There's a version of event entertainment most people are used to. You book a photo booth. It shows up. Guests take photos. The night ends.
And then there's what we did at the Black Music Brunch during JUNO Weekend 2025 in Hamilton.
Three activations. One venue. One team. One vision. And a level of planning that began several months before the first guest walked through the door.
This is the behind-the-scenes breakdown of what multi-activation event entertainment actually looks like. The coordination, the decisions, the tech, the team, and what it genuinely takes to pull something like this off without a single hiccup.
What Is a Multi-Activation Event?
Simply put, it's when one event runs multiple entertainment experiences simultaneously. Each one distinct, each one serving a different purpose, but all working together to create a fuller guest experience.
Instead of guests cycling through one booth all night, they move through an experience. There's always something happening. There's always somewhere to go. The energy of the event never flatlines because there's no single point of traffic.
For the right event, it's a game changer.
The Black Music Brunch — Hamilton Art Gallery
DJ Mel Boogie, founder of the Black Music Brunch, trusted us to handle the photo booth experiences for this event. That trust meant everything to us. We will be forever grateful to her for believing in our team and giving us the opportunity to execute not just one activation, but three.
The venue was the Hamilton Art Gallery, a stunning multi-level space filled with natural light, architectural character, and the kind of energy that demands you show up at your best.
A special thank you to Jodie and the team at the Hamilton Art Gallery for their support and assistance in helping us execute across the venue. Having a venue team that works with you makes all the difference.
Activation One: DSLR Digital Booth with Branded 2x6 Prints — Inside the Venue
The first station was set up inside the main venue space, our DSLR digital booth running on the booth.events application. I want to give a proper shoutout to booth.events here. They are a trusted photo booth software I have been using since 2024, and here is the full circle moment: they are a Hamilton based company. Their offices were literally down the street from the venue. Shoutout to Tim and the entire team. Using their platform at a Hamilton event felt exactly right.
One of the first decisions we made on site was backdrop placement. The Hamilton Art Gallery is surrounded by windows and natural light, beautiful but a real challenge for photo booth settings. We took time to assess the direction of the sun at that time of day and found the spot in the room that gave us the most control over our environment. We landed on a solid black backdrop, which I genuinely prefer because it requires far less adjusting throughout the event. We added supplemental lighting and dimmed it as the event progressed, moving with the natural shift in the room from bright and open to warm and intimate.
For photo output we toggled between two formats. Guests could receive 2x6 branded photo strips printed on site, or a 4x6 portrait digital share delivered digitally with unlimited sharing. We made the decision to only print the 2x6 strips at this station to keep the line moving and make sure every guest who wanted a physical keepsake got one quickly. The templates were designed from scratch by our team, fully customized to the Black Music Brunch brand.
We use the DNP 620A printer, which cuts the strips for us automatically. No manual trimming, clean edges every time. We packaged every single one of them. Every 2x6 went into custom packaging along with a personalized gift card from JJ Rock Entertainment Group, a $100 credit toward any of our services. The feedback on that detail was incredible. People felt like they were receiving something, not just collecting a print.
The camera we use is the Canon R100, and the confidence we have in our image quality right now is the result of many hours of research, testing, and refinement. We know our settings. We know our light. We found our secret sauce and we stand behind it completely.
Holding down this activation were Keisha W. and Ebony T., two incredibly talented members of our team who also played a major role in the setup and staging of the inflatable enclosure outside. Their energy and professionalism across both areas of the venue was something else.
Activation Two: 360 Video Booth — Upstairs
The second activation was upstairs in a separate section of the venue, our 360 Video Booth running on Snappic.
Snappic is our preferred platform for the 360 experience. The effects are next level and their microsite integration is seamless. Guests scan a QR code and their video is right there, ready to share. We also love to AirDrop when guests are on iPhone. It maintains the quality of the video during transfer and feels immediate in a way a download link simply does not. Both options give guests flexibility depending on what works best for them.
We secured the 360 area with gold and red stanchions, set up a prop table, and had everything in place before the event began. Part of the setup actually started the evening before. Props are non-negotiable with the 360 booth. People show up differently on that platform. They dance. They get silly. They let go in the best possible way. Some of my favourite 360 content has come from guests who walked up quietly and left absolutely laughing.
Our 100 centimetre platform fits up to four guests comfortably, and occasionally a fifth depending on how the group arranges themselves.
One thing we have refined significantly since launching the 360 booth is video length. When we first started we were running videos up to 30 seconds, the maximum. What we learned quickly is that longer videos mean longer processing times, which means longer lines, which means guests standing around waiting instead of enjoying the event. We brought our video length down to between 12 and 15 seconds. That is the sweet spot. Enough time to capture a full dynamic moment, short enough to process and share almost instantly.
For this event we opted not to run a sharing station. A sharing station is when a team member with an iPad assists guests with their video share directly after they step off the platform, keeping the line moving so the next group can jump on right away. Given that guests had two other activations to move through, plus live performances, speeches, incredible food, great music, and other vendors throughout the space, we knew lineups would not be a bottleneck. The circuit kept people moving naturally, which is exactly what you want at a multi-activation event.
Holding down the 360 booth were Peter N. and Chris C., who were absolutely on point all night.
Activation Three: The Sony Music Listening Room — The Inflatable Enclosure
This was the most complex activation of the three, and it was a vision we had been working toward for several months before the Black Music Brunch gave us the perfect opportunity to bring it to life.
Outside the venue, we set up our LED inflatable enclosure. For the Black Music Brunch it became something far more than a photo booth. It became the Sony Music Listening Room.
The enclosure was fully branded with Sony Music, with custom banners, branded signage, and a photo template designed specifically for this activation. We went with a 4x6 portrait template for this station, giving guests a different format from what was available inside so no one was walking away with the same keepsake twice.
The arrival experience was something we put real thought into. We laid out a full red carpet leading up to the inflatable, flanked by gold and red stanchions with red ropes guiding guests in. We also had a beautifully staged black chair with a cream throw sitting just outside the entrance, with the EXM mobile speaker positioned beside it playing a curated playlist of exclusively Sony Music artists. It was a cold day and we had a few moments of worry about the conditions outside, but it worked. The setup held, the guests loved it, and the whole area felt intentional and elevated from the moment you saw it.
Inside the enclosure we placed our DSLR booth so guests could step in, be surrounded by the brand, hear the music, take their photos, and leave with a branded keepsake that felt like a complete moment and not just a snapshot.
For this activation we brought in Faith from Ganva Events as a white label contractor to provide and operate the DSLR booth inside the enclosure. I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due, and Faith is someone I trust completely. She is not just a contractor. I consider her a friend. She held that space down like the professional she is. The staging, setup, and inflatable itself were handled by our team, but having Faith run that booth gave us the confidence to know every activation was in the right hands. Shoutout to Faith and the Ganva Events team.
None of this comes together without an incredible team behind it. Keisha W. and Ebony T. covered the DSLR booth inside and assisted with the full setup and staging of the inflatable enclosure outside. Peter N. and Chris C. held down the 360 booth upstairs all night. And there is one more person we have to mention. Joel. We do not know his last name. He was a volunteer we had just met. But he showed up, gave everything, and was an enormous help during setup and staging. Joel, if you ever read this, thank you. We will not forget it.
A special thank you as well to Jodie and the team at the Hamilton Art Gallery for their support and assistance in helping us execute across the venue. Having a venue team that works with you makes all the difference.
To the full JJ Rock Entertainment Group x In Frame Photo Booth team: this event is a reflection of what we are capable of when we plan to execute instead of plan to fail. We are just getting started.
What This Means for Your Event
Multi-activation events are not just for massive productions. They are for any event where you want guests to feel like there is always something happening, where the entertainment is woven into the experience and not sitting in a corner waiting to be noticed.
What it requires is planning. Real planning. Vendor coordination. Technical decisions made weeks in advance. A team you trust completely. A client who believes in your vision. We had all of that at the Black Music Brunch and the result speaks for itself.
If you are planning a corporate event, brand activation, gala, or private celebration in Toronto, the GTA, or surrounding areas and you want to talk through what a multi-activation experience could look like for your guests, reach out. This is exactly what we do.
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Written by Jeannine 'JJ Rock' Bryan from JJ Rock Entertainment Group
Toronto & GTA | 416-881-7611