Kindred Spirits Photo Booth Services

08/10/2024

Doing an old school Photo Booth event northwest of Madison, the first one with the original Photo Booth in nearly a year. So much has changed in the last 12 months but doing the Photo Booth event warms my heart.

07/07/2024

Here's a brief explanation of how our iPad photo booth AI generation services work (courtesy of WIN, the Wedding Industry Network, of which Kindred Spirits is now a board member).

Wedding Industry Network (WIN!)'s newest members Kindred Spirits Photo booth brings a fun and modern twist to your party using Green Screens to turn you and ...

07/07/2024

Working alongside the Greater Waunakee Chamber of Commerce, Kindred Spirits was invited to WaunaBOOM, the local Fourth of July celebration and fireworks display in Waunakee. Actually located within the Chamber beer tent, we arrived at the start of festivities at 2 PM and stayed until after 8 PM, just before the fireworks.

The day was extremely busy! We took a total of 175 photos for folks, sending nearly all of them to the phones of our guests. We also generated over 60 AI-enhanced individual photos of our guests, texting those to their phones as well. While the photo booth hardware was originally set up for the event, we found it easier to simply detach the iPad from the booth and approach guests at their individual picnic tables, taking our services directly to them!

UPCOMING EVENTS

The next few weeks will be quite busy for Kindred Spirits! After doing a private birthday party on July 13th, we’ll be doing all four days of WaunaFest, July 25-28. Two days later, we’ll be up in the Dells doing THAT Conference for three days, July 30th, 31st and August 1st. We then have not one but TWO weddings to do on August 3rd (one in Madison and another out near Milwaukee) followed by another wedding a week later on August 10th in Reedsburg. Whew!

MARKETING PROMOTION

Finally, Kindred Spirits has contracted with the Advantage Magazine to do an ad inside their next “Back to School 2024” publication, scheduled for August 19, 2024. If you live in Dane County, you should receive this magazine so watch for our half-page ad later in August!

06/16/2024

We’re happy to announce that we’ve partnered with SpareTime Entertainment in Madison to offer our photo booth and spin cam services for all their future events!

Calling SpareTime just a “bowling alley” is like calling a Porsche just a “car” – this place is utterly amazing! From their luxury bowling lanes (featuring giant video screens and plush couches) to their huge Game Zone arcade to their thrilling laser tag arena to their immersive escape rooms and outstanding restaurant and bar, SpareTime has everything and is so much fun to visit. Kindred Spirits is proud to have partnered with SpareTime in Madison to offer our photo booth and spin cam services for any upcoming event!

Seriously, folks, go and check this place out–the sights and colors and the music all have an almost Las Vegas style casino vibe to it, and if you’re thinking about a party, corporate event or even wedding venue sometime soon, get in your car today and go see this place–it’s one of the coolest I’ve seen in Madison!

06/02/2024

Summer is here and our fledgling photo booth company is gearing-up! Here in early June, we have THREE upcoming events in just the next eight days.

Mid-West Family Madison (June 4)

First up, we're doing a simple photo booth event at the Mid-West Family Madison headquarters on Tuesday, June 4 from 3 - 5 PM. Dynamic speaker and WJJO on-air personality Randy Hawke will speak about what it takes to conduct successful promotions and events, and MWF will provide food, fun and prizes. We'll be there to take photos and leverage our AI capabilities to turn ordinary images into fun, dynamic characters!

Wisconsin Annual Conference

On Friday through Sunday (June 7 - 9) we'll be up at the KI Center in Green Bay to provide full-blown photo booth services (print, email and text) for the hundreds of Wisconsin-based United Methodist Church attendees making the pilgrimage to the Wisconsin Annual Conference. We'll actually be doing five separate four hour events, two on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. This is the first time the Wisconsin Conference has featured a photo booth at the Annual Conference so it should be a lot of fun!

US Cellular in Waunakee

Next Monday (June 10) we'll be at the US Cellular Waunakee store from 5:30 - 7:30 PM helping to promote their US Days event, providing exclusive deals for their local customers. The event will feature a baseball theme (where folks can register to win Brewer's tickets, a grill, a cooler, speakers and so forth) so we'll be using the photo booth to turn our guests into baseball players through our AI filter. Come on out to Waunakee and have fun with us!

New Discount Coupon!

Finally, if you live in the Waunakee area, you should receive a coupon from us with the Valpak mailing going out any day now. Our coupon will be one of several dozen mailed directly to homes within the Waunakee area and will feature a 20% discount for first-time service purchases. Not in Waunakee? Browse our website and under Services download our coupon directly to enjoy a 20% discount on your first-time purchase!

05/20/2024

This past Thursday (May 16, 2024) the Verona Area Chamber of Commerce held its "Chamber Mega Mixer" at the Verona Ice Arena in Verona, WI. This networking event involved over 15 local chambers of commerce and was held from 5-7 PM, attracting hundreds of people from all over the Madison area.

With the Verona Area Chamber's blessing, we volunteered to bring our "Modern" (iPad based) photo booth out for the full duration of the event, taking photos of the guests as they came through, developing a bunch of AI-generated images as well and generally meeting new people and showcasing our services. The event went very well for us and we hope to do more of these gigs in the future!

After meeting several dozen business owners who seemed like fellow "kindred spirits," we also developed a new page on our website this weekend dedicated to vendors who not only provide complementary services but are, like us, passionate about what they do and here to make our little corner of the world a better place. Similarly, if you represent a "kindred" business and would like to be added to our Vendors page, let us know and we'll gladly consider it!

Finally, if you live in the Waunakee area, you should receive a coupon from us with the next Valpak mailing, which is scheduled for early June. Our coupon will be one of several dozen mailed directly to homes within the Waunakee area and will feature a 20% discount for first-time service purchases. So, watch your mailbox in a few weeks and contact us if you'd like to schedule our services!

05/02/2024

We’ve recently instituted a newsletter system so we can periodically email folks on our list and keep everyone up to date on all the latest! Simply browse our website at https://kindredspiritspbs.com/subscribe to get on our list and receive monthly updates!

05/02/2024

We had our first school event this past Tuesday evening, providing photo booth services for Creekside Elementary School in Sun Prairie from 5-7 PM. Dozens and dozens of children (along with their parents and even a few teachers) got to have their photos taken, which were then sent directly to their parent’s phones to keep things simple. Some of the kids used virtual props set up through our Snappic software, while others took advantage of some zany physical props we brought as well (a tote full of silly glasses).

Each guest (or small group of guests) had four separate images taken, which were then uploaded to our cloud server (as well as their parent’s phones) so school staff could review all the photos in one place. Like all other Kindred Spirits photo booth events, those uploaded images (a grand total of 218) will remain online for the next two years.

We also configured five AI options to choose from: Color Explosion, Cowboy, Cyberpunk, Football Player and Wizard. Individuals then had their photo taken and, through the magic of AI, their likeness was rendered into what they had chosen.

We’re hoping to do a LOT more school events in the future! With the event Tuesday evening, we provided our “Basic Booth (iPad only)” package that includes the photo booth, ability to send images to email and smart phones, AI renditions and a little graphic customization, all for just $200 (and for non-profits like a school, we’ll take 25% off automatically). So, spread the word regarding what we can do for schools and other non-profits!

04/19/2024

Our new photo booth company had its first wedding show this past Tuesday, occupying a 10′ x 10′ booth at the WedPlan Madison Spring Wedding Show at the Marriott West in Middleton, WI. The show lasted from 4:30 – 8:30 PM and, despite the severe weather in the area, dozens of folks visited our booth, interacted with our equipment and learned more about what we do.

Inside our booth, we brought both our “traditional” (digital camera) equipment as well as our new “modern” (iPad) system, so visitors could review both; some liked the older photo booth setup and its simplicity while others loved the ability to choose a digital background and send their photos directly to their phone. We also brought lots of examples of past events we did with the older equipment, a tote full of props and some bling for prizes (those who used the iPad booth were allowed to spin a digital wheel and potentially win something to take with them).

In addition to all that, we featured our new SpinCam system as well, the show actually providing us its own 20′ x 20′ area where guests could step into, have their phones attached to the system, then the camera spun around them a full 360 degrees. We even made the wedding show’s highlight reel! Dozens of folks stopped to play with the SpinCam booth and we learned a great deal more about the system as well.

04/16/2024

Recovered the original Photo Booth Susie and I ran for years, fired it up last night and everything worked perfectly—not bad for an eight year old system. It’s all packed away now along with the new Photo Booth and the SpinCam 360 system and ready for tomorrow’s wedding show. I think Susan would be pleasantly shocked by all this!

04/14/2024

Our new SpinCam 360 video booth system recently arrived! Consisting of a tall mechanism that allows a cell phone to revolve horizontally around its owner 360 degrees, two large monitors and a black scrim with our Kindred Spirits logo and URL on it, we set it up at home to give the device a spin (no pun intended) and play with it. We've also purchased a five foot wide circular red carpet and six stanchions to place around the SpinCam so guests will know where to safely stand either within the revolving camera area or outside of it.

We will be exhibiting the SpinCam at our upcoming WedPlan Madison Spring Wedding Show on April 16th from 4:30 - 8:30 PM at the Marriott West in Middleton. Not only will we have the SpinCam there but it will be a featured component of the overall show, so come out and play with the device yourself if you can!

At the wedding show, we will not only showcase our new iPad-based photo booth itself but many of the capabilities of the software package we use as well. For example, in addition to the standard photo booth images (one, two or three to a print) we can record animated .gifs, photo-bursts (16 images taken in very rapid succession) and even video shorts, complete with some wild filters that are a lot of fun. We'll also be demonstrating how we can replace the photo background with an image of choice, so there will be lots to see and play with!

04/04/2024

For all of you attending the Waunakee Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner tomorrow night, Kindred Spirits Photo Booth Services will be there with our modern iPad photo booth system to take your pictures!

Early on, our booth assistants will help you take a single photo of yourself (or as a couple or in a small group). Photos can then be printed on 4 x 6 inch paper, sent to your email address and/or texted directly to your phone. Individuals may also select a digital prop that will be electronically added to their photo.

Later in the evening (once everyone has had a chance to take a conventional photo), we'll switch to the AI (artificial intelligence) filter for some added fun! Individuals can approach the photo booth, select an AI option (1980s male/female, color portrait male/female or 1980s style) and have your likeness re-imagined using AI (and sent to your email address or phone).

Looking forward to lots of fun Thursday evening--see you then!

03/25/2024

Excited to showcase this booth at the Waunakee Chamber Of Commerce in April!

03/24/2024

Work continues toward the launching of our new Kindred Spirits photo booth services company! In the past ten days or so, we’ve ordered white embroidered polo shirts from our new friends at Madison Top Company (along with some custom name tags and a new 82″ tall retractable banner for our upcoming wedding show in Middleton), we’ve received our new AirCastPro 3 wireless print server and DNP DS620A printer, we continued to work with and improve our Releventful online booking and event management system and we’ve signed with Heartland to provide online payroll and 1099 contractor resources (as Marsha–our Show Manager–will officially start as our first formal employee on April 1).

As our very first event is coming up (the Waunakee Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner and Auction on April 4th at Rex’s Innkeeper in Waunakee), we set up the event today in our Snappic software system, assigning appropriate artwork, implementing key configurations and readying the photo booth to take single 4″ x 6″ pictures that guests can then print to the wireless printer onsite, send them to their email address or text them directly to their phone. Additionally, all the images will be automatically uploaded to the Cloud where guests will be able to download them at any time over the next two years.

To increase the fun, we also set up an option where guests can choose an AI-driven likeness to be generated from their photo! In the image accompanying this post for example, Scott was able to first select the male version of the “1980s” AI filter, take his picture, and in a few minutes the Snappic’s online AI system generated a fun depiction of Scott back at the arcade around 1980 (where Scott did indeed hang out quite a bit!). With the current configuration, Waunakee Chamber guests will have the option of taking a conventional picture or an AI-enhanced one before having the image printed, sent to their phone or email account.

03/14/2024

After deciding to bring back Susie's photo booth services in late-January, Marsha and I quickly booked ourselves a flight out to Las Vegas to attend the biggest Photo Booth convention in the world, PhotoBoothExpo! Flying in on Tuesday, February 20th and flying back two days later, we spent the entire day of the 21st at the convention, reviewing all the vendor products/services and deciding what we wanted to bring back to our new business in Wisconsin.

I knew I wanted a new photo booth and we ultimately decided on the Mobibooth Cruise PLUS, which not only acts as a colorful and attractive photo booth unit but its head (where the iPad is attached) can also be separately removed and used for more intimate experiences (such as taking the “roamer” out into a crowd or collection of tables at a dinner). We also invested in a 360 degree video device called a “SpinCam” that allows a video camera or phone to revolve around its subjects, taking a video the whole time. Finally, we invested in some amazing photo booth software called Snappic, something we’ll definitely be posting more about soon!

So, we’re back from Vegas and ready to party! The new website is up, the business cards have arrived and we’re beginning to market ourselves again. It’s all coming to life… and I think Susan would be proud!

03/13/2024

Introducing Kindred Spirits Photo Booth Services, a new business based on a similar service originally offered by Susie and Scott Huelsman of Waunakee, WI.

Back in 2016, Susie and Scott purchased a new photo booth system to enhance their current wedding DJ and special events business and ran dozens of weddings, photo booth and special events over the next seven years (earning a perfect 5.0 score on Wedding Wire and winning Best Madison DJ–twice).

Sadly, Susie passed away from cancer in November 2023. To honor her memory, her husband Scott and daughter Marsha have brought the photo booth business back, rebranding as Kindred Spirits Photo Booth Services in order to continue bringing the joy and happiness that Susan so loved to do.