WOOWHO! I DID IT! My very first Robotime DIY & Crafting Meetup is in the books, and what a joyous time that was had! I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend the day with. From new builders to experts, everyone came together on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to share their love and appreciation for creating tiny worlds of dopamine.
When I was looking for a venue to host the meetup, I wanted to chose a place that was local and reflected the meaning of community. My first go-to was the public library. The director was very willing to offer space, however the space was not large enough to withhold the capacity of the event. On to option number 2!
My second option was our local Girl Scout House. It’ s a house that was specifically built for the community to hold meetings for the local Girl Scout Troop. They often rent out the space for events at an affordable price and the rental fee goes right back to supporting the Girl Scouts and the maintenance of the house. I actually held my daughter’s first birthday party there years prior and had a wonderful experience. Much to my delight, the date I chose was available! 
I love how both organizations supports and gives back to the community!
The event was held on Saturday, May 2 from 11:30am-3:30pm. I was lucky enough to have access to the venue the night before to set up, in which I recruited my family to help out with. 
We had the venue to ourselves the ENTIRE day on Saturday. Having all the time we needed made finishing the kits a little less stressful.
We didn’t actually start the event until noon-ish, once everyone got settled in, chose their kits, and listened to my speech about Robotime. Once the building started, you could have heard a pin drop and the trees growing outside. We were all completely locked in. It was evident that we were there for serious building business. It was so much fun walking around the room seeing everyone’s different building styles, helping each other when someone was stuck, and hearing excited reactions whenever someone completed a tricky section.
What was supposed to be about a four-hour event ended up running a little overtime, but no one seemed eager to hurry up and leave. By the end of the event, the majority of everyone had finished their kits. I was really impressed considering that, with the exception of just three people, everyone else was a complete rookie. This was their very first miniature DIY kit, and they absolutely NAILED IT!
RoboTime was incredibly generous and sent us such an variety of kits to build:
-Super Creator Fascinating Bookstore (great for beginners)
-Super Creator Tasty Cake Shop (great for beginners)
-Cookii Bunny’s Cookie Shop (intermediate-wood kit)
-Falling Sakura Book Nook (for the pros-wood kit)
For our raffle prizes, everyone had the chance to win the adorable Baby Nanci Fruits blind boxes. I LOVED seeing so many builders display their little Nanci figures inside their finished creations. They fit perfectly and added so much personality to each build!
If I had to guess, I’d say at least half of the people who attended left as brand-new members of the RoboTime/Rolife community. Watching people go from “I’ve never built one of these before” to immediately talking about which kit they wanted to try next was probably my favorite part of the entire day. We even planned a future shopping meetup at the Rolife store at American Dream to take a look at all of the builder options!
One big thing I learned from hosting my first meetup is that I’m definitely going to make my next event BYOB…Bring Your Own Brunch! I think it’ll make planning easier and keep extra out-of-pocket costs to a minimum.
Now that I have my first meetup under my belt, I’m already excited for the next one in the Fall! I know exactly what worked well and what I want to tweak. And since I have access to the venue for the entire day, I’m hoping my next event will become an entire Rolife themed day!
My idea is that after the builder event, take a one hour or so break to cleanup and then setup for a Rolife Trinket Trade! Local collectors can bring their Nanci, Cookii & Cream, Suri, and other Rolife collectables to trade with fellow fans. I think it will be a fun way to meet other collectors, grow our collections, and keep building this fascinating community!
I want to take the time to thank everyone at Robotime for trusting and supporting me in hosting an event on their behalf. I couldn’t be more proud to represent a company whose core values are bringing people together through the joy of crafting and collecting.
ANNNNNND a VERY SPECIAL shout out to everyone who attended my event! I can’t wait to do this all again soon with some new and familiar friends. 
Please visit the following TikTok links to get a glimpse of my event from the POV of the attendees. If you are on Tiktok, feel free to give me and my friends a follow! I post a TON of Nanci content you may enjoy. Thank you for your time, everyone!
Maria’s POV-Robotime DIY Meetup
Sooj’s POV-Robotime DIY Meetup
Writing this recap was harder then filming, editing, and posting the video! It made me feel like I was back in college again! 
congratulations 
