Five Creative Ways to “Socialize” Your Events

Guest blog post by Michelle Bruno, Bruno Group Signature Events

The ground rules of most gatherings have changed. Because of the increasingly mobile and social world in which we live, guests desire and even expect to share their live experiences with online friends. Here are five ways that event organizers can facilitate a fun and social experience for their participants.

Social Photo Booth. The 2014 Reunion of University of Notre Dame Alumni was a prime example of what’s possible when you put former classmates who haven’t seen each other in years in front of a social photo booth with Kelly green wigs and foam numbers (for the years they graduated). Guests at this year’s event “seized the day” with the digital photos created and posted online by the Pixe Social Photo Booth app.

Trivia Contest. Notre Dame’s reunion team deployed another secret social weapon to broadcast their guests’ antics online. The school hired a comedian to capture alumni responses to the first-ever Notre Dame Trivia Contest on video. Top performers vied for tickets to the Notre Dame/Stanford football game this fall and the video footage was edited and placed on YouTube where it has received over 2,400 views.

Social Media for Good. The recent #ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in which individuals shared videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice water over their heads to raise awareness about the life-altering disease demonstrates how well social good and social media go together. Live gatherings are perfect opportunities to enlist participants in activities that bond them together in thought-provoking ways that they can also share online.

Selfie Scavenger Hunt. A scavenger hunt is an excellent way to promote team building and bring out the competitive spirit. And, when it involves social media, the whole world can follow along. Organizers of the Notre Dame Alumni reunion instructed their guests to look for specific campus landmarks—using vague photos as clues—and take selfies at the locations. The first persons to arrive and tweet their photos out on Twitter received prizes.

Social Vending Machines. Most people know how to use a “regular” vending machine: users put coins in the slot, push some buttons, and grab what comes out. But, some companies have added a social media component to the exercise. Rather than putting money into the machine, participants post to Twitter or Facebook to trigger a response. Social vending machines transform even mundane tasks into exciting social experiences.

With some creativity, almost any experience can be socialized. What have you done to give your guests their allotted fifteen minutes of fame online?

View the Pixe Social Case Study with Notre Dame Alumni Association here.

Pixe and a2z Team Members Participate in Pixe Snap Scavenger Hunt

Every year, Pixe’s sister company, a2z, Inc, brings everyone together for a week of team building and training activities, including outdoor adventures, training breakout sessions, and social events. This year,  a2z introduced an element of fun with the Pixe Snap Scavenger Hunt.

Team members from both a2z and Pixe came together to form cross-functional groups for the Scavenger Hunt. Each group was given a list of targets to find and photograph using the Pixe Snap mobile app.

Some Scavenger Hunt items included finding something red, a team selfie, and team members doing the YMCA. With our smart phones and lists in hand, all of the teams were sent off to complete the hunt in less than two hours. The winning team was awarded with an ice cream social to celebrate their win.

Below are some of the photos from our 2014 a2z Week Pixe Snap Scavenger Hunt.

Pixe Snap Offers Big Wins to Brands and Consumers

Pixe launched its newest mobile social sharing offering - Pixe Snap - at the National Restaurant Association Show 2014 in Chicago to an enthusiastic reception from brands in the foodservice industry.

Pixe’s flagship software solution, Pixe Social, has been widely recognized for giving brands the opportunity to engage their existing customers and event attendees to convert them into social brand ambassadors.

Now, Pixe Snap widens the scope for brands even further by providing a downloadable consumer app that combines the best of selfies with social gaming.

Pixe Snap, available for download on iTunes, enables consumers to locate brands and events in their geographical area, and engage with the app to win attractive prizes from Pixe. Pixe Snap users can share fun, branded photos with their friends and family directly on their own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles. The photos are automatically posted with their chosen brand's logo and unique hashtag.

Beginning June 30, one Pixe Snap user with the most Facebook likes across all their photos wins a $100 Gift Card from Pixe each month. Through this initiative, Pixe is providing a great opportunity to fans to win big time by expressing their love for their favorite brands.

Each brand on Pixe Snap will have access to the photos posted with their logo, to share and promote on their own social media channels.

If you wish you to connect with hitherto untapped pools of potential customers, contact Pixe today to get your brand added to Pixe Snap.

The social sharing power of Pixe Snap enables your brand to become a part of customers’ everyday life. Pixe Snap's streamlined registration process connects brands and users in a matter of minutes giving your brand the opportunity to reach its maximum social sharing potential.

Check back with the Pixe blog this Thursday, June 12, 2014 to hear about our exciting new summer contest series with Pixe Snap that will rock your summer!

Watch this video to learn more about Pixe Snap.

Four Tips for Social Branding with the Selfie

Selfies are not just a fashionable modern technology trend–here today, gone tomorrow. By its very nature, the Internet immortalizes everything it holds.  A selfie can therefore create a long-lasting virtual imprint for people invested in a celebration, brand or event. When a simple photo is combined with the sharing power of social media, a selfie even has the ability to go viral and create millions of impressions, like Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie did during and after the Oscars.

The Internet is a great equalizer. Any brand can benefit from a ‘photomonial’ from a loyal customer to create a measurable impact online. All that is needed is right timing and smart marketing strategy.  Pixe combines theme-based social selfies with the power of testimonials, and backs it with a
powerful technology. Just as importantly, by completely eliminating boxy enclosures and old fashioned print outs, it puts an entirely new spin on traditional photo booths.

So how can your brand chase after the reported $800 million to $1 billion value Samsung estimates for Ellen's famed selfie? Read on to boost your brand's selfie driven staying power.

Post with a Hashtag: Whether you’re a startup company or an established brand, each one of your social media posts should contain a custom hashtag. To encourage your guests to post their selfies online with your personalized hashtag, make sure to promote it yourself everywhere! Tabletops, napkins, posters, and the bar are some places that should be decorated with your brand hashtag.

Show off the Selfies: To boost the amount of selfies taken at your event or business, let your guests see what others are sharing on Facebook or Twitter through a live photo wall. Create a rotating photo slideshow that uploads the photos with your hashtag in real-time. Guests will be excited to see themselves on a large than life screen.

Have Fun: In order to get your guests to loosen up a bit, provide theme-based props that coincide with your brand or event. For example, if you own a swimwear shop, decorate the store with silly sunglasses and colorful leis next to posters that encourage customers to take a selfie with
your event hashtag.

Contest: Everyone loves a freebie, right? Create a contest around sharing selfies with your branding. People are much more motivated to share their pictures (and your branding) if there is some sort of
incentive involved. Selfie contests are a win-win for your customers and your brand.

Pixe provides an all-encompassing social media solution through our mobile-based photo booth. Pixe creates a custom hashtag that displays on every photo appearing on our large, HD Photo Wall that instantly uploads every photo live from events.

To maximize the event’s fun factor, Pixe brings an assortment of silly props, including our signature
blinky glasses, so guests can transform their appearances with every shot. Pixe also hosts an exciting contest for attendees, a little spark of competition for an awesome prize results in continued engagement with attendees after the event ends. With the full-service marketing support of Pixe, events transform into powerful branding opportunities.