Invitation to a 2.0 Visual Xmas Party

My partner at Maga Design, Scott Williams, often talks about the “theater of the room.” Unbeknownst to me, the creatives in our firm surprised us Thursday night and I enjoyed it so much that I now invite you to a second wave visual Xmas Party.

In a lovely demo of on the spot ingenuity  (and a tip of the hat to Paul Hobcraft) — Maga Design’s senior designer, Juraj Mihalik, turned the annual Maga Design Holiday party into a 2.0 visual feast.  Here’s how:

1.  He downloaded an app, sparkbooth.

2.  He set up the photo booth.

3.  He linked the app to Flickr.

4.  He streamed the flickr feed for good measure to another screen, on the bar (where else?)

5.  He acquired props. They weren’t hard to come by. Design agencies are good at “play.” Especially when they have kids. And ours do.

6.  He documented it whilst it was going on…which seemed somehow “old school.”

7.  Human nature, conviviality, healthy exhibitionism, documentary urges, kicked in.  Doesn’t some visual magic heighten that?

8.  The corner of restaurant we’d taken over was a jazz ensemble of pop-pose-flash-repeat…with just a long enough sequence between photos that it resembled a Christmas Kabuki dance.   Each digital click of the camera elicited a new move.

9.   It was very fun. It was visual. It immediately created the energy of improv.  It was participatory theater: a mix of old and new friends from the DC metro area and parts beyond.  And it amplified the holiday spirit — when being yourself and being with each other is cause for celebration — whether you stepped in for a photo or not.

10. Come join our 2.0 visual Xmas Party and see for yourself!

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Julie Anixter is Chief Innovation Officer at Maga Design and the managing editor and co-founder of Innovation Excellence.  She worked with Tom Peters for five years on bringing big ideas to big audiences. Now she works with the rest of the US Military and other high test innovation cultures.