BMO Marketing Summit: Bringing Professional Headshots to a National Team

HeadshotsEvents
Written By Dave Kalmbach OTS

Each year, BMO brings together its marketing team from across Canada for an annual all-hands meeting. While these gatherings allow attendees to collaborate, share ideas, and strengthen connections, they also create a rare opportunity to provide every employee present with a consistent, professional headshot during a single event.

Recognizing this unique opportunity, BMO partnered with One Tree Studio to provide unlimited headshots during the event. Rather than asking employees to schedule individual appointments throughout the year, the company was able to offer nearly the entire team professional images while everyone was already together. Employees received a valuable resource they could use for LinkedIn, company profiles, speaking engagements, and other professional purposes, while BMO benefited from a consistent, unified company-wide look.

Business portrait of a Black man in corporate attire smiling at the camera.
Business headshot of a smiling woman wearing a brown dress.
Professional employee headshot of a smiling bald man.
Clean corporate headshot of a confident businesswoman.
Corporate portrait of a man with glasses in business clothing.

Making the Most of a Rare Opportunity

To keep the experience organized and minimize disruption to the proceedings, employees were sent to the portrait station in small groups throughout the day. This allowed participants to receive their headshots without waiting in long lines or being pulled out of the rest of the meeting schedule. Our mobile studio was set up adjacent to the event, making it easy for employees to step away briefly before returning to the day's agenda.

For organizations with employees spread across multiple offices or regions, opportunities to photograph an entire team are rare. Annual meetings, conferences, and off-site events provide an ideal time to update headshots without requiring employees to book separate sessions throughout the year.

Studio headshot of a blonde curly-haired woman with soft lighting.
Professional headshot of a smiling bald man in a business suit.
Professional portrait of a dark-haired woman against a clean studio background.
 

A Seamless Headshot Experience

Each participant received a professionally guided portrait session with studio lighting and expert direction, creating polished, consistent images across the entire team. Every photograph also received professional basic retouching before delivery, ensuring employees received finished images that were ready to use immediately.

Rather than selecting a single image for editing or arranging additional retouching later, participants received complete galleries of polished portraits. Incorporating retouching into the event itself also provided a more efficient and cost-effective solution than coordinating individual editing requests after the fact.

The process fit naturally into the event schedule, allowing employees to update their professional headshots without interrupting the purpose of the meeting itself.

Professional headshot of a dark-haired woman wearing a black-and-white patterned dress with natural lighting.
 
Corporate headshot of a man in a navy business suit smiling at the camera.

Creating Long-Term Value for Employees and BMO

Professional headshots continue to provide value long after the event concludes. Employees received updated portraits they can use across LinkedIn, company profiles, speaking engagements, and other professional opportunities, while BMO gained a unified library of consistent headshots that supports internal communications, employer branding, and marketing initiatives.

By incorporating unlimited headshots into an event that was already bringing employees together from across the country, BMO was able to maximize the value of the meeting while giving its team something they could continue using for years to come.

 

A Continued Partnership with BMO

One Tree Studio has partnered with BMO on a variety of photography projects, including team headshots and event photography. The annual marketing summit is another example of how professional photography can be thoughtfully integrated into an existing event to create value for both employees and the organization.

At One Tree Studio, we specialize in creating professional headshot experiences that fit seamlessly into conferences, off-site meetings, and company events. If you're bringing your team together for an annual meeting, employee engagement event, or corporate retreat, we'd love to help make the most of the opportunity by providing premium images your employees and your organization will continue to benefit from long after the event is over.

Headshot of a smiling dark-haired businesswoman wearing a navy blazer
Professional headshot of a dark-haired woman in an ivory blouse against a clean white backdrop.
 
Business portrait of a dark-haired woman wearing wire glasses with a relaxed smile.
Executive portrait of a dark-haired woman wearing red glasses and a black blazer.
Business portrait of a dark-haired woman wearing black glasses and a dark shirt, smiling at the camera.
Modern business portrait of a brown-haired woman wearing a grey blazer against a neutral background.
Corporate headshot of a dark-haired man wearing a black polo shirt with a neutral expression.
Corporate portrait of a smiling dark-haired woman in professional attire.
Company headshots for employees at BMO photographed by One Tree Studio
Dave Kalmbach OTS
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