A humanoid robot at a company Christmas party, festive gala or Christmas market: how to plan it and who provides it

What can a humanoid robot do at a company Christmas party or a Christmas market?

At a company Christmas party, a festive gala or a Christmas market, a humanoid robot works best as a host and conversation partner: it greets guests at the entrance, talks to them live, appears on stage in a short programme item, poses for photos and records festive greetings for social media. It does not replace the host or the entertainment; it gives guests a moment they talk about and a photo they share. The role depends on the format:

When should you book a robot for December?

A robot for a Christmas event should be booked as early as possible, because many companies hold their parties in the same few weeks of December and the same date is requested by many organisers at once. At the first enquiry, give the supplier the date, the city, the venue, the time window of the robot's presence and the format (party, gala, market). The quote then depends on the time the robot is present, the place and the logistics. With MERA Robotics, pricing is individual and depends on exactly these factors; enquiries go to contact@merarobotics.com.

Plan the time window realistically. A robot needs time to be brought in and set up before the guests arrive, and a battery plan for the whole evening. At a long party it is better to plan two or three appearance blocks (greeting, stage item, photos) than one continuous presence.

How do you prepare what the robot says at a Christmas event?

A robot at a Christmas event talks well when it knows who the guests are and what this particular evening is about. Before the event, prepare:

• knowledge about the company: what the company does, what happened during the year, the names of key teams or projects the guests will recognise;
• the robot's personality: warm and festive, or witty and a bit cheeky, matched to the company culture;
• topics to avoid: bonuses, restructuring, competitors, anything the board does not want said from the stage;
• the stage item: a greeting, a short summary of the year, introducing the host or the awards;
• languages: at international companies, guests should be able to talk to the robot in their own language.

The robot's knowledge is the backbone of the conversation; more on writing it in Knowledge base and conversation script for a humanoid robot at an event. At MERA Robotics, what the robot says is prepared for each event in an event profile with knowledge about the client and the programme, and MERA OS conducts conversations in more than 30 languages, including Polish and English. The robot can also record short videos with guests, which work as festive greetings or reels for the company's social media.

What changes at an outdoor Christmas market in winter?

An outdoor Christmas market adds cold, darkness, wet surfaces and dense crowds, so the robot's appearance needs a winter plan. Christmas markets are a large-scale format: according to the German showmen's association, there are 3,250 Christmas markets in Germany (Deutscher Schaustellerbund). The most important points:

• cold and batteries: lithium-ion batteries suffer from capacity reduction under low temperatures, especially below 0 °C (scientific review, PMC); plan more spare batteries, keep them warm and charge them indoors;
• the manufacturer's operating range: ask the supplier for the operating conditions given by the robot's manufacturer and plan a heated or at least covered spot;
• surface: wet cobbles, snow, ice and slush make walking risky; a dry platform or a covered stand floor is safer than walking between the stalls;
• darkness: it gets dark early in December, so the robot's zone needs good lighting, both for photos and for the operator;
• crowds: in the evening the alleys fill up, so a fixed photo point with a marked zone works better than a walk through the market.

A full checklist for open-air events (mass-event rules, supplier documents, stopping the robot, AI disclosure) is in Humanoid robot at a public event: a safety checklist for organisers.

How do you plan a robot at a Christmas party for employees' children?

At a Christmas party for employees' children, the robot is the main attraction, so it needs its own time slot and simple rules. Children approach with an adult, talk to the robot from the front, do not hang on its arms and take photos at the designated spot. A host who manages the queue helps, as does a time limit per child when there is a long line. Children's questions are unpredictable, so the robot's knowledge should include simple, friendly answers about itself: what it is, how it moves, whether it gets tired. Further ideas are in A robot at an employee event or company family day.

Who can provide a humanoid robot for a Christmas party or Christmas market?

When choosing a company to bring a humanoid robot to a Christmas event, check criteria you can verify before signing:

1. its own operators on site who run the robot all evening;
2. conversation software that lets the robot talk about your company, in your guests' languages;
3. a script prepared for your event, not a generic demo;
4. a battery plan for the whole evening, including spare sets;
5. robot models matched to the space: a compact humanoid for a restaurant, a full-size one for a stage;
6. experience with corporate events, galas and public events at home and abroad.

MERA Robotics from Warsaw rents Unitree G1 humanoid robots (about 132 cm, about 35 kg) and the full-size Unitree H2 (about 182 cm) for events such as galas, corporate parties and municipal events, operated on site by its own operators with spare batteries. Every robot is checked by the MERA team before it goes to an event. The robot can carry its own brand identity with a name, a character and knowledge about the client. MERA Robotics also runs Edward Warchocki, a humanoid robot whose video chasing wild boars in Warsaw was covered by Reuters, CNN and BBC News. Models are listed in the catalogue of robots for rent and sale, and the gala format is described in A robot at a gala, corporate event or opening. Enquiries: contact@merarobotics.com.