Off-Topic Forum

Hello everybody. It is that time of year again. We have limited time for this, so please get your registration to me as quickly as you can. How to register:

Send a PM to me (vrooomed) no later than midnight, Sunday, November 20, 2022, with the following:

Subject: 2022 Secret Santa (please use this exact wording!)

In the body of the message: Your name and mailing address (please include your full name, because mail may not be delivered properly without it, if your name address is not complete, I will not include the entry)

I expect this to be popular again this year (in 2020, we had 53 people register, and in 2021 we had 117 register). Honestly, if you do not follow those instructions, I am not asking via PM for the info.

2022 Secret Santa Participation Rules

Other than registering, you need to understand the following:

There will be no matching of collections.

You are expected to get something for another member, no matter what that member collects or what you collect.

Gifts should be thoughtful, and should hopefully match off with their want lists or what they collect. Have this in your profile or have a comprehensive want list yourself. I'm not going to set minimum or maximum values. Don't be a cheapskate, but don't go overboard. Last year we used the guideline of around a $10 value. Be thoughtful.

There were a couple members last year who did not receive a gift. Whether it was because of delivery error or other circumstance, or the member simply didn't participate themselves, please understand that this can happen, and it could happen to you. If you are participating, you are doing it as a gesture of goodwill toward a fellow database member. You might get shorted. This is something we cannot control. So please remember, you are signing up to send someone else a small gift - and we're hoping you also receive something, but, unfortunately, it is not guaranteed. (Those who didn't play fair in previous years will not be allowed to participate this year.)

Please do NOT respond to this post. There is no need to bump it.

Please do not post publicly that your package has been sent or that you have received it (there will be a separate thread created to handle the reveals).

Again, this year, the selection process will be completely random.

The IDs will be randomized on Monday, November 21, 2022. Sorry, but I will not be able to take latecomers this year. No exceptions.

Someone asked about the notification of your recipient. I will be making the randomization on Monday the 21st, and the messages should go out no later than Tuesday the 22nd. I am trying to give everyone plenty of time to get something for your recipient.

I'm also trying to figure out what the best and most efficient way of notifying members that are signing up that the sign up is accepted. I plan to go through all the entries tomorrow night, and send out entry confirmations. I plan to do this each night so that each person signing up should receive their confirmation within 24-28 hours (max; except for everyone that sent their signups today - might be closer to 40-48 hours).

Just a reminder, no replies in this thread.

Heartfelt thanks to all who signed up. We had an amazing 149 participants this year!

Private messages with your recipient have gone out. If anyone signed up (you would have received a confirmation prior to today if you're signed up) and did NOT get a message from me today, please PM me ASAP.

Again, reminder - do not reply to this thread. Do not announce when you have sent anything (publicly, or privately to me for that matter) or received anything. I will start a thread around the 25th and after the 25th I will post a list of the "santas" and their recipients, along with methods for us to share (if we want) what we got and/or thank our santas publicly. (Other than shipping something out, nothing further is a "requirement". If you want to display what you got, great. If not, that's fine too.)

I appreciate the messages that were included in the sign ups. I am happy to organize this, and other than today, it's honestly not that tough. (Today was a bit tougher. My entire morning, since 7 am, was spent on this.) But I'll gladly do it for this wonderful community. Thank you all for "showing up" and supporting the site and each other.

To those celebrating this week - Happy Thanksgiving.

And as the rest of the holiday season approaches, Happy Holidays to all. There are many, and all should be celebrated. Let no one be left behind.

To those who celebrated, Merry Christmas. I have more family here than originally expected, so I haven't had time to create the "Big Reveal" post. Look for it tomorrow night.