Template · Operations checklists

Photo Booth Event Checklist: Booking to Strike

Every step of running a booth at an event, from the week-before checks to post-event file delivery — built for open-air, enclosed, mirror, and 360 setups alike. Copy it, adapt it to your booth, and brief your attendant straight from it. Everything here is free to read and use — no signup.

By OpsVuePublished 4 min read

Booth failures are almost never mysterious. The printer that dies mid-event was low on media at load-in; the artwork with last year's date was never re-approved; the 360 platform that wobbled was on carpet nobody asked about. This checklist front-loads all of it. Run the pre-event section in the week before, the setup section on site, and the strike section before you pull out of the parking lot.

Pre-event: the week before

Everything that can be verified from your desk gets verified from your desk. Show-day problems you could have caught a week early are the most expensive kind.

Booking confirmed in writing: date, venue, arrival time, and hours of coverage
Package and add-ons listed on the booking: extra hours, guest book, props tier, backdrop choice, sharing options
Idle hours agreed in writing if the booth sets up early and starts later
Venue power confirmed: an outlet within reach of the booth footprint, and what else shares the circuit
Venue space confirmed: your booth's actual footprint plus queue room, and level flooring if you run a 360 platform
Venue wifi confirmed if live sharing is promised — and a fallback plan written down for when it fails
Artwork or template designed, approved by the client in writing, and loaded onto the booth
A full test run completed with the final artwork: capture, print, and share
Props packed to the event's theme, counted, and listed
Prints and media stocked for the expected guest count, plus a real margin
Memory cards and storage cleared, formatted, and tested
Backup gear packed: spare camera or tablet, spare printer if you own one, cables, lighting, power strips, gaffer tape
Attendant confirmed with venue address, arrival time, dress code, and the client's name

Load-in and setup

The order matters: place, level, power, light, test. A booth tested in the actual spot under the actual lighting is the only booth that is actually ready.

Arrive with your standard buffer before the contracted setup time — the same buffer, every event
Check in with the venue or planner contact on arrival
Confirm final placement: near power, visible from the room, out of the traffic path and away from the speakers
Level and secure the booth or 360 platform; tape and cover every cable run
Set lighting and take test shots in the actual spot — not the spot from the floor plan
Run the full test sequence in order: capture, then print, then sharing
Verify the artwork on a physical print or a real share, not just on screen
Stage props, signage, and the guest book where guests will actually find them
Brief the attendant: hours, breaks, queue plan, which add-ons were paid for, and who the client contact is

During the event

A running booth is not a finished job. The attendant's checklist is short but continuous — consumables, queue, quality, power.

Check print and media levels at set intervals — before they run out, not when they do
Keep the queue moving: group big parties, reset props between sessions, watch the cycle time
Monitor sharing and uploads if promised; note any failures for a retry list
Re-check focus, framing, and lighting after any bump, move, or lighting change in the room
Protect the power: nobody unplugs the booth to charge a phone
Log any incident — spills, damage, an unruly guest — with photos and a time

Strike and after

The event ends twice: once when the last guest leaves the booth, and once when the files are delivered and the gear is counted back in. Only the second one closes the job.

Strike completely: gear, props, signage, backdrop, tape, and your trash
Count gear into cases against the same packing list it went out on
Sweep the space: check outlets, the floor, and the prop table for strays
Back up all media before leaving the venue, or the same night at the latest
Deliver files per the agreement — gallery, link, or drive — by the promised date
Check gear back into storage against the checkout list; flag anything missing today
Photograph and log any damage the same day it is found
Restock prints, media, and props so the next event starts from full
Note what ran low or went wrong, and adjust the standard pack list

Running this without the paper

In OpsVue, each booking is a work record that already holds most of this checklist's answers: the package and add-ons are the quote lines, the artwork lives in the job's files — with version families, so "final_v3_ACTUAL" chaos becomes one file with a current version — and the week-before items become tasks with due dates and owners. Availability is date-scoped with turnaround buffers, so when a second event tries to claim the same booth for the same Saturday, the conflict surfaces while you are quoting, not while you are loading the van. Gear check-out and check-in runs against the job, and anything missing is computed from what went out versus what came back.

Your client confirms the booking through a no-login link — they view the document and accept with a typed name, recorded with evidence — OpsVue calls this exactly what it is, a recorded acceptance — and they can send files back through that same link, which is a clean way to collect the artwork approval in writing. OpsVue is in early access; the checklist above works on a clipboard today, and the software version is the same list wired to the booking, the booth, and the money.

OpsVue is operations software for rental, sales, and service teams — quotes, inventory, workflows, files, and payments in one connected system. Start a free trial →

Related reading

IndustryOpsVue for Photo Booth & 360Run three events in one night without dropping one. Booth availability, packages and add-ons, attendant tasks, artwork files, and deposits per booking.SolutionInventory & EquipmentSerialized and bulk items, date-scoped availability with buffer windows, and a check-out to check-in loop that computes what went missing.SolutionClient & Work ManagementEvery job's quotes, invoices, tasks, files, and client history on one connected work record — with a book of business behind it.
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