Digital Photo Frames

[John Terefenko]

http://www.penturners.org/forum/images/icons/icon1.gif Digital Picture Frames???
I was thinking the other day (at times this is a badddddddd thing), doing craft shows and people asking me how is this done or that done? Also they ask questions like do you make this or that and you mention you make a certain type thing but do not have any more. I used to have a picture albumn on my table of past things I have made and can still make but due to space constraints have done away with it. I was thinking there are a couple shows where it would be possible to have one of those digital picture frames set up and photos of your work and tools can be scrolled all day long.

Anyone ever do one of these and used it for this purpose??? If so how is it received???? Is it a selling point??? Also what type do you have and do they make any battery operated ones for those shows where there is no power outlets???? Thanks for the replys.

[Bill Embrey]

John,

I personally do not do the show circuit... but, I have seen two woodworking vendors at two different shows doing exactly what you are talking about. As a woodturner and techno-geek, I was very impressed. The gentleman with the turned wood had a frame that would display video. It would show a couple minutes of pictures and then it showed short clips of him roughing and then finish turning a bowl. I also noticed how folks would look at his stuff, start to move on, see the pictures... see the video and then walk back to look at the stuff again, pick it up, talk to him... I'm sure it increased his sales.

If you google for the digital frames, you'll find a lot of them that run off batteries and do still photos and video. the Kodak SV710 that I got for Christmas last year does stills, video and music... and that's last years technology! :)

[Mark Patoka]

I don't attend too many craft shows but I think that would be an excellent idea. People are always drawn to video or changing images of some sort. It would also be better than a hardcopy book in that several people could view it at once, not having someone "hog" the photo album for awhile, denying potential customers the opportunity.

Put together a good, well-planned slide show and I think it would definitely help.

[Jerry Lawrence]

I have known a couple of craftsmen who did the show circuit and used their laptops for this idea. It's obviously riskier because of the expense of the computer, but if you have someone manning the booth at all times it would reduce the risk. The laptops have bigger screens than most of the digital frames I've seen, and being a computer, would be able to run applications to make the most of the slideshow and have a bigger memory to hold more video, pictures, as well as audio. You'd have to decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of potential theft or damage to your laptop though.

[John Terefenko]

Thanks Jerry but I do not own a lap top and have no real plans for one now at least. From what I am told these frames can hold thousands of photos and do slide shows and play music. So for around $100 it would be cheaper.

[Michael Faurot]

Another option would be to use one of those portable DVD players. You'd then have the flexibility of being able to swap different discs at the show. This would give you the option to run a slide show in a loop most of the time, but if you wanted to you could swap that out and show a video of how you've made something.

You'd need the appropriate software on your computer to master the DVD, a DVD burner and blank media.

[Stan Urbas]

We actually own a laptop AND a digital picture frame. AND we've used the photo frames at craft shows.
- First of all I wouldn't want my laptop sitting out there. Too many curious finger for an available keyboard. I would only consider it if it had a separate, remote screen.
- As for the need of a laptop for volume: mine reads from either a camera memory card or a thumb drive. And since you can now get 16 Gb thumb drives you can store more pictures than anyone would ever have the time to view.
- As for power, ours uses AC. But we always have AC available.
- As for interest: yes, it gets tons of interest
- As for leading to sales: alas, I'm afraid I really haven't seen any evidence of that. Sorry.

[John Terefenko]

But getting people to stop. That is a key. I have been doing shows for over 20 years now and one thing I have noticed is people will stop when they see a crowd. I do better sales when there is people stopping to look, and crowd around. . You get one person looking and not so much. But I think it is a contagious thing. Hey that person is buying that, then maybe I too need that syndrome. I don't know. But will give it a try next year and hopefully it will become a tool.

[Scott Conners]

That sounds like an excellent idea! I'm going to start taking more photos and videos with that in mind. I definitely prefer booths (as a buyer) that have some of the process on display, especially if they are demoing, and am much likelier to buy from them.

[Jim Becker]

That really does sound like a great idea and not all that expensive to initiate, either.