I have returned this week from our Yearly Meeting sessions. This year my shape of work changed enough to give me space to embark on a new experiment – and I hope it will continue after initial successes.
I wanted to have a way to take pictures of Friends at an event that told a story, was easy to manage, and invited others to learn together.
Here’s what I learned:
People loved this! I’ve never done a “photo booth” at an event before, and I was surprised at the way folks enjoyed it. Only one person seemed to know what I was doing without explanation – this was not my target audience for this kind of thing.
The frame being big enough for two or more invited folks to share. Sometimes a person who didn’t know anyone in the immediate area would invite a “stranger” to be in the picture with them. I was hesitant to make it this size, but I would recommend it.
It caught attention. People started to ask for permission for me to take a picture. I asked in the moment for permissions to share widely (especially children). Some kids wanted me o tak their picture, and then a guardian would catch my eye and say “I don;t think you will have p[permission to share this”. I took the photo anyways, for fun in the moment, and then immediately deleted it. Young kids shouldn’t be on social media themselves anyways – they might never know I didn’t share it but they got to still “pose” with their friends.
The frame was pretty light, and easy to carry. In the future, I might make it more sturdy so it can be left in a “photo studio” standing area for people to use themselves
I made this a standard print with a general message – so i can use it at multiple events. At NEYM we have used the hashtag #NEYM2018 for the whole year (another experiment). I would like to use this for events in 2018.
I used the message “I’m a Quaker in New England” with our logo. That is consistent with our messaging for New England Friends on social media channels – we do not use NEYM or New England Yearly Meeting as often as we use “Quaker in New England (region)”
I created the graphic in Canva – on a standard poster size that I knew could be printed at my local print shop (I send it online). I then glued the poster to a large piece of cardboard, and cut out the inside with an x-acto knife. 
I may experiment next time with attaching it to a large piece of plastic (used for temporary lawn signs) to make the whole thing more sturdy. I wanted to make it easy to recreate in case I needed to make another quickly. I’m happy to share the template! I may create a simpler one for meetings as well.
I used Animoto to create a fun sharable video! I was clear in my sharing that these photos are just who I managed to meet – they are not representative of ALL the Quakers in New England…. yet!
Update: This is easily replicable in other YMs. Here’s an updated example Friends in NYYM may see soon….