the project fairly simple. We gathered a few spirited Missouri State props (a foam finger, maroon and white wig, football, etc.), borrowed a tripod and photo backdrop from Photo Services, and used a basic, digital camera.

The photo booth was set up at the MarooNation (Alumni Association) tent in BearFest Village. As people walked up to the tent, we welcomed them to try out our photo booth. Those that were interested were invited to select props for their photo, asked to sign a photo release, had their picture taken, were given a social media business card and encouraged to check our Facebook page for their photo. It was quick and simple, and it worked very well overall.

During the three hours BearFest Village was open, we had more than 125 people get their photo taken. After the event we uploaded the photos to Flickr and shared the album on Facebook and Twitter.

The photo booth served as a great way to attract attention to and connect visitors with our social media accounts.

Advice for future photo booths

If your department or organization would like to host a photo booth, here are a few tips we learned from our experience that might help you in the future:

1. Promote your photo booth in advance.

   If your goal with the photo booth is to help your online audience connect with you in person, and vice versa, let your followers on social media know when and where to expect you. This is beneficial because it provides your online fans advance notice, and it offers them the opportunity to spread the word to their friends who may not already follow you.

2. Provide an assortment of props.

   While hosting our photo booth, we found that one of the things alumni found most enticing about it was the chance to try on and have fun with props. While people won’t often stand in line to have their photo taken, the props provided an outlet with which people were able to have fun and be silly, which led them to want to participate. Having a variety of props for guests to engage with will help attract attention to your photo booth and increase the likelihood people will find something they feel comfortable wearing or holding in the photo.

3. Give guests a clear and direct connection to you online.

   The way we connected alumni and friends who participated in the photo booth to our social media accounts was through a social media business card. I highly recommend offering participants a tangible reminder of the social media page you’re sharing their photos on because it makes it easier for them to find you. Anytime you can make it easier for your audience to connect with you, it is a win. That is because the easier it is on your audience, the greater your chances are that they will complete the action you’re driving them toward – liking your Facebook page, following you on Twitter, etc.

View all photos from the MarooNation photo booth.

If you have any questions, or would like more information about the Alumni Association’s photo booth, please feel free to contact me.