Ten Years of Snappic With Bill Herloski: From a Client Request to The Event Roamer

Bill Herloski didn’t set out to build a photo booth company. He was a wedding and studio portrait photographer solving a problem for a customer’s party. Years later, The Event Roamer began in much the same way. A client needed a roaming photo booth experience with the quality of image files Bill expected from a professional camera. He built something to meet that brief, then almost kept it to himself.

That practical approach runs through Bill’s story with Snappic. When he started exploring permanent installations in 2016, he knew what he needed from the software. Sub-accounts and access to the backend mattered because they supported the kind of business he wanted to build.

The people behind the platform mattered too. Bill still remembers early video calls with Julio and Rossella, and the support that made him a loyal customer from the beginning.

His story also includes a connection made through the Snappic community. One of The Event Roamer’s earliest customers was Paul Harrison in London, an operator Bill had quietly followed in the User Group for years. Someone he knew through their contributions to the community became the second person to buy a product he had designed.

For Snappic’s tenth birthday, we asked Bill about that journey, the decisions behind The Event Roamer, and what has kept him using Snappic as his business has changed.

You were already working in the photo booth industry when Snappic first launched. What do you remember about the industry back then, and what first made you give Snappic a try?

I don’t recall much about the industry itself. I was primarily a professional wedding and studio portrait photographer at the time. Getting into the photo booth business was me solving a problem for a customer’s party.

In 2016, I started looking into permanent installations, and Snappic checked the boxes I needed and wanted. That’s what made me give it a try.

You’ve watched Snappic grow over the last ten years while your own business has evolved significantly too. What has changed the most about what clients expect from a photo booth or event experience today compared with ten years ago?

Customer expectations and the demand for immediate gratification just continue to increase. With the low barrier to entry into the business, companies need to go out of their way to set themselves apart and be different to survive.

Was there a particular Snappic feature, update or moment over the years that changed what you were able to offer your clients?

I never wanted to be a huge photo booth company or to be running events long term. I knew permanent installations would end up being my focus, and the sub-account capability and being able to access the backend remotely were the two main features I needed.

You’ve gone from operating photo booths yourself to designing and building The Event Roamer. What problem were you trying to solve when you first decided to build your own roaming system?

I did not build it to sell it and almost didn’t release it publicly. The Event Roamer was another thing that came out of solving a problem for a client event. The client was a billionaire, and I needed to offer a roaming photo booth with delivery, after the event, of very high-quality image files that only a DSLR or mirrorless camera could provide. At the time, none were available.

When you sold that first Event Roamer, you wrote about not knowing whether people would actually buy something you’d invested so much time and money into. Looking at where it is now, what has surprised you most about that journey?

When I decided to sell it, I redesigned it from the prototype for a small niche in the industry, with features that bridged the gap between professional photography and photo booths. I did not want everyone to be my customer. It’s a business model I embrace: “Not everyone is my customer, nor do I want them to be.”

I was very fortunate that my second customer was someone who had never met me or known me. But I had followed him quietly for years in the Snappic group. That customer was Paul Harrison in London.

As your business has grown and changed, what has made Snappic continue to work for you?

Snappic continues to set the bar high, in my opinion, both in features and customer service.

Is there a particular Snappic memory, event, conversation or moment from the last ten years that still sticks with you?

I can’t think of one particular moment, but it all started with Julio and Rossella. I remember hopping on a video call with them in the beginning, and they never stopped taking care of me when I reached out. They gained a very permanent, loyal customer out of the gate.

What would you like to say to the Snappic team as they celebrate ten years?

Keep up the amazing work and focus that got you here. Ignore the noise that does not matter.

Thank you, Snappic!

If we’re having this conversation again for Snappic’s 20th birthday, what do you think event photography and photo booths will look like?

With the onset of AI and how fast things change, I have no idea. But I know Snappic will still be at the forefront of it.

Knowing what you want to build

Bill is clear about the business he wanted. Permanent installations appealed to him early on. When he developed The Event Roamer, he designed it for a particular kind of operator, drawing on his own experience as a photographer and the requirements of a real client.

That thinking still shapes how he sells it. On The Event Roamer website, Bill explains that he speaks with buyers before invoicing, giving them a chance to ask questions and decide whether the system is right for them.

There’s a connection between that approach and what he values about Snappic: useful tools, direct conversations and people who keep helping when you reach out.

His anniversary story is a reminder that the businesses around Snappic have grown in different directions. For Bill, the features that mattered most were the ones that supported his plans, and the relationship began with the people willing to help him put those plans into practice.

Thank you, Bill, for being part of the Snappic community, for sharing your perspective, and for bringing a photographer’s eye to what a photo booth experience can be.

Explore The Event Roamer

Interested in the system Bill built?

Visit The Event Roamer to explore its roaming and stationary configurations, watch examples of it in use, and view the available options.

If you’re considering one for your business, get in touch through the website. Bill’s process starts with a conversation about your needs, so you can ask questions and work out which setup is right for you.