The 2025 winner of Near West Side Partners annual 2025 Rev-Up MKE business competition is about to open its doors.
The Booth MKE, a photo booth experience, will host a grand opening event on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Concordia 27 space it won in the competition, 801 N. 27th St.
Using software written by co-owner Benjamin Biddle, The Booth MKE is an immersive space where customers can access and customize 3D overlays, interactive games and more than 48 green screens with digital backgrounds to create images that they can print instantly or use for social media.
You can see more about the various features here.
The family-run business is owned by Biddle, Molly Howard and their children, the Booth Bros, who operate a version of The Booth at events and have contributed designs for backdrops.
As part of the prize package for winning Rev-Up, The Booth got $5,000, a short-term lease at Concordia 27 and business coaching.
They hope that the brick-and-mortar location will help them expand The Booth.
"We are thrilled to officially open our doors and bring this fun, high-tech photo booth experience to the Milwaukee area," said the owners in a statement.
"Our Grand Opening is a chance for everyone to see what The Booth MKE is all about, grab a festive picture for free, and get a sneak peek at the future of our service with our new video feature. We can't wait to celebrate with the community!"
The event will include free photo booth sessions; a demonstration of a new video feature and free refreshments.
The adjacent Fruition MKE will be hosting the Holi-Joy Market with local vendors selling unique holiday gifts at the same time.
For more information on The Booth, go to theboothmke.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
