What happens when a local company uses an interactive photo experience to turn event attendees into participants and their social media posts into an extension of the brand?
I met a man at Toledo Jeep Fest last week who had been thinking about a potential problem for quite a while. He had driven his Jeep up from the Dayton area for his first Toledo Jeep Fest and entered it in the Indoor Jeep Exhibit at the Glass City Center. You may have seen it. It had a Taco vinyl wrap and he was all about Jeeps, Tacos and Positivity.
Once a Jeep is placed inside the exhibit, it stays there. With all of the other Jeeps surrounding it, there was no way to pull his Jeep out whenever you wanted to go somewhere. It’s just not logistically possible to leave before the end of Jeep Fest. He knew that when he signed up. But that didn’t stop him from wondering, long before he ever arrived in Toledo: How am I going to get around? What if he wanted to go to dinner? What if he wanted to see something outside the Jeep Expo? How was he going to experience everything Toledo had to offer without his Jeep?
Then Toledo came through for him.
His hotel was attached to the Glass City Center and within walking distance to Promenade Park, where Party in the Park was happening Friday night. There was a Garth Brooks tribute band followed by a drone show that night. The Toledo Mud Hens were also playing Friday night, with fireworks afterward, and there were more games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Hensville Park had live music both Friday after the game and all day Saturday after the All Jeep Parade. Restaurants and bars were all around downtown with live entertainment. And Jeep Fest itself had activities spread throughout the area.
He discovered that he didn’t need his Jeep to experience Toledo. He could walk.
That conversation stuck with me because it illustrated something much bigger than one visitor’s transportation problem. It showed what can happen when a city has enough attractions, restaurants, entertainment, and events concentrated in and around a walkable downtown.
The downtown revitalization Toledo has been working on for years has helped create a place where someone can come to town for one major event and find plenty of reasons to stay, explore, and spend time and money somewhere else, too. And that’s an important part of what makes events like Toledo Jeep Fest so valuable to Toledo.
Events Don’t Just Bring People to Toledo. They Bring Business to Toledo.
Toledo Jeep Fest has grown into a major event for the city and for Jeep enthusiasts around the world.
Hot off the presses, the 2026 Toledo Jeep Fest brought more than 100,000 attendees from 49 states and 9 countries and generated an estimated $8.47 million in economic impact, according to Toledo Jeep Fest. More than 1,500 Jeeps participated in the All-Jeep Parade. There were 150 vendors and 350 volunteers contributing 4,200 hours, proving that this event keeps growing year after year.
The 2026 festival continued the traditions, filling downtown Toledo with the All-Jeep Parade, Vendor Midway, Indoor Jeep Exhibit, music, family activities, the Toledo Jeep Fest Quest, and much more. The festival’s footprint spans roughly 20 blocks around the Glass City Center. And Toledo Jeep Fest is a family-friendly event. There was a Kid Zone and RC course down at Imagination Station where over 7,000 kids participated.
This year was also a special one. Jeep celebrated 85 years. Toledo Jeep Fest celebrated a decade since the first festival in 2016. And Med1Care celebrated its 25th anniversary. That’s a lot of history and a lot of milestones packed into one weekend.
But what makes a major event like Jeep Fest particularly valuable to a city is that the economic activity doesn’t stop at the event itself. Visitors stay in hotels. They eat at restaurants. They visit bars and entertainment venues. They attend other events. They shop. They explore. And businesses throughout the area have an opportunity to become part of the experience.
That’s exactly what the organizers’ new Toledo Jeep Fest Quest was designed to encourage in 2026. The Quest sent attendees throughout the festival footprint to participating businesses, restaurants, and other stops, specifically encouraging visitors to explore, support local, and experience more of Toledo. And that’s where my experience with Med1Care and Rosie comes into the story.
Med1Care and Rosie: Turning a Booth Into a Brand Experience
For the third consecutive year, Med1Care hired Kurt Nielsen Photography to bring Rosie the Robot AI Photo Booth to Toledo Jeep Fest. We weren’t there just to operate a photo booth. Rosie was part of Med1Care’s overall presence at the event. My team and I wore the same Med1Care shirts as the Med1Care staff working their booth. We were essentially an extension of their team and their brand.
On Friday and Saturday, we spent most of our time near the Med1Care presence inside the Glass City Center, where attendees could find the Indoor Jeep Exhibit and vendors. One of the fun things about Rosie is that since she is mobile, she can go where the people are instead of waiting for people to come to her. On Friday evening, we ventured outside for a little bit on Jefferson Street to find more people for Rosie to meet and photograph.
On Sunday morning, we moved outside near Med1Care’s tent on Summit Street, close to the start and finish of the Med1Care Jeep 4-Miler. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, so Rosie was able to get outside and interact with people there, too.
And Rosie attracts people. People see her. They wonder what she does. They stop. They watch other people use her. Then they want to try her for themselves. That’s one of the reasons I believe an interactive photo experience can be so valuable at a convention, festival, trade show, or sponsored event. Instead of asking someone to stop and listen to a sales pitch, you give them a reason to stop.
The Guest Has Always Been in Control of the Experience
One thing that has always been important to me about our photo booth experiences is choice. That’s not something we introduced at this year’s Toledo Jeep Fest. It’s been part of how we approach photo booths from the beginning.
Depending on the booth and the event, that might mean choosing a digital background using a green screen, selecting from different AI experiences, or simply deciding how you want to interact with the booth. With Rosie, that choice looks a little different.
At Jeep Fest, guests could choose a traditional photograph or one of several AI experiences. If they chose AI, they could decide whether they wanted to become a Comic character, Superhero, Caricature, Disco dancer, or Astronaut. And they could pose however they wanted to fit the experience. The guest helps create the result.
That’s what I love about interactive photo experiences. I’m not interested in putting someone in front of a camera, giving them one predetermined option and calling it an experience. I want people to participate. I want them to make choices. I want them to have fun deciding what they want their photo to become.
And that philosophy applies to all of our photo booth experiences, not just Rosie. The technology changes. The options change. The event changes. But giving the guest choices has always been at the heart of what we do.
What has changed is how good the technology has become. The AI quality at Jeep Fest this year was the best we’ve seen from Rosie so far, and that made the choices even more fun for our guests.
Hundreds of Photos. Six Different Experiences.
During our time with Rosie at Jeep Fest, hundreds of photos were taken of thousands of attendees. Approximately 75% of the photos created used one of the AI filters, with the remaining 25% staying as traditional photos.
This is a big jump from last year, when only about 40 photos used AI to create them. We know not everyone wants to use AI, and not everyone wants their picture to be in the gallery, and we respect that. The photo booth software that we use also gives the users the ability to get their photo without it being in the gallery where everyone can see it. This is another choice we are proud to say we have in the name of safety that adds to the overall interactive photo experience.
At Jeep Fest this year, 443 text messages were sent, and 189 people downloaded their photo to their phones from Rosie. Our software could also share directly to their social media from the text we sent them. Plus, they could forward the text message with the gallery link to anyone else. Due to privacy laws, the software only tracks the downloads but estimates the direct reach to be over 47,000 and the impressions to be over 159,000 just from the text messages. That doesn’t count what was shared on social media, and I know we have seen several of these photos shared already.
The Photo Doesn’t Stop at the Event
There was another important piece to the Med1Care activation. Every photo received the same branded photo frame, and we do this with all of our events to make every event stand out. For the Jeep Fest photo frame, Med1Care’s logo appeared at the top, the Toledo Jeep Fest branding appeared at the bottom, and the background had tire tracks. The result was more than a souvenir. It was share-worthy guest-generated content with the event and sponsor’s branding on it. The guests received their photos digitally immediately after their photo was taken. They could download them to their phones or share them directly to Facebook, Instagram, and X where their friends and family could view, like, and comment on their posts for days and weeks after Jeep Fest is over. Memories were made and shared, and Med1Care and Toledo Jeep Fest brand awareness was spread to people who weren’t even at Jeep Fest. That’s why our branded photo booth photos are important to Med1Care’s overall Jeep Fest marketing success.
“We Were Hoping Rosie Would Be Back.”
Several people told us they still had the photos Rosie created for them at Jeep Fest last year. Some actually showed us the photos that were still on their phones. Others told us they had been hoping Rosie would be back this year. Some said they had been looking for us because they remembered Rosie from last year and were happy they found us.
One family found us all three days. They first saw us outside on Friday and took multiple photos. One of their son’s photos didn’t process, so they specifically looked for us again on Saturday so he could try the superhero experience one more time. Then they found us again on Sunday outside on Summit Street. Not because they needed another photo. They just wanted to make it three days in a row. Their son really enjoyed having Rosie take his pictures.
For me, that’s one of the best kinds of feedback an event experience can generate. They remembered it. And they wanted to experience it again. Rosie doesn’t just capture memories, she creates them!
Jeep Fest Is About More Than Jeeps
We also met people from much farther away than southern Ohio. When we were asking for their phone number to send them their photo, we asked where the area codes that we didn’t recognize were from. One mother and son told us they had traveled from Washington State to Toledo, Ohio. We met a couple from Italy. Another family was visiting from Mexico. As far as we know, they had come specifically for Toledo Jeep Fest, and it blew us away how far people traveled to be part of it.
Jeep people have a slogan: “It’s a Jeep thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
I think it’s more than just a saying or a vibe. It’s a culture and way of life. People will travel a long way to be around other people who share their interests. And when they do, the economic opportunity extends well beyond the event itself.
That’s why my conversation with the Jeep owner from southern Ohio mattered so much to me. He came to Toledo because of Jeep Fest. But once he arrived, he discovered that he could experience much more than Jeep Fest without ever moving his Jeep. The event was his reason for coming. Toledo gave him reasons to stay. And that’s the kind of event ecosystem that can benefit an entire community.
What Businesses Can Learn From the Med1Care Experience
This is where my experience with Med1Care gets bigger than Jeep Fest.
If your company is exhibiting at a convention, sponsoring a festival, participating in a community event, or setting up at a trade show, there’s a temptation to think primarily about your booth. Where will we be? How big will the booth be? What materials will we hand out? Those questions matter. But there’s another question worth asking:
What experience can we create that people will remember after they leave?
Med1Care’s investment in Rosie gave them several opportunities to extend their presence beyond their physical booth.
1. Rosie attracted attention.
People naturally wanted to know what she was doing.
2. We became an extension of their team.
My team and I wore Med1Care shirts alongside their employees, visually reinforcing the connection.
3. Guests participated in the experience.
They chose traditional photography or an AI experience, and selected the AI style they wanted.
4. The finished photos carried the brand with them.
Every image included Med1Care and Toledo Jeep Fest branding.
5. Guests could take the experience home.
The photos were delivered digitally instead of disappearing when the event ended.
6. Guests could share the experience.
The images could be downloaded or shared directly to social media.
7. People remembered her.
That last one is difficult to manufacture. You can’t simply put a logo on a table and expect people to remember you.
People remember experiences.
Local Businesses Helping Local Businesses
There’s another part of this story that matters to me personally. Med1Care is a larger local company. Kurt Nielsen Photography is a smaller local business. Med1Care chose to invest some of its event marketing budget with another local business.
In return, my team and I used our experience, equipment, and creativity to help Med1Care create a memorable presence at one of Toledo’s biggest community events. That’s how local business ecosystems work. One company hires another. That company hires vendors and purchases services. Those businesses continue investing in the community. And when larger companies intentionally work with smaller local businesses when they can, the benefit can extend beyond the two companies involved.
I’m not suggesting that every event needs to use only local vendors. I’m saying something simpler: When you have a choice, local partnerships can create value that extends beyond the original transaction.
Toledo Jeep Fest is a great example of that larger ecosystem. The event organizers bring people to Toledo. Sponsors and exhibitors invest in their presence. Vendors sell products. Restaurants serve visitors. Hotels fill rooms. Entertainment venues benefit from increased traffic. And local companies like ours get opportunities to contribute to the experience. It’s all connected.
Your Event Doesn’t Have to Be “Just a Booth”
The Med1Care activation at Toledo Jeep Fest is a good example of what I mean when I talk about experience marketing. Rosie could have just been parked next to their booth. Instead, she became part of the event. She attracted attention. She gave people something fun to do. She allowed them to create something personalized. She provided a digital takeaway. And the branded images gave guests something they could share after they left.
That’s something I can do for other events besides just Toledo Jeep Fest. Imagine your company at:
- convention
- trade show
- corporate conference
- community festival
- sporting event
- charity fundraiser
- downtown event
- product launch
- grand opening
- company anniversary
- sponsored event
- golf outing
- employee appreciation event
- customer appreciation event
- religious festival
The goal isn’t necessarily to have the biggest booth. The goal is to create a reason for people to stop, participate, remember, and share. That’s where an interactive photo experience can become much more than entertainment. It can become part of your marketing strategy.
We’re Grateful to Be Part of It
I want to thank Terri and Kati at Med1Care for bringing us back to Toledo Jeep Fest for the third consecutive year. Every year has been fun. This year felt a little different. Maybe it was celebrating 85 years of Jeep. Maybe it was seeing the size and scale of the event continue to grow. Maybe it was meeting people who had traveled hundreds of miles to be in Toledo. Or maybe it was simply hearing someone say: “We were hoping Rosie would be back.” For me, that’s the best kind of feedback. Because a successful event experience isn’t just about what happens while you’re standing in front of the booth. It’s about what people remember afterward. And that’s exactly what I hope to create every time I bring Rosie and any of my other photo booths to an event.
Want to Create a Branded Experience at Your Next Event?
If your company is planning a convention, festival, corporate event, trade show, fundraiser or community event in Toledo or Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, or beyond, Kurt Nielsen Photography can help you create an interactive experience that becomes part of your marketing, not just another piece of event equipment.
Our photo booth experiences can be customized to fit your event and brand, including branded photo overlays, branded booth wraps, branded backgrounds, AI experiences, digital delivery and social sharing. Don’t just set up a booth. Give people a reason to stop.
Explore all of Kurt Nielsen Photography’s photo entertainment experiences.
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