It’s too early to talking about Christmas, isn’t it? I want to say yes, but really… let’s be honest. It’ll be here before we know it. Last year I held a Social Media Secret Santa where over 100 people participated, swapped gifts and had a lot of fun. So I thought I’d organise it again.
This is how it works: Those who want to participate will sign-up using Elfster. After the sign-up period has finished we’ll move over to the Facebook group to share a little about ourselves. You’ll get an email informing you of who your partner is. You’ll then stalk them in the Facebook group, learning more about them so you can buy them a fabbo gift {to the value of $30 not including postage}. We’ll ask each other random, sneaky questions in the group such as: What’s your favourite colour? Do you like chocolate? You’ll answer and check the responses for your partner’s answer.
Requirements:
♥ This is for people that are active on social media {Facebook page owners, Instagram, Twitter, OR Bloggers etc}. You must have an account that is public and has been active for at least 3 months. I will be checking each person. The reason I do this is to make people accountable. It also makes the experience more social, people can meet new friends online.
♥ You must be willing to be active in the Facebook group and answer at least 5 questions.
♥ The budget is $30 for gift buying. This does not include postage. You can send handmade goodies, but please do not send second hand gifts that you have at home and don’t want. Gifts are meant to be thoughtful.
♥ You must send your gifts by the closing date.
♥ All gifts must be sent by registered post. This keeps people accountable and allows us to track the gifts, in case they get lost.
♥ This is open to people around the world. I will create a document in the Facebook group asking if people are happy to send their gift overseas. I will tee up people willing to send gifts overseas.
Dates:
♥ Closing dates for sign-ups is November 16th at noon AEST.
♥ Partners will be organised on November 17th. You will receive an email with your partners details including address.
♥ Gifts should be wrapped and sent by December 7th.
♥ Partners will be announced in the Facebook group on December 20th.
The hashtag for sharing photos or tweets etc is #FMSgiftexchange. I can not accept responsibility for any gifts that get lost or for anyone that doesn’t play along properly. Although I will get cranky at you if you pull out and don’t send a gift. It’s annoying and slightly rude.
So if it sounds fun and you want to be involved, I’d love to have you. There are a few different groups to make the sorting process easier {particularly for those who can’t afford to send a gift overseas}.
If you’re willing to partner up with anyone in the world and can send your gift overseas, you’ll need to join THIS group.
If you’re in Australia and only able to send to another person within Australia, please join THIS group.
If you’re in America/Canada and only able to send to another person in America/Canada, please join THIS group.
And once you’ve signed up, head over and join the Facebook group.
Let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if you have any questions at all {post them in the comments}. Looking forward to some fun times again this year. x
Details in a snapshot:
Please note: The date was changed from November 1st to November 16th.
this is such a great idea!!! can’t wait!!!! :)))
Super excited! What a fantastic idea!
I’m pumped.
I would love to be a part of this. Please let me know what to do! I am so super excited!!!!!!!!
All the details are above. 🙂
What a BRILLIANT idea! I would LOVE to be a part of this! Chantelle I cannot tell you how much impact you have had on my life with your Photo a Day, your wonderful blog and now this. I’m in the middle of a grueling chemo course and my whole focus was that till you opened up my eyes! Thank You sweet girl xx
Oh, wishing you all the best. x
Just signed up! Can’t wait!!! Thanks for hosting xx
can’t wait.
This sounds fantastic and can’t wait to join in. Great rules too. I had a rather rude experience from my recent craft swap so I promise I’ll behave! xxx
I participated last year and loved it! I’m off to fill out the form again! Great work Chantelle!
Loved this last year, and can’t wait to join in again! You are a gem for organising it all
I also participated last year it was awesome and such fun! Thanks again for doing this again Chantelle:-) xxx
Thank you for organising such a fun event Chantelle. x
What a great idea!
I cannot express how excited I am for this!
oh so glad this is happening again~ last year was just lovely! x
Great idea!
You are so wonderful to take this on again! Mwah x
I loved the Reddit Secret Santa swap! This is fun! 😀
This seems weird – how are you mean to “learn about your partner” without following them? Especially when the majority of people on Facebook these days have private profiles? I don’t know, I kind of quit secret santas after so many times where I sent gifts and got nothing back, and never heard from the person I sent a gift to…
There’s a Facebook group that people must participate in, answering questions so people can get to know their partners. More details in the post above. x
What a fabulous idea! Definitely will participate.
I’m having a hard time logging in to the Elfster site. It keeps sending me back to the blank log on screen even after I have tried to use Facebook to create an account with. When I try to create an account, it says the information already exists 🙁 Help please?!?!
A friend was part of this last year, and told me how fabulous it was!
Are gift-givers partners ie. two people give each other gifts, or is it more of a chain i.e. I give to one person, they give to another, etc?
You’ll be given just one person to buy for and that person will buy for another person. 🙂
P.S. The Elfster site has the sign-up deadline set as Sept 20, not Nov 1 as written above.
Exciiiiiteeeeed!
Joining up for the first time – sounds like fun!! Cheers, Mez
Damn it, if only I had Facebook!
I was so sad I didn’t see this to join in last year! So pleased I can this year! Thanks so much for organising. x
Love the idea but how much is it exactly in US Dollars? I saw your sign up over at Elfster and it states AUD $30.00 — thank you for putting this together. You rock!
It’s $30 to spend on the gift and then postage. We’re about even dollar for dollar – so you’d be spending $32. 🙂
I loved this so much last year, so excited that you decided to bring it back. Thank you!!
hope i’m not too late. signed up just now, requested to join group 🙂
I think I might have signed up in more than one place…but that just shows my enthusiasm!
I signed up at Elfster and requested to join the FB Group. Where do I find the questions I need to answer? And why do I have red, squiggly, you-misspelled-a-word lines under all of my words in this comment?
The questions are in the group. 🙂
I seem to be the only guy..
i would love to do this, but my facebook is not public not that i cannot friend someone, but i would rather keep it private. i do have a photography fan page. does that count?
That’s perfect. I actually mean fan or business pages, not personal pages. So that’s brilliant!
I’m not sure if my Elfster RSVP worked or not.
I signed up when I first about this but have yet to really receive any information. Please send a reply.
i dunno if i got it right? 😉
Hi I’ve just sent a belated request in, if I am too late I understand but hope i can join in…I lost track of time to join. Love your blog and photoaday is such fun!!
Oh dear I missed this but I hope you’ll do it next year I’d love to participate.