Live Digital Caricature Entertainment for Trade Shows and Corporate Events

Email Doug
415-373-6670

It’s A Keeper! »

Doug Shannon’s digital caricatures are a gift that your clients and guests will never throw away. These 4X6″ prints, imprinted with your logo will be taken back to offices and pinned to bulletin boards. Doug’s caricatures go right to the heart, and your brand tags along!

Digitally Enhanced »

“I think of it as a cartoon makeover,” says Doug. “When done right, a caricature makes a person feel good about themselves. It’s a leap of faith to pose, so I work hard to deserve people’s trust.” Doug doesn’t require subjects to hold still, they can freely engage with the hosts of the booth. Building trust, engaging people on a personal level —no wonder Doug’s so popular at trade shows.

Recent Events Blog

Scroll down to see what
Doug Shannon has been up to lately

San Francisco’s Cool Caricature Lounge Act

Posted Sep 1st, 2010 at 9:48 am

Nimsoft invited this artist to entertain their guests at the XYZ Lounge for two consecutive nights this week. The drinks were flowing, the crowd was shoulder to shoulder, thank goodness they provided me with a lovely  assistant to handle the onslaught of eager live digital caricature subjects. Judging by people’s comments and reactions everybody had an absolute blast. With a 30″ display, there was no problem seeing the action, and in a dark setting like this, the glow from the screen really lights up the subject’s face.  This client is really tuned into the growing demand for Facebook and other social networking avatars, so they make a special point of after party delivery of jpegs of the caricatures, sans branding. So if you are looking to download your caricature, you’ll have to wait a day or two til you receive the private link in an e-mail from Nimsoft. —Doug

“Thank you so much Doug!   Once again you are a superstar for us!” Loretta Lowe CMP

Vegas Elite Win Big

Posted Aug 28th, 2010 at 7:55 am

Apologies for the awful photo but I forgot my real camera and smartphoned this one.  Aria, Las Vegas’ most prestigious casino resort invited this artist to entertain their Elite Slot Tournament guests with some live digital caricature. Aria really does things right of course, so when I arrive I just plug in to a 60″ plasma and go. With three leather couches surrounding the screen my subjects were quite comfortable waiting in line. Only one person won the $200,000 first prize but a healthy portion went home with a personal keepsake of another kind that will hopefully ease any disappointments.

Company Comics in San Francisco

Posted Aug 28th, 2010 at 7:47 am

This dynamic new company that makes software for online retailers  invited this artist to a monthly wine and cheese social to draw live digital caricatures of the staff. The idea is to have framed pictures ontheir desks but of course the digital versions will very likely wind up on Facebook or other places. We had a great time drawing (me) and kibbitzing (them) so I’m looking forward to coming back to draw the next batch in a few weeks.

Caricature Unleashes Company Comradery

Posted Aug 11th, 2010 at 8:17 am

When a company flies some of it’s best people in from all over the country to both reward and incentivize, it’s important to get everyone comfortable with each other, preferably before they are shuttling off to the airport to go home. That’s where live digital caricature can be so effective. A couple hours of laughing at ourselves is a terrific way to loosen up the corporate culture. This Minneapolis company invited the artist to whip up some fun for two incoming groups this week. —Doug

“…once again you were a hit!!!!  Thank you for making the event fun!!!” Joy K., CMP Allianz

Lollapalooza (And Live Digital Caricature) Come to Chicago

Posted Aug 8th, 2010 at 6:04 am

The artist was invited by Thompson Reuters to this Chicago trade show for Court reporters. It was held at the Hilton right across the park from the Lollapalooza music festival and you could hear the bands going night and day. Nobody had ever seen this kind of caricature before but once everybody figured out how it worked we had a constant stream of willing subjects. The client created a super layout for me to work in, as you can see in the photos—not one but two couches! A guy could get used to this. Thompson Reuters also threw an after hours party on Friday night where I drew for a couple hours. Not surprising that what is fun on the show floor is even more fun in the lobby bar. I made a lot of friends among this group and I’m looking forward to meeting more  court reporters in the future! Subjects can download their caricatures in the menu bar above. —Doug

Happy Faces in Houston

Posted Aug 2nd, 2010 at 6:01 pm

This trade show is for 911 responders, a pretty down to earth bunch who don’t take themselves too seriously, so EVENTtoons is feeling right at home here drawing booth traffic with live digital caricature. One of the cool  things the artist can do with digital caricature is to add things like horns and halos, as seen in the photo second to left. These subjects got two pictures, one with the “extras” and one without. The gent on the right flew all the way from Turkey, so I wanted to post him here for all his friends back home. Subjects can download their jpegs at the link in the menu bar above. —Doug

Caricature Star of Show in Boston

Posted Jul 30th, 2010 at 6:49 pm

Allianz is a big player in the financial field and they had a big presence at LPL, a trade show catering to services for financial planners. After trying EVENTtoons out at last year’s convention in San Diego they had the artist back again and the reception was even better! Funny thing about live digital caricature is that word really spreads fast. Since its such a novelty, people talk about it, and interest grows and grows. Financial planners are a personable bunch of folks and what better way to make a personal connection than with live digital caricature? Subjects can look for downloads in the menu bar above. –Doug

Lenny’s loves Live Digital Caricature

Posted Jul 30th, 2010 at 6:35 pm

Lenny’s Sub chain franchisees gathered in  Atlanta this week and invited EVENTtoons to entertain and spotlight some of the star qualities of their group. Our congenial artist Jeff Mandell  assumed the caricature duties and reports he had a great time. Here are a couple smiling subjects from the conference.

Silicon Valley Wedding Caricature

Posted Jul 25th, 2010 at 8:50 am

This San Jose wedding reception was held at a beautiful venue located on the top floor of believe-it-or-not, a parking garage. With a lovely congenial crowd, gorgeous weather and lavish views of the city,  a wonderful time was had by all.  The artist stayed busy drawing caricatures for seven hours. The two photos on the right were taken by the amazing Harry Who. Downloads in the menu bar above.

Lucy in the Skye, and Cindy, and Jennifer and….

Posted Jul 10th, 2010 at 8:14 am

The Soroptimists are in town and the ladies enjoyed a 60’s themed  party at Ruby Skye, San Franciso’s venerable nightclub, where EVENTtoons provided three live digital caricature artists—Jon Casey, Zach Trenholm and myself. We gave the crowd a lot of variety to choose from, with Jon drawing on a Wacom tablet, me on my Modbook, and Zach making his live digital debut on an ipad, drawing with his finger no less! This event is a great example of  what EVENTtoons does best, provide one stop shopping for corporate events. With about three hundred guests there wasn’t much time—not to mention light—to take many photos. The party was only an hour and a half, so the challenge was to draw fast, what with the never ending lineup of eager faces. I got leaner and meaner as the party went on, with the last four or five done in under three minutes each. Subjects can download their caricatures at the downloads link in the menu bar above. Doug Shannon

Job Recruiters get Trade Show Toon-up

Posted Jul 7th, 2010 at 6:28 pm

Bernard Hodes brought the artist to Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay to draw caricatures, and traffic of course, at their booth during this HR hiring conference. This is a very fun crowd, majority female, and I am having a blast! This lovely attendee is holding a print of her cartoon with the my line of subjects in the background admiring her image on the 32″ screen.  Caricatures can be downloaded at the “Downloads” link above.

Wedding Caricature Sweeps San Francisco

Posted Jun 27th, 2010 at 10:02 am

Digital caricature entertainment for wedding receptions is something your guests will certainly not expect, it didn’t exist a couple years ago. But now it is catching on. In fact Jon Casey and I have ganged up together at two San Francisco weddings in a row this weekend. It is such an original and fresh idea, and a super personal experience, that people really go crazy for it. As you can see above, the caricatures can have a template with the specific details of the event. Subjects from these two weddings can download their caricatures in jpeg form HERE.

Chicago Convention Caricature

Posted Jun 26th, 2010 at 9:07 am

Scout Funds employed the artist to bring some cartoon levity to the Morningstar conference in Chicago, where financial planners gather from across the country and the world to hear money seers predict the future,  meet fund managers and sales people face to face and generally whoop it up. Reassuring to know that folks who handle investments can still smile, maybe there will be a future after all. Chicago weather, following the nasty storm that delayed many arrivals, was good as it gets, so it was nice to experience firsthand why midwesterners put up with the winters. Caricature subjects can download their jpegs at the Downloads link in the menu bar above.

Internal Corporate Event / Minneapolis

Posted Jun 26th, 2010 at 8:21 am

This Minnesota-based corporation used live digital caricature to cap off a day of travel, meetings, and meals for a group gathered from all over the country. With Doug drawing in Chicago, EVENTtoons sent the very able Jeff to handle the chore. His smiling subjects can download their cartoon faces here.

Digital Caricature, New Orleans-style

Posted Jun 16th, 2010 at 1:46 pm

A convention of librarians may not sound that exciting but library science covers a lot more ground than it used to. In fact, “search” couldn’t really exist without the scores of smart people who organize and maintain all those huge databases of knowledge accumulated while the rest of us were watching TV. We all hid out at the convention center during the heat of the day and wandered the French quarter by night. Here are a few of  this caricature artist’s favorite subjects.

-Doug

New York Welcomes EVENTtoons

Posted Jun 11th, 2010 at 11:11 am

EVENTtoons artist sent Jeff Mandell to New York city to draw live digital caricatures for a company entertaining a small group of clients on board a boat cruising the Hudson for a couple hours. That covers the last big US market EVENTtoons had to reach. From Boston to Miami, San Diego to SF and Hawaii, an EVENTtoons artist has been ther. Hmm come to think of it, we’re missing Seattle. Have to get on that!

MBA’s Party On

Posted Jun 10th, 2010 at 3:10 am

Graduating from Stanford Business School isn’t such a big deal really. The hard part is getting in. But this bunch made a good show of celebrating, with plenty of live music, food & drink, and of course your artist drawing live digital caricatures. As the ice sculpture slowly melted I frenetically drew a long line of bright, attractive couples mostly, all ready to take the wheel and steer us out of this mess. Now if these future CEO’s can remember to keep laughing at themselves the earth has a chance. And please, please kids, leave Goldman Sachs to the Harvard crew!

Atlanta Conference Enjoys Caricature

Posted Jun 8th, 2010 at 8:12 am

EVENTtoons sent artist Jeff Mandell to Stone Mountain, just outside Atlanta for a human resources conference. Jeff loves to draw so much that he can’t bear to stop and take any photos, so we’ll have to settle for this sample of one of his subjects. See them all at the Downloads link in the menu above.

Grads Go Ga Ga for Digital Caricature

Posted Jun 6th, 2010 at 10:52 am

It’s that annual Grad Night rite again, and these three schools, Healdsburg High, Benecia High, and Redwood High are some of my regulars. I surprised everyone by showing up with my live digital caricature setup, as opposed to my traditional pen and ink, and it was greeted with much enthusiasm. This year is especially significant for this artist, as I have not one but two graduating at my house. The twins on their way to bigger and better things, which is one more reason I will have my nose to the proverbial grindstone for at least another four years. Subjects can download their jpegs for posting on Facebook at the Download link in the menu bar above. As a side note, these caricatures averaged 4 and 1/2 minutes each, a blistering speed for digital media, especially when sutained for four and five hours at a stretch.

Lookin’ Pretty in Music City

Posted May 29th, 2010 at 11:48 am

Televox brought live digital caricature to the Nashville Convention Center this week. The trade show almost got cancelled due to the flooding in Tennessee you all heard about, but the organizers pulled off a Herculean effort to bring it off. The attendees were all utility company employees, so if the artist drew a caricature of one person from PG&E for example, sooner or later their coworkers appeared. It was a great way for the Televox staff to make friendly with potential clients, and they made a lot of friends. On the last day of the show, a photographer/videographer named from a Texas utility  booth came by and set up a viideocam looking over my shoulder, which fed the monster 30 foot screen at the show, so that everyone on the show floor could watch the proceedings. If there was anyone attending the show at that point who was unaware of Televox after that, they’d have to be deaf , dumb and blind. Hopefully there will be some video and pix of that posted here soon. The photographer, Dave Best (972-754-7706) promised to send some, and we’re all looking forward to seeing his work!

….our Commercial team had nothing but rave reviews for you for the work in Nashville.  Thanks to your efforts they set a new leads record for that division.

Jason Ladner, Exhibits Manager, TeleVox Software, Inc.

Vegas Convention Caricature

Posted May 24th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Buxton is a cutting edge company providing services to the retail industry and they brought their big guns to this Las Vegas trade show. Your caricaturist drew a whole slew of attendees, including the smiling faces in the photos above. I would write more, but am flying off to Nashville for another show!

“It was a huge hit.” Mandy Hollander, Director of Marketing, Buxton

Caricature Sensation at South Bay Mitzva

Posted May 23rd, 2010 at 7:56 am

“Quick sketch”  have long been a favorite entertainment at mitzvahs, but the guests at this Menlo Park party were surprised to see a new twist—digital caricature. And boy did they go take to it! This artist was swamped from the moment I set up, to the point where I had to turn my tablet off to make them go eat. :) Drawing 13 year old girls can be tricky, because there is a lot of budding self conciousness at that age and, of course, girls of all ages want to look great! When you pull it off, the reward is terrific. They LOVE their pictures. There will lots of fresh toons on Facebook today I bet! Subjects can download their cartoons at the download link in the menu bar above.

Caricature Dividends at Chicago Convention

Posted May 21st, 2010 at 8:22 am

Scout Funds is a regular client, bringing  EVENTtoons live digital caricature to several financial planning shows a year. This convention, held in Chicago is relatively small, with a relaxed atmosphere, so there was a lot of opportunity for the congenial Scout staff to chat and get to know the subjects—finacial planning advisors from all over the country—as I drew them. This lovely lady was tooned during a quiet break in the show, thus the spooky empty background. The gentleman on the right is Jim Moffettt , one of the top foreign fund managers in the world who happens to be a Scout Fund star.

Caricature Conquers Anaheim Convention Center

Posted May 17th, 2010 at 8:51 am

This show demonstrates why caricature is such a potent booth draw at conventions.  When you the exhibitor are selling drills or chairs to dentists your product is on display, ready to catch the eye of any passing prospects who are shopping for drills or chairs. But if you are offering a service like Televox does –voicemail, web hosting and patient communications–how do you get the attention of a decision-maker who may not know that such a service exists, much less know that he or she needs it?

With our 42″ display the artist drew a constant flow of curious onlookers, so much so that on the second day we instituted an appointment-based system. The interesting thing about drawing people is that whether or not you yourself are the subject, it is natural to stop and watch, at least long enough to decide, “Does it look like him?”. And once an attendee has stopped, he or she becomes a prospect, and hopefully a lead. And whether we were drawing dental office staff or the doctors themselves, overall awareness of Televox at this mammoth show was extremely high. Sales goals were smashed. Business got done. Mission accomplished!

EVENTtoons Trade Show Industry’s Fastest Growing Traffic-Builder!

Posted May 13th, 2010 at 7:18 am

With over 18 conventions and trade shows in the first half of 2010, EVENTtoons will top last years’ first 6 months by 9 shows,  an annual growth rate of 100%. Considering the fact that the industry as a whole is in a significant slump, we are thrilled to see demand increasing. With exhibition attendance down, building booth traffic is even more crucial than normal, and Live Digital Caricature never fails to stop traffic. Some EVENTtoons clients are happy to simply let the crowds form, some work the crowd scanning badges and initiating conversation, and others use the caricatures as gifts for favored customers. However they use our service, by the end of the convention or trade show, every single attendee knows about “that digital artist” and the corporate host who brought him to the show. To read more about traffic-building in general, check out this post on the Gallo blog.

Caricatures and Cocktails in the Clouds

Posted May 6th, 2010 at 8:38 am


The second EVENTtoons gig of the day was held a few blocks away on the 39th floor of the Marriott in the Marquis View Lounge. Weedle, an Irish startup  hosted Web 2.0 attendees in high style. This was another relatively new situation for the artist, in that I was working on my tablet without an external display,  more or less wandering with the goal of drawing as many guests as possible within the cocktail hour timeframe. It was tough for me being a bit of a perfectionist to let go of growing all the detail I normally have time for but I was surprised to learn that sometimes less, if not more, is quite enough.  It was fun whipping caricatures out without thinking too much, just focusing on the bare minimum of what makes a person look like themselves. Ultimately “quick sketch” drawing is about simplifying and I look forward to doing more work like this be in the future! Hopefully there will be some pictures posted here soon!

Caricature on the Giant Screen

Posted May 6th, 2010 at 8:28 am

This may be a first—live digital caricature displayed in real-time on a major league baseball park scoreboard. AT&T Park hosted an event for local event planners called the Cinco de Mayo grilled cheese Fest. Local hotels served up delicious and creative grilled cheese sandwiches in many varieties while mariachi band played and yours truly drew live digital caricatures of the guests that were shown on the Giants scoreboard display in centerfield. It was quite a kick seeing my work from that perspective and the guests seem to enjoy it too. It was a real challenge seeing my tablet screen in the outside glare but once I let go of making everything perfect, I had as much fun as my subjects!

Digital Smiles in Chicago

Posted May 5th, 2010 at 8:37 am

EVENTtoons sent Jon Casey to Chicago for a couple days to draw live digital caricatures for Allianz , the biggest insurance company in the world. Jon has a real knack for drawing cartoons that people like and he stayed busy drawing a steady stream of visitors to the client’s booth. You can see all Jon’s caricatures at the download page in the menu bar above.

Digital Caricatures a Sight to See in DC

Posted May 3rd, 2010 at 4:19 pm

The AAOC Spring show is the biggest dental convention in the world and considering that the caricature vusiness is all about smiles, it makes sense that EVENTtoons was there. Our client, Televox invited artist Doug Shannon to help draw a crowd and that we did. There was a nonstop queue of 10-20 trade show attendees gathered around the 50″ display for the entire three and one half days. One nice publicity benefit was our caricature service being highlighted in the trade show newspaper, a big glossy thing that was handed out to every attendee. BTW this weekend was a milestone for EVENTtoons. While the artist himself was in DC drawing at this show, a second ET artist Jeff Mandell was in Tucson drawing up a storm for a convention there, and a third caricaturist, Jon Casey digitally caricaturing for a trade show client in Chicago.  By deepening the talent pool with the best digital caricaturists in the coiuntry, I’ve tried to make sure that whatever your date is, there will be a professional artist available. When it comes to live digital caricature for conventions and corporate events, EVENTtoons has you covered!

Live Digital Caricature in Tucson

Posted May 2nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm

This client invited EVENTtoons to a Tucson convention to draw attendees to their booth. Artist Jeff Mandell filled the bill admirably, drawing a steady stream of caricatures during the two day convention. Check out all his work at the downloads page in the menu bar above.

Marketing with Caricature in Miami

Posted Apr 28th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

EVENTtoons artist Jeff Mandell wowed guests of The Marketing Forum with his digital caricatures. Since the artist was too pressed with subjects to stop for photos, we’ll have to make do with this sample. The rest sre available for at the Downloads link in the menu bar above.

Live Digital Caricature comes to San Antonio

Posted Apr 28th, 2010 at 12:51 pm

To make certain that no attendee left the CUE conference without getting their message, Velocity hired Doug to draw digital caricatures for all. As these pictures attest, their booth quickly became the hottest spot on the exhibition floor. (Click on the second to last photo). As a convention booth draw, live digital caricatures are hard to top. It’s original and technologically exciting, it’s interactive, it stimulates conversation, and it makes a personal connection. Plus there’s all the friends on facebook who’ll be asking, “Where’d you have that done?!”.  No wonder EVENTtoons is the fastest growing trade show entertainment draw in the country.

“Everyone can’t stop talking about you. You were a HIT! Thanks again for all your hard work!”

…..Rachael Moench, Marketing Specialist, Velocity Technology Solutions

Live Digital Fun and games in South San Francisco

Posted Apr 24th, 2010 at 9:03 am

When I was hired to draw live digital caricatures for Sledgehammer Games’ open house, I figured I’d see lots of unshaven red eyed single guys, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that professional hard core gamers can maintain actual relationships—with pretty hot partners no less. Of course we artists suffer from the same tendencies, and I’ve managed to breed, so why should I be surprised? Here’s one of my more cartoonogenic couples.

Work Team Caricatures in San Jose

Posted Apr 24th, 2010 at 8:55 am

Ebay had me  back today to finish up the rest of the group. I had a good time drawing caricatures of these guys, the sort of crew you’d want to slip in with should armageddon arrive, or just to pass  an evening at the  pub.

Caricature at Corporate Event / San Francisco

Posted Apr 18th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

This group of Ebay security specialists invited the artist to draw live digital caricatures on a short Hornblowerer cruise around the bay. There was a lot of kidding among this mostly male pack about the lack of hair among my subjects and the general lack of resemblance to Brad Pitt, and a good time was had by all.

Kids Party / Santa Rosa

Posted Apr 18th, 2010 at 8:12 am

The artist was delighted to draw caricatures for this group, a favorite from past years. These kids, besides being cuter as heck, were the best posers ever— so poised and so confident! Don’t forget to check the downloads page in the menu bar above, kids!

Las Vegas’s State-of-the-Art Resort Hires State-of-the-Art Caricature Artists

Posted Apr 18th, 2010 at 7:58 am

MGM Mirage hosted a charity Golf Tournament at Aria, their gem of a hotel/casino in City Center. EVENTtoons was invited to draw live digital caricatures for their guests on a couple 60″ plasmas, which really make an impact. Doug brought along associate Jon Casey, and between the two artists, every willing subject was served. With two styles of caricature to choose from, every taste was covered, and of course there were several guests who sampled both flavors. Guests can download jpegs of their caricatures in the menu bar above. Win or lose, these golfers and gamblers will go home with at least one prize!

San Francisco Conference Uses Live Digital Caricature to Build Community

Posted Apr 8th, 2010 at 9:28 pm

The Materials Research outfit puts on a couple shows a year for the scientists that do, well…materials research whatever that is! the important thing is that the attendees are young, smart, and hail from all over the globe. On the second day of this three day show the artist drew 83 people and demand was still growing, so for the last short day, three hours only, I brought in Jon Casey, another EVENTtoons caricaturist to help out. That’s Jon and one of his subjects, third and fourth from right. These pictures are all facing us away from the crowd so you can’t get the full effect, but believe me, EVENTtoons met the show planners’ goal of creating a communal focal point for the show, a place where everyone could congregate and share some laughs. I will be posting a video of the 83 caricatures drawn at one sitting on Youtube—speeded up quite a bit of course. Watch this space for the link! Subjects may download their caricatures HERE.

Las Vegas Private Party Caricature Entertainment (with Surprise Guest)

Posted Mar 31st, 2010 at 10:10 am

As every caricaturist knows, if you draw a chin any bigger than average someone is bound to say, “That looks like Jay Leno!” Well for once, it actually was Mr. Leno. Alas, he did not pose for me—I had to draw him from a distance. Entertainment was also provided  by  Simon Winthrop, an incomparable  magician who subverts fire, gravity and even mighty Google toward his own ends. No pix will be posted from this very private event, held at the Aria, Las Vegas’ new state-of-the art destination.

Digital Caricature at Scottsdale Trade Show Event

Posted Mar 29th, 2010 at 10:51 am

The artist was hired to entertain at two evening events, the first at the Westin Kierland, a world class destination outside Phoenix, for the StorePoint Restaurant group. This unique trade show brings together people in the restaurant building business, a hard partying bunch. This lovely subject was one of the highlights of my evening. Monday night’s event was held offsite at the Botanical Gardens, where we saw an amazing display of cacti shimmering in the light of a full moon. See all the caricatures at the downloads link in the menu bar above.

Live Digital Caricature Debut in Nashville

Posted Mar 26th, 2010 at 6:38 am

The AMS Users conference brought the artist to Opryland to draw attendees for BankDirect, a prime exhibitor with a gung ho staff. We cooked up a special template for this show, a red carpet and marquee background to highlight the Oscar theme of the show. It was nice to walk into the exhibit hall Saturday morning and see that big old blue ribbon on the wall of the booth. See more of the caricatures at the download page in the menu bar above.

Beautiful Girls love Live Digital Caricature

Posted Mar 21st, 2010 at 9:30 am

The artist had two digital caricature events this Saturday, the first was a family event at Fireman’s Fund in Marin County with a couple hundred kids.  I set up on a 50″ lcd in the lobby and drew fast and furiously for a couple hours. Then later I swung by Jane’s Sweet 16 party in Atherton where I drew what was probably the longest string of gorgeous girls in a row. Forgot to take any pictures alas, but here’s my caricature of Jane. Interesting side note: Jane’s mother, Brooke Larkins, after praising my work at the event, bounced my check— twice in fact. She suggested using cc vis paypal, but when I invoiced her she ignored it. This has been going on for six weeks. Fair warning to young artists, just because your client lives in a million dollar house in Atherton doesn’t mean your client is solvent, or honest! It’s a shame, but people like this make it necessary to get cash, money orders or paypal up front. Not a pleasant way to do business!

Caricatures a Big Booth Draw in San Diego

Posted Mar 18th, 2010 at 7:08 am

Previsor and ADP, two companies that play well together in the human resource game, brought the artist to their  San Diego booth to draw live digital caricatures for attendees of the ERE 2010 conference held at the Hyatt. The convention was small enough so that by the end of the one and a half exhibit hall days, EVERYBODY knew about my clients, which of course is the object. I had a surprise when an attendee of a similar show last year I worked last year showed me a caricature on his smartphone I had done for him then, which I didn’t recogbnize as him at all. Reason was he’d lost 8o pounds. Needless to say, we did an update. That’s him, second from the right.

San Jose Private Party

Posted Mar 14th, 2010 at 12:14 pm

The artist was hired to draw digital caricatures for a birthday party held at an appropriate venue—the Computer History Museum in Mountainview. The birthday boy pulled a neat Zelig trick, inserting himself into various historical exhibits around the museum. Great fun for everyone. You can see all 41 caricatures at the download page in the menu bar above.

Las Vegas Trade Show loves Live Digital Caricature

Posted Mar 13th, 2010 at 10:39 am

ProImage Installers hired the artist to draw live digital caricatures at their booth during the Globalshop 2010 Convention at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. This company installs retail fixtures for huge retail chains all over the country and they are great fun to work with. Our booth was a real attraction, especially with an adjacent exhibitor dispensing free wine and beer all day. Only in Vegas!

Live Digital Caricature in Vegas, baby!

Posted Mar 13th, 2010 at 10:26 am

This extravaganza was held on the last night of a conference for event industry professionals. Richard Byford of Byway Events and Entertainment put on the event, and the artist’s live digital caricatures were part of  the entertainment. It was a busy night, as usual, with a nonstop lineup of eager subjects.

Live Digital Caricature comes to Atlanta

Posted Mar 1st, 2010 at 5:11 pm

Televox brought the artist to HiMSS, a mammoth trade show for health care IT professionals. What do I mean by mammoth? It took 15 minutes just to get out of the convention hall at the end of the day. Interest in my caricatures grew each day at this show, so that by day three, demand was such that I was inspired to achieve a pace of 5 and 1/2 minutes per person over the course of the day.  Televox springs for badge holder/lanyards, so people can wear the caricatures all over the show as kind of advertising, which I think is pretty smart. When I arrived back at SFO at midnight, I crossed paths with a guy who turned out to be one of my 58 caricatures that day. Small world. Caricature subjects can get their jpegs at the downloads page link in the menu above.

“… fascinating to watch.” HIStalk Blog

Live Digital Caricature at Chicago Trade Show

Posted Feb 28th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

Televox brought the artist to their booth at the Chicago Dental Society’s winter show at McCormick Place. Working on a 60″ screen, Doug drew a steady crowd of onlookers with his caricatures, helping Televox create the buzz they deserve at this convention. These caricatures averaged 7 minutes apiece, a nice pace for drawing all day!

Live Digital Caricature at Bloomingdales San Francisco

Posted Feb 20th, 2010 at 9:59 am

Bloomingdales hired the artist to draw digital caricatures of shoppers at their Fashionable Fundraiser Event. It was a unique entertainment for a department store and the shoppers lined up. One can see all their caricatures at the download link on the menu bar above.

“It was fabulous, and the crowd loved it!” Bailey Locke, Public Relations Manager

Trade Show Caricature / Tulare California

Posted Feb 12th, 2010 at 5:54 pm

This is the big one for the world farming community, a huge expo with everything from hoof clippers to monster tractors big enough to crush my Corolla. Alltech brings the artist along to draw live digital caricatures of their dairy customers’ families, which are then applied to T-shirts. Great fun for everyone. Check out the caricatures at the download page link on the menu bar above.

Convention Caricature / Orlando

Posted Feb 6th, 2010 at 5:18 am

Ameritrade, the online brokerage, hosts a big conference annually for financial planners, and Scout Funds is a regular exhibitor. With all the conference sessions they offer, the exhibit hall is only trafficked for a few hours a day, and it is essential that attendees be aware of an exhibitor’s presence. Toward that end, Scout employs me in their booth, where my live digital caricatures are a unique draw. On the left are a fun group of happy faces, and on the right, a shot of the crowd of attendees applauding the gentleman who bid $15,000 for the chairs the keynote speakers sat on, (two retirees named Bill and W). The proceeds went to Haitian relief. :) See all caricatures at the download page in the menu above.

Corporate Event / Minneapolis

Posted Jan 30th, 2010 at 5:18 pm

The artist was invited to an internal event for the insurance giant, Allianz, held in chilly Minneapolis. The guests had never seen live digital caricature and they were very enthusiastic. The gentleman with the spiked hair was the last subject of the evening, and I took off the gloves for him. luckily for me he rolled with the punch!

“Thanks so much for joining us!  I heard nothing but RAVE reviews. ” Brenda Schmitz, Allianz Life

Tradeshow / San Francisco

Posted Jan 27th, 2010 at 8:55 pm

Melles Griot asked the artist to provide a little levity at their Moscone hall booth for this optics and laser trade show. The reception was warm, with plenty of smiling subjects happy to stop and have their digital caricature done, and ultimately to get to know the CVI folks a little better . These two were some of my favorite faces. The woman holding her cell is demonstrating her caricature in three mediums: on screen, as a 4X6″ photo print, and on her facebook page. How cool is that!

“Thanks again for helping us make our show a success!!!” Nina Richards, Nina Richards, Marketing/ Tradeshow Coordinator

Conference / Orlando

Posted Jan 19th, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Storepoint is a conference for retailers, a regular stop for this artist, held this year in Orlando at the fabulous JW Marriott Grande Lakes Resort. These terrific photos were taken by corporate event photographer Anthea Haropolous You can see all the live digital caricatures from this event at the downloads page above.

Company Holiday Party / San Francisco

Posted Jan 9th, 2010 at 2:31 am

Admob is a a hot item at the moment, in the process of being acquired by Google, and the company was in great spirits—excellent subjects for live digital caricature. The party was held at the timeless Starlight Ballroom above the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. The artist was accompanied by Rhoda Draws, who drew digitally also.  Here is one of my favorite couples of the evening. See all the caricatures at the Download page in the menu bar above.

Company Holiday Party / San Francisco

Posted Dec 20th, 2009 at 1:24 am

doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample-rujjvjThe San Francisco Tennis Club threw a holiday bash, to which Velocity Circus provided entertainment, including live digital caricature by the artist Doug Shannon. The guests were very much into getting their pictures done, and there is nothing like a long queue to spur my efforts.  I made a personal best speed-wise, drawing 46 subjects in three hours, which comes out to four minutes each. See them all at the download page in the menu above!

Private Holiday Party / Redwood City

Posted Dec 19th, 2009 at 1:34 am

doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample- fuyfuyThe Harmans throw an excellent party every year in the hills of Woodside, where the artist spent a delightful evening drawing live digital cartoons of the kids and teens. This bunch made some wild requests, from sumo wrestler to riding a pink giraffe, so I had a lot of fun with them. Check out the whole slew of caricatures at the download page above in the menu bar.

Company Holiday Party / South Bay

Posted Dec 13th, 2009 at 10:32 am

doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample- bhgyt Gregangelo Productions asked the artist to draw live digital caricatures  for guests  of Tesla at the Hiller Aviation Museum, the sort of place the ghost of of Amelia Earhart would hang out. Here is my favorite couple.

Company Holiday Party / San Francisco

Posted Dec 12th, 2009 at 1:53 am

doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample- gcydytdyt doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample- gghgch” I heard great reviews..Everyone loved it!!!

Irena Kofman, Google

The artist was invited to entertain Google employees at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, needless to say, a big affair. There were lots of couples—glad to see that engineers can actually get dates—and the host provided these neat frames. I was too swamped to take much in the way of pictures, but fortunately I snagged these terrific couples. These photos  illustratemy basic philosophy of caricature: capture the beauty of the women and rake the guys across the coals. Besides myself, I  booked five other top Bay Area caricature artists for Google, a nice coup on the busiest date of the year! See all caricatures at the download page in the menu above.

Company Holiday Party / San Francisco

Posted Dec 11th, 2009 at 8:44 am

doug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-subject-and-screen-beegtdoug-shannon-live-digital-caricature-sample-gvhge6Cityscape, a San Francisco property management firm threw an after work holiday party for their clients and staff, where I drew live digital caricatures on the biggest screen yet. Its very convenient to plug into the wall and draw, and with this congenial and easy going crowd, I had some real fun! See all the caricatures at the download page in the menu above.