Secret Santa 2005
- From: dellapina@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 15 Nov 2005 16:14:46 -0800
Hello potential Santas and Santees!
I would LOVE it if you read all the guidelines, but here's the bottom
line: Please send me your name, mailing address, and email address.
Include any allergies (but not preferences, that's another thread)
and if you are willing to accept a male Santa or Santee, and/or an
international Santee.
Also PLEASE note a new addition to the guidlines (see below): if you
have an international Santee please, please, I beg you please, mark the
customs form "gift" so they do not have to pay customs fees.
Thanks!! Have a blast!
-----------------------
Welcome to this year's Secret Santa!!!!
EVEN IF YOU HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE, READ THESE GUIDELINES!
HOW DOES SECRET SANTA WORK?
You are assigned the name of another alt.fashion poster. You buy
her/him a gift, and in return, you receive a gift from a different
AFer. To be more specific: You send the organizer (me) your name,
address, screen name(s) or email(s) you post with, and your
non-spam-blocked email address, and I'll reply to you acknowledging
that I got your info. In a week or so, I'll send you the name and
address of the person you'll be buying for (your "Santee"). Mail your
gift in late November/early December, and reveal your identity in the
card or on the package. When you receive YOUR gift from your Santa,
post it to the group!
CAN ANYONE PARTICIPATE?
Almost. If you feel you are a part of the alt.fashion community, and
you have posted and contributed to the group in a positive manner in
the recent past, then you are welcome. You don't have to be a frequent
poster, or even a "regular," but I should be able to find you via
Google and/or recognize your name (don't be shy if you aren't that
prolific).
However, there are some that I will have to exclude, including:
-- anyone on any "bad swapper" list, or anyone who I have heard
through the grapevine as being a bad swapper (but you do NOT have to be
a swapper to participate)
-- anyone who has never appeared on AF before
-- anyone who participated in this event in the past, but
intentionally burned your Santee by not sending a gift, and never
explaining why. If that describes you, don't even THINK about signing
up this year you big jerk.
-- anyone who has to stop to ask themselves, "hm, am I troll?" If you
think you MIGHT be a troll, then you are. Please don't try to sign up
and make me tell you this. Trolls, please understand, most people are
not comfortable in giving their personal information to you.
HOW IS THAT FAIR? YOU MIGHT THINK SO-AND-SO IS A TROLL, BUT I LIKE HER!
That is a fair question. Those of you who have been around a while
know that I was vigorously criticized for this issue in the past.
There is no easy answer. I vow to be as fair-minded as possible. I
will not be hurt or upset if you disagree with these guidelines and
decide to run your own Secret Santa. I will do my very best to keep
this exchange among only good-hearted, sane, decent people. (If you
know that your behavior on AF in the past year has not been
good-hearted, sane, and decent, please spare me the task of telling
you. Just don't sign up.)
CAN YOU PAIR ME UP WITH A SPECIFIC PERSON?
Sorry, it's all done randomly. I do double check to be sure nobody had
the same Santee as last year, and that nobody gets a Santee right
across town. The one exception to the random pairing is fairly new,
and again, caused much criticism in years past. But I am sticking to
it, as many people let me know they are comfortable with this: for the
MOST part, females will be paired with females and males will be paired
with males. (See caveat,
below!)
This is in response to a number of requests; many of the women on AF
have indicated that they would not feel very comfortable giving their
address to an unknown man. This seems like a fair solution; plus, it
makes shopping a bit easier for each party.
The caveat to the above guideline is this: For those female posters
who are A-OK with any of the AF males as your Santa, please let me know
- that doesn't mean your Santa will be male, but it means you are open
to that possibility. For those male posters who share our girly
obsession with cosmetics and feminine clothing, you are welcome to sign
up, though you may want to let me know your preference so you can be
paired accordingly.
I would caution those of you who have ongoing flame wars with other
AFers - there is no guarantee that you won't be paired with someone you
hate. I do not keep track of who hates whom, so if you hate your
Santee, don't blame me. And anyone who sends a crappy gift just to be
spiteful will not only never be allowed to participate in this Secret
Santa again, but they'll guarantee themselves decades of bad karma!
BUT I DON'T WANT A SANTEE OUTSIDE OF MY OWN COUNTRY!
I will take that into consideration. When you sign up, please indicate
if you *only* want a Santee in your own country. If I randomly pair
you with someone in another country, I'll toss his/her name back in,
and draw again until I've found a match. I'll do my best to match you
with Santees in the country that you request, however, I cannot promise
that everyone's request will be met. I will check with you before I
pair you with a "geographically undesirable" Santee.
Please realize that if you're in, for example, Swaziland, there may not
be another Santa in Swaziland, so a little flexibility is appreciated.
I GOT A SANTEE I DON'T KNOW AT ALL. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER/HIM?
Probably not a lot. If you get a Santee that you do not know, please
don't email me asking for info on that person. Use Google or ask
someone who seems to know that person.
CAN I SEND YOU A LIST OF MY LIKES/DISLIKES/COLORING/WISH LIST/ETC.?
No, I can't possibly manage all that information, plus it takes away
from the fun. A great part of this event is to do some detective work
on your Santee and find out what s/he likes. However, if you have
allergies to certain products, I will take that information and pass it
on to your Santa.
If you still want to let your Santa know what you want as a gift, you
are welcome to start a thread on alt.fashion.
WHAT IS AN ACCEPTABLE SECRET SANTA GIFT?
Your gift should be at least vaguely related to the subject of this
newsgroup. It should be a NEW gift, purchased explicitly for this
event. Gift-with-purchase items, freebies, swap items, or used things
are *NOT* considered appropriate for this event.
Many Santas in the past have thrown in samples and freebies as *extras*
with the NEW gift they purchased for this event, and that is fine.
But, keep in mind that while some people enjoy getting gently used
cosmetics, some find it distasteful, so consider that before you toss
in an extra "almost new" blush or something. If you KNOW your Santee
is a swapper, then you are probably fine to send samples, used but
clean extras, etc. However, it should be made VERY clear to your
Santee that the extra items ARE indeed EXTRAS (e.g., were used, were
obtained for free, something), because it will appear that you went way
over the $20 limit and as you will read below, that is a huge taboo!
Also please note that "extras" are NOT required. You should not feel
you must send them, and you absolutely should not feel ripped off if
you don't receive any. The first year we did this, I was a Santa as
well as organizer, and I spent exactly $20 on a high end lip gloss and
sent it in a plain box. I didn't realize the lengths people were going
to and I felt like I had "gypped" my Santee. But I did not, and you
will not either, if you prefer to stick to the basics.
CAN I SEND A GIFT CERTIFICATE?
That is an acceptable gift but you should probably at least *try* to
find something fun for your Santee to unwrap.
HOW MUCH AM I SUPPOSED TO SPEND?
Please read this section carefully. The limit is $20. Do NOT go over
this by any significant amount. For a lot (most) of you, the shopping
part is the meaningful part. Also, some of you don't mind spending
over the limit. And everyone does realize it's the thought that
counts, not the dollar amount.
But going over the $20 limit is just NOT FAIR to those Santas who
*would* go over it but *can't.* It is especially not fair to the
Santees who aren't getting a gift of higher value. Some people are
great at finding super bargains and deals, and can make that $20 really
go far - by all means, go for it. It's entirely acceptable to send a
brand new authentic Birkin if you happened to find it marked down at
some insane Saks. It's not the value of the gift, it's the ACTUAL
purchase price that matters here. PLEASE, keep these issues in mind.
Don't go over the limit.
Read this quote if you need more reminder why the limit is important:
>I'd love to participate but I would have to
> stick to the limit (being a broke little college student, lol), and
> I'd feel really bad if my Santee were disappointed
NO Santa should EVER feel bad for sticking to the limit (or for not
including extra goodies). A buck or two over the limit is not the end
of the world - it's another story when you start doubling it.
DOES THE $20 LIMIT INCLUDE SHIPPING?
NO, shipping is an additional cost above the $20 gift amount. Please
take this into consideration when deciding whether or not to sign up
for Secret Santa. It is possible - even probable - that shipping costs
will be significant, especially if you are sending a gift to another
country.
It is also *strongly* requested that you send your packages INSURED,
registered, certified, FedEx, whatever - *something* in order to make
them easier to track and harder to get lost (*ESPECIALLY* if sending
overseas).
It is just a few cents extra (.35?) to add tracking to a US Mail
package. PLEASE strongly consider doing this.
If you are sending to a Santee in another country, PLEASE mark "GIFT"
on your customs form. In the past, Santees have had to pay hefty fees
to claim their packages, and this can easily be avoided by checking
this box on the customs form.
WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES?
You must sign up by November 25 (the day after Thanksgiving). I will
send you your Santee's name on Monday, November 28. You must send your
gift by December 12 unless your Santee is in a different country. Then
you must send your gift by December 5, but if possible, in either case,
please send it earlier. Mail delays, especially in some non-US
countries, can be horrible.
I SIGNED UP BUT CHANGED MY MIND. CAN I QUIT?
If you have second thoughts, you are welcome to withdraw your name up
until November 25. But after that date, I'll be pairing Santas and
Santees, and you CANNOT withdraw then! I realize some unforeseen
emergenices crop up, but please be mindful that when you sign up and
then withdraw, it does throw a wrench in the works. If you really do
have an emergency, please at least try to drop me a quick email to let
me know.
OKAY, I WANT TO PLAY! HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Send me your info by November 25. If you are an infrequent or new
poster, please forward me a *recent post* of yours so I know you are an
active part of this newsgroup. DO NOT POST your information on
alt.fashion. Send it to me here:
jennifer
(dot)
dellapina
(at)
verizon
(dot)
net
If you have any issues that I failed to address, feel free to try me
here, which is dellapina @ netscape.net.
As a reminder, the info I need from you:
Name
Address
Screenname/Email addresses: posting and non-spam-blocked
Any allergy or sensitivity issues
OK to pair you with a male Santa/Santee?
OK to pair you with an international Santee?
I will confirm your participation within 1-2 days. Keep in mind that
my access to this email address is not constant, so be patient when
awaiting reply.
WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, WITH ALL THESE "BITCHY RULES"?
I was accused of posting a ton of "bitchy rules" in years past, but in
truth, I am trying to make this a successful event. I realize there
are a lot of guidelines and that may turn people off, but they are in
place to try to ensure NO Santees are left gift-less. Santas who don't
send their gifts ruin it. Please don't let the rules put you off. 98%
of the time, this works out really nicely for both parties. Last year,
we had almost a 100% success rate!
YOU JUST DO THIS BECAUSE YOU'RE BOMBARDED WITH THANK YOU GIFTS WHEN
IT'S ALL OVER, YOU DISINGENUOUS LITTLE $&#(!
I will be, as I have always been in the past, completely upfront about
everything I get out of this.
1. I enjoy doing this, very much.
2. I do not want thank you gifts as a result.
3. I have received some in the past and appreciated them immensely,
but...
4. ...I felt guilty about receiving them and asked that if people
really wanted to send me a gift, that they make a donation to my
favorite charities (which they did).
5. I don't participate in the actual exchange as a Santa or Santee, so
nobody will feel uncomfortable having to go buy me a gift.
I HAVE A QUESTION YOU DIDN'T ANSWER.
Post it here or email me.
Have fun!
xoxo
dellapina
.
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