David Snook discovers that photo booths are not only recession proof, they also offer many untapped markets

Proselytiser is one of those words whose meaning you think you know but aren’t quite sure… I thought it came from ‘prose’ and therefore had something to do with someone who is pretty good at talking.

Not far out, it seems. It is apparently someone who speaks with religious fervour. That fits with Allen Weisberg, who is so passionate about photo booths that in a previous article I once referred to him as a ‘photo booth evangelist’.

He also makes the best photo booths on the market, or if he doesn’t, then he makes photo booths with the best bells, whistles and marketing packages, that’s for sure.

There are other manufacturers of photo booths, of course, and there are other good manufacturers of photo booths and, if Weisberg and his contemporaries are to be accepted at face value, then the photo booth is one ‘amusement machine’ which will give a consistently good return over a long, long period and thus – like a pool table – offers the operator a degree of ‘comfort zone’.

Weisberg will admit ruefully that “we brought it upon ourselves” when he talks about the increased competition in the photo booth business. “Competition has stiffened up and we have to work doubly hard to maintain our position or widen the gap.” But at his company, Apple Industries, fresh staff, a beefed up R&D, a move to new premises and, as our evangelist puts it “developing incredible ideas” helps immensely.

Weisberg’s bubbling enthusiasm is all about the new Face Place Smile 2.0 photo booth which the company launched at IAAPA, a two-year $1m investment which he says will revolutionise the business. It will, says Weisberg, wed social networking to the photo booth. The player can pay his/her money, take a picture and then the booth asks whether they want to send the picture to a social network. That can be Facebook, Twitter, email or wherever.

This feature can be found in full in our December 2011 issue of InterGame magazine.