ATRL SECRET SANTA 2011
A HOLIDAY GIFT EXCHANGE
The holiday season presents the perfect opportunity for one to demonstrate his/her generous nature. Experience the joys of giving and get into the spirit of the season -
sign up to participate in our second annual Secret Santa gift swap!
How does this work?- Interested parties should reply in this thread stating their intention to participate.
- From the list of participating members I will randomly select one person (it could be a friend, it could be a stranger) for which each member is expected to create a gift. I will contact each member individually with name of the member for whom they are expected to find a gift.
- It is important that members do not reveal the identity of the person who will receive their gift, nor should members reveal what they plan to give.
- Participants should message me (Patrick) with completed gifts.
- I will create a post in which all gifts will be displayed. Participants may guess the member who created the gifts they or others received. I will eventually reveal the member responsible for each gift given.
Timeline
SIGN UPS: November 5th - 12th
GIFTS DUE: December 22nd
What is an appropriate gift?
Gifts of the heart have no price-tag. It's not expected that anyone participating will actually spend money on their gift. Think hand-crafted. Think outside the box.
Do a little investigation and see what your assigned member likes. Who do they stan for? What do they blog about? What and where do they post? What sort of personality do they have?
The possibilities are endless. No gift is too small or shabby. It's the thought that counts, not the flashiness of the gift - though, if you have a flashy gift in mind, feel free to go for it!
I won't place too many restrictions, but please do not send in gifts that are unnecessarily shady, mean spirited, or of an otherwise inappropriate nature (meaning this isn't an opportunity to promote your latest amateur Xtube video or twink **** modeling gig).
Guidelines- If you sign up please plan to participate. If you are unable to participate through the entire event please let me know. I may have to ask willing members to double up on their Secret Santa duties, or I will take care of finding gifts for any members who would otherwise be left out, but it will be much easier and satisfying for all involved if we pull our own weight. I'll try to send out reminders to keep everyone on track.
- Do not reveal the gift you will be giving, or who it is intended for.
- As mentioned above, no inappropriate gifts.
- Don't be upset if you are not paired with your best efriend. I hope that this will be a way for members who may not associate on a regular basis to learn more about each other.
- Have fun!
Participating Members
1. Babe.
2. m-m-m-monster
3. circus.co
4. Devil
5. Venus
6. Midnight
7. Wes
8.Cuitrex
9. ắttitudé
10. Michael
11. Ryou Itaru Hou
12. WillingtonHH
13. ifyouseekLEM
14. iamvladd
15. Rainbow
16. futurelove92
17. Wilkes
18. Matty
19. KoreanDream
20. Hollywood
21. Mr. Loko
22. Deuces.
23. Teen Dreamer
24. Georges
25. Bert.
26. IWasHere
27. ExtraChapstick
28. supaspaz
29. Sunderland 4ever
30. Ray Bass
31. Katie
32. La Musique
33. Shape
34. Ahmed.
35. Mani
36. Dancehall Queen
37. Owl
38. Marnie
39. Rih.rox
40. Kaybee
41. staracademy1990
42. Firework
43. Doc
44. THERihFan
45. Beyoncé on Top
46. sticks
47. JoaoP
48. BLaCKPoWeR
49. Drowned_World
50. Deemy
51. RatedG²
52. Hooligan
More space can be made should more than 40 members want to participate. (I'll be lucky if I find 6 people who want to do this.)
Because I was busy during the holidays last year, I did not have time to update and many people forgot about/lost interest in the event. By starting this a bit earlier, I'm hoping I'll avoid some of the time constraints of the holiday season.
Let me know if you have any suggestions.
And because this was helpful to some people last year:
Quote:
Stuck for gift ideas? Let's compile list of possible gifts. Feel free to suggest your own (if your suggestion will reveal what you plan to give, PM me your suggestion) and I'll add them to the list. 
Graphics:
A lot of people think this is the only route to take. Don't worry if you're not Photoshop savvy, there are plenty of other fantastic gifts to give! Still, let's run through graphic gift ideas.
Avatars, Wallpapers, Countdown Layouts, Animated Gifs, Smilies, etc...
Read up on your assigned member. Do they have a favorite artist? Are they a bonafied stan? They would probably love a new avatar for this forum or background for their computer featuring their favorite artist.
Does your assigned member participate in the Your Top Tens section? Maybe they'd like some special holiday themed countdown graphics, or countdown graphics of another nature?
Study your assigned member's personality. Does your assigned member have awesome sarcastic wit? Are they always horny? You might be able to find or make an animated gif or emoticon that suits your member's personality. If you don't mind a tag (and none of us will count it against you) you can even use free websites like GifSoup to make your member a gif or find one that's already been made by someone else. Members with custom smilies are all the rage! Look online for smilies that could describe your member or their posting style.
eThings
Who is your assigned member's favorite artist? What other sort of music do they like. Maybe you could create a playlist (an online mixtape, if people still made mixtapes) of songs your member Ioves or might love. Try one of these sites, create a playlist, send me a link to it and I'll pass it along to your member.
http://www.mixpod.com/
http://hypster.com/
(And countless others, I'm sure.)
Are you a member of an online community or service that is invitation only? Maybe you want to extend an invitation to your assigned member and let them in on the fun!
Did you just find a song that perfectly describes your member, or includes one of their interests? Find it on YouTube and dedicate a song to them. I'm sure they'd love to see.
Think of other silly online things. For example, at one point in time the website for Britney's Midnight Fantasy fragrance had a thing where you could enter names and Britney would read a personalized message that you could send to someone. The perfect gift for a Spears stan. (This is no longer online, but you might be able to find something similar.)
Create Something
Are you an incredible artist? A gifted musician? A great singer? Draw a picture of your assigned member's favorite artist or something else that interests them (draw a picture of your assigned member if you know what they look like and it won't be too creepy for you to do so), scan it (or just do it on your computer to begin with if you're one of those people with a tablet) and send in your original work that will certainly be worth a small fortune when you're famous.
Perform (record yourself with or without video) your assigned member's favorite song, a song by their favorite artist, or just a song you would like to dedicate to them. Upload it to a video host or audio host and let your talents be heard!
Or maybe you just want to do a personalized greeting! Record it and follow the procedure above.
The Written Word
Do you have a secret eCrush on your assigned member? If you don't mind your secret ultimately being revealed, now would be the perfect time to turn on the charm with a love letter or poem!  Or perhaps your feelings for said member are more platonic? Spend a few minutes coming up with a few kind words to say about that member or a little rhyme about how amazing they are.
Certificates or Promises
Are you beefing with the member you were assigned? In the spirit of the holidays why not squash those ill feelings with a truce or apology? (I don't think any member's that have problems were assigned to each other, but who can keep track of forum rivalries?)
Maybe your member runs an on-going forum game or countdown. Give them a certificate promising to participate or comment in their threads. Everyone loves to have people participating in their threads.
------------------------------------
Think outside of the box with this. Some gift ideas are more straightforward visual or sound oriented things things, and others are really sort of intangible things like promises. In either case, the sentiment is still sweet and perfect for this activity.
Also, don't stress too much over this. These gifts can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, and both types of gifts will be equally adored. This is an exercise in the spirit of giving and the spirit of being appreciative. I know that everyone will be very appreciative of the effort their Secret Santa has put into this, regardless of the type of gift.
|
Well, we did that on Friday The 13th: The Website's forum a few years back.
