Ottawa – you’re a great city. Beautiful frozen canals with people skating to and fro. Awe inspiring parliamentary buildings create a memorable skyline. But let’s be honest, all of these things are seriously hampered by one glaring negative.

TIM HORTON’S DOESN’T TAKE VISA.

How am I supposed to partake in that national pastry when all they take is Mastercard?! Cash only, I can understand, but I truly feel that until Tim Horton’s takes Visa cards, your tourism industry will always be hindered by gluttons donut-conessiours like myself.

Note: you’ll see a photo of a Horton’s donut that was reluctantly bought and angrily ate after withdrawing cash from an ATM

Now that’s out in the open, let’s talk about the event itself — the 2012 edition of the NHL All-Star game and Fan Fair.

Like the MLB and NFL, the NHL has a dedicated fan celebration at a nearby convention center, and that’s where we set up shop the first three days in Ottawa. Nestled in the corner of Upper Deck’s showroom, we had a steady line of fans the entire time we were there, which gave Upper Deck the opportunity to promote all of its products to a captive audience. The NHL also enacted some demographic data collection for everyone taking photos as well. During our time at Fan Fair, we produced well over 1500 cards — which means potentially 1500+ new card collectors for our client Upper Deck.

On game day, we arrived bright and early to set up our photo station near one of the main entrances to Scotiabank Place, the home of the Ottawa Senators. After overcoming some travel woes (lost luggage containing clothes and miscellaneous equipment), we were ready to go at full speed. We were operational from the time the doors opened until the game started, and then from the start of the first intermission until the end of the second intermission, ensuring that fans would be in their seats for the start and end of the game — which hasn’t always happened at other NHL events (like overtime Stanley Cup final games — go watch the game, people!).

Finally, we have a huge debt of gratitude to all of the volunteers that assist at NHL events. Without their help, our workflow would be affected and we wouldn’t be able to accommodate the high volume of fans we strive for. Once again, thank you, and we’ll see you at the next NHL event!

Cat stuck in a tree? Give me a ladder, I’ve got this.

Bird get in your living room? Ok, I’ll need a pillowcase, a paper-clip and a stick of Doublemint gum.

Another vendor have to cancel on you at the last minute and you need SUM Booth at your event that starts in 4 hours? Let’s do this. I just need to shower first.

This was the case earlier in the week, when I got a call from Yassine Enterprises’ marketing maven Laura, who was in a serious predicament. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the vendor she had previously booked had to back out, leaving a huge void in the “fun” portion of the Yassine holiday party — and here’s the kicker, the party was scheduled to start in around 4 hours from when the call was made.

After wrapping my head around that for a moment, I told both Laura and myself that we could make it happen. Then I asked her what the theme was, and she mentioned it was kind of a retro/casino/holiday theme. After hearing that I took a big gulp, knowing that it wasn’t going to be easy to pull off.

However, we pulled it off. We combined some 1970′s Las Vegas imagery,  gave it a retro tint and styling, plopped down a Christmas tree and even added the company’s name on the marquee. The result was a one-of-a-kind, custom design that you’d never known was started and finished just hours earlier — and by the throng of party-goers we had surrounding us all night, we can tell they loved it.

What’s the moral to the story? That even in a pinch, SUM Booth can be there to save the day for you and your event. We won’t always be able to accomodate a last minute request such as this — well maybe not this last minute —but don’t hesistate to ask.

And if you have a cat stuck in a tree in the Austin area, I can help with that as well.

The season where SUM Booth boards a 4-story yacht in Los Angeles and provides its services at the TMZ Holiday Cruise.

The season where SUM Booth sets up at a shopping center in Austin to deliver photos with Santa to patrons young and old.

The season where we do both on the same day. Oh yes, ’tis the season.

That was the story this past Saturday, being the last weekend before Christmas and a time when Holiday related events come to a final crescendo. Like we mentioned, SUM Booth ended the season with a duo of events — a corporate event on a luxury yacht in California, and a shopping center sponsored Santa photo station in Texas.

The TMZ event was put on by GBK Productions and was a little different than some of our normal events. Well, first off, it was on a boat. Luckily, we aren’t talking about the SS Minnow — this was like a miniature cruise ship. Outside of a 7′ height restriction that had to be worked around, our ultra-portable system fit into the comfy confines of the ship’s interior without a hitch. Also, the event was one of the rare occasions where the client supplies the artwork. Although we would have liked the opportunity to do something a little bit more interactive, camera-ready art is always welcome and appreciated.

And just to note, we added the bars over the eyes and the pixelated face after the fact to honor TMZ’s roots and to protect the innocent.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day on dry land we set up shop at the Arboretum Shopping Center in Austin to provide complimentary Santa photos for children — and kids at heart. Although it’s sometimes tricky capturing photos of newborns and toddlers, we came away from the event with some high praises. Some of the comments overheard were “the photo turned out so great … I wish I didn’t send out that other one we took to our family now,” and “we stood in line for like 2 hours the other week at a mall and the photos didn’t even turn out this good,” and “the lighting is so beautiful in this photo”.

Hearing comments like that is like an early Christmas present to us, because just as much as we love delivering photos to provide instant gratification, we love the instant feedback we get from everyone as well. Now only if we can stash a hidden microphone somewhere to record all the glowing comments and then put them online as Yelp reviews, we’d be getting somewhere.

No matter the reason, we here at SUM Booth hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season. Although after spending some quality time with Santa himself yesterday, we’d be remiss to not go ahead and wish you a Merry Christmas as well.

On Saturday, we started off our weekend at the Texas vs Kansas St football game, setting up our trading card photo booth to promote Upper Deck’s new Longhorn football set. Not only did Longhorn fans love it, but our cards were a big hit with the UT Cheer team as well, which undoubtedly drew more attention to what we were doing. It turns out that members of the cheer team have nicknames for their different groups, such as The Thunder and The Storm, which ended up being somewhat prophetic for the latter half of our weekend. All in all, even though the game didn’t go the Longhorns way, fans had a great time taking home a personalized souvenir of their favorite team.

On a personal level, it was my first time at a UT football game, and the sheer amount of burnt orange in the stadium was mind-boggling. Let me just point out that burnt orange is not a color that’s all too common in the Average Joe’s wardrobe, so you have to make a concerted effort to actually go out and buy a UT shirt, jersey or anything else orange. These people love their Longhorns though, and the people of Austin must have more orange in their closets than anywhere (besides a Shaolin Temple).

Next up was the MLS Cup in Los Angeles — a joint sponsor between Upper Deck and Castrol. Earlier in the week, there had been rumblings about a possible storm rolling through Southern California during the weekend, but after living in San Diego for almost 3 decades, I know all too well about “storms” in SoCal. A light mist in Southern California is usually enough for local news reporters to take to the streets for “Storm Watch 2011″. If you’re driving on the freeway and it starts to sprinkle, people slam on their breaks as if the water droplets may shatter their windshield if you continue driving 55mph. In essence, we’ve dealt with weather before at other events — whether it be rain or snow or wind — and it hasn’t hampered our work in the past. A little SoCal storm wasn’t going to get in our way.

However, this wasn’t your typical SoCal storm.

Anytime you see something besides light green on a Doppler map in LA, it means business. The above map was grabbed just as we had arrived to set up, after hydro-planing our way to the Home Depot Center to set up. Upon arrival, we wheeled some equipment to the area where we were to set up and found a pop-up tent with two drenched security guards taking cover from the rain. After surveying the scene, it was becoming more and more apparent that we’d experience a first — a rain out. That notion was quickly confirmed once I got in touch with reps from the sponsor and was notified that it was a no-go.

If you happened to read the past entry and were at the Soccer Celebration hoping to get an MLS trading cards, we apologize for our unannounced absence. There are very few things that can stop us from doing what we do best, and exposure to rain and water is at the top of that list. We look forward to our next soccer event — we’ll let you know when and where that may be — and hope that was the first and last rain out we ever experience.

Big sports weekend for us — first up is the UT vs. Kansas State football game on Saturday night in Austin. If you’re at the game, stop by our photo station just inside the north side of the stadium and get your very own Longhorn trading card made! We’ll be there from 4pm until the game is over.

Speaking of trading cards, 12 hours after that event wraps up we’ll be setting up for the MLS Cup in Los Angeles where we’ll be providing the same service to fans — all for free, of course. We’ll be at the Upper Deck booth, which is next door to the Castrol booth.

Shortly after that, we’ll sleep until it’s time to eat on Thanksgiving day. Sound like a plan? Alright, let’s huddle up. Ready? BREAK!

We here at SUM Booth know that feeling all too well, and sadly, it still exists today.

These days that feeling is experienced when you walk into your company’s holiday party, hoping (well ok, expecting) to see SUM Booth there taking photos, but instead there’s nothing — or some other photo booth the equivalent to cabbage.

It’s a tragedy that can be avoided, however. If you’re on your company’s party planning committee, get in touch with SUM Booth. If you’re not, suggest it to someone else. Together, we can help put a stop to holiday party disappointment and make your next party the Christmas morning equivalent of this:

Almost immediately upon entering the event, I was greeted by Kevin from Brass Tacks Events, and we struck up a conversation which lead me to showing him the sample book I had brought along. Needless to say, he was pretty excited about our service and gave me the scoop on a photography-based ISES event he was producing in October. Long story short — SUM Booth is now a part of ISES, Kevin sealed the deal to have us be a part of his event, and the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series.

All caught up? Great.

Thanks to Illuminate Photography for the behind the scenes photo

For the event, we pretty much had free reign to do whatever we wanted — which is a little intimidating. We contemplated doing trading cards, but decided on providing a variety of fun templates for folks to choose from, some Austin-related, some not at all:

• an homage to Austin’s music scene with a concert stage
• a Longhorn bull standing in front of the Capitol building
• a Halloween themed scene with Austin’s famed bats (although people called it the ‘Twilight’ design)
• ..and an old school Duck Hunt themed design (with authentic Zapper), just because

The event itself was definitely one of a kind. It’s not often you find everything from ice sculpture demonstrations, pole dancers, acrobats, and SUM Booth all under one roof. Three out of four is pretty common, but all four — not too commonplace. Many of the performers were there as a part of a “reverse red carpet”, where guests could walk down the red carpet and play paparazzi, taking photos of all the entertainers lined up in front of them. The photos they took would then be entered into a contest to see who snapped the best shots, adding a fun element to the event even once it was over. If you want a glimpse of the action, check out this beautifully done recap video done by Altared Weddings (note: don’t be scared of the video thumbnail, it’s safe for work!):

As you can tell by the video, it was quite the production. Kevin from Brass Tacks really outdid himself and formed quite the all-star cast — everything from the catering to the lighting to the decor (and everything in between) was beautifully done. And of course, let’s not forget the photos we took as well. Folks had a great time interacting in the scenes we created, and it was nice to talk to so many people that weren’t even aware something like SUM Booth was available for their events. That aspect was the primary goal of our participation in the event, and we were proud to showcase what we can offer in the Central Texas area.

Mission accomplished!

Want to see more? Feel free to check out all of the photos here!

These days, the “season” that many people refer to basically stretches from Halloween until New Year’s Day — a solid 62 days (and sometimes more) of parties, costumes, hi-jinx, eating, drinking and being merry. And we here at SUM Booth are here to participate in all of that right along with you.

This year, we kicked off the season in grand fashion at a Halloween house party just north of San Diego. When you think of a house party, you may imagine kegs, black lights and Chex mix — or perhaps you think of the 90′s classic movie franchise starring Kid n’ Play — but let me assure you, neither of those stereotypes were true (although we do love Chex mix). Put together by Jennifer Molloy of Amoré Events, this was on the scale of a Hampton’s house party or an opulent backyard wedding, anchored by a huge tented dance floor which you had to access via a Haunted Trail. Mix in some giant ice carvings, a full catered spread, enough candy to make a dentist salivate, and a costume contest — and let’s be frank, if SUM Booth is in attendance, you know it has to be a good party.

Positioned right at the entrance, guests stopped by for a photo op before they embarked on the Haunted Trail and into the party itself. We then had the photos available for guests to take home with them as they departed, since we all know that a lot of these costumes don’t exactly have a lot of pockets or places to hold photos while partying. When it was all said and done, every guest got to take home a photo to remember the night, and what their costume looked like before the face paint started to run.

Want to bring some SUM Booth fun to one of your holidays events? Don’t be shy and get in touch ASAP, because dates tend to fill up quick!

Oh, you didn’t know we cornered the illustrious 3-year old Super Hero birthday party market? Well now you do. Really, would you expect otherwise?

Obviously, we aren’t going to post dozens of photos of toddlers (how can they sign a model release if they can’t even write their name yet?), but we did want to share a sample that we took while setting up — because frankly, it turned out pretty awesome. We did some on-the-spot Photoshop wizardry to make it look like all the pint-sized Super Heroes were actually in flight, adding motion blurs and blending areas to imply speed, and then delivered the photos in trading card format, complete with Super Hero name on the front and stats on the back. I never knew that Super Heroes weaknesses included Kryptonite and bed time, did you?

In conclusion, it was probably the coolest take-away in the history of 3-year old birthday parties. That is, of course, until we work your soon-to-be 3 year old’s upcoming birthday party.

Superman is to kryptonite, as SUM Booth is to ________.

a) awesome  b) radical  c) water  d) puppies

Look, I’m no Mr. Wizard (or Bill Nye, for the younger generation), but the one thing I do know is that electricity and H2O are not best buds. We have no problem working outdoor events and have faced everything from extreme cold to extreme winds — even snow — but unless we’re under a huge canopy or tent, rain is an issue. Luckily, with our two primary service areas being sunny Southern California and (unfortunately) drought-stricken Central Texas, exposure to water in the form of rain isn’t really an issue.

Jinx.

When heading off to San Antonio for an outdoor event for Comdata and Event Logistics, rain was the last thing on my mind. It was the 104 degree heat, spiking right around our start time, that was the thing I was dreading the most. With that in mind, I made sure we had more than enough time to get everything set up, actually arriving 3 hours in advance to ensure a slow-paced process. So, fast-forward 2 hours and about 2 gallons of sweat later, something dark and ominous starts appearing on the not-so-distant horizon.

Yeah, those are storm clouds. If we were Superman, it was the equivalent of kryptonite the size of an iceberg, or Kim Kardashian’s engagement diamond (I forget which is bigger). Anyhow, this wasn’t looking good.

After hasty discussions, it was decided that the entire event would have to be moved indoors on the other side of the resort. Let me just say something right off the bat, it normally takes us anywhere from 60-90 minutes to set-up and test all of our equipment to ensure that everything is good to go. I looked at my watch and saw that it was an hour til start time, got a little light-headed, took a big gulp and told my assistant Claudia, “uhhh, ok, let’s do this.”

After moving at a pace that rivaled Dash from the Incredibles, we broke down all the equipment, loaded it up in the car, drove around the resort, unloaded the car, wheeled it up to the ballroom, set-up and tested everything — all within an hour. In all honesty, I didn’t think it was possible, but we did it, even leaving enough time for me to change into something respectable (and dry) in the bathroom before going live.

Now, although this post has been pretty SUM-centric (it is our blog, afterall), I must give huge props to the staff of the JW Marriott Hill Country and all the other vendors and planners as well. They were completely set up and ready to go outdoors until Hurrican Fubar decided to roll in, and had to transform an empty ballroom into themed dining room in the same amount of short time. Also a huge thanks goes out to my assistant Claudia who got tossed into a little more manual labor than usual, and did so with a smile on her face the whole time.

When it was all said and done, the guests arrived at 7pm and had no clue as to the chaos that had just occurred an hour earlier, and in the end, that’s all that matters. In this industry, it’s all about the guests and the service we provide, and sacrificing some sweat (hey, there weren’t any tears, ok!) is a welcome trade for a job well done. Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and you can do one of two things — watch the ball sail right past you and strike out, or, learn how to hit a curve!

As expected, everyone loved the photos we provided, and we actually went a half-hour longer because people just wanted to keep taking more and more. The lights went on, the bar closed up, but we still had a crowd around us, and I’d like to think that alone is a pretty good testament to our ability to hit a curve.