Client: The Project Crew Event: Queensland Hotels Association Awards 2026 Venue: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Theme: Pub Games Experience: Life-sized claw machine photo booth with custom GIF photos Duration: 5.5 hours
We were approached by the brilliant team from The Project Crew to come up with a fun, interactive photo experience built around the theme of Pub Games for the Queensland Hotels Association Awards 2026, held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The brief was to create something that fit the playful, nostalgic energy of the Pub Games theme while still feeling like a polished, premium activation for a major industry awards night. It needed to get guests laughing, get them talking, and give them something worth sharing.
Our team put together a presentation of immersive concepts to fit the brief, with one idea standing out as the clear front runner — a life-sized claw machine photo booth.
We worked closely with The Project Crew to bring the concept to life, collaborating on design elements to make sure the activation looked great on the night and that guests would have an amazing time stepping inside it.
Guests climbed into the oversized claw machine, surrounded themselves with stuffed toys, and struck a pose for the camera — walking away with hilarious GIF photos to keep and share.
The activation was a hit from the moment it opened. Guests played around with the stuffed toys, laughed their way through the experience, and left with GIF photos that were shared all over social media throughout the night.
Stacey from The Project Crew said she had guests coming up to her all night telling her what an amazing idea it was.
For an industry awards night, that’s exactly the kind of reaction you want — an activation guests remember, talk about, and associate with the brand long after the night wraps up.
A life-sized claw machine photo booth was the right experience for the Queensland Hotel Association Awards for three reasons.
It brought the theme to life in a way guests could step inside. Pub Games is a fun, nostalgic theme — and a giant claw machine is one of the most recognisable pub game props of all. Rather than a backdrop or prop guests stood in front of, this gave them something to physically climb into and become part of.
It delivered instantly shareable, high-energy content. GIF photos are made for sharing — they’re fun, fast and have built-in movement and personality. For a room full of guests already in a celebratory mood, that’s the perfect format to capture the energy of the night.
It worked as a genuine talking point. Awards nights are full of polished, expected activations. A life-sized claw machine stood out as something guests hadn’t seen before — exactly the kind of surprise that gets people talking, queuing up for a turn, and telling others about it.
If you’re working on an awards night, gala dinner or themed celebration in Brisbane and want to deliver an experience guests will talk about long after the night wraps up, we’d love to hear about it. We design custom photo and video booth experiences from the ground up — built around your theme, your audience and the kind of content you want to walk away with.
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