(THIS BLOG IS NOW A YEAR OLD BUT I STILL WANT TO TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CHANGED)

I feel like some sort of animal that is gone and returns annually for Secret Santa. It's a ritual. Or maybe a habit.

I need help this year though.

hi.
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SECRET SANTA

Oh yes, I'm serious. I'm not starting it quite yet, but I started it early Sept. last year and I want to get some feedback and input from the community before it gets rolling again. This year, I'm pretty sure I'll do it with Nicole again, like it was in 2008.

Brace yourselves, this may be a long read.


What are things that should be changed?

Like I know in past years, some people have not gotten packages, and even though I implemented the Elf system, often that falls through as well. Any thoughts on what could be done as a step after that? I've tried reimbursement; like sending an Elf something in turn for their service, but usually Elves don't want reimbursement, they do it out of kindness, and then they get busy around the holiday season.

What about newer/unknown members?

Regulars usually want to be a Santa to someone they know, but every year, new and unknown people join, and often because they may not be on the blogs much, and therefore not as invested in the community, the packages don't get sent or they're kind of half-assed because they don't know the person well. They also don't have really great communication with me like if I send them an e-mail, I sometimes have to wait a while for a response, and sometimes I don't get a reply at all. I know there's been talk about just NOT allowing unknown people to join. I don't know if that's fair, and I don't even know what kind of guidelines we could set for that, but what do you think?

The Questionnaire

What do you think of it? Can it be improved? What questions should we add or take out?

Right now I want to add
-do you smoke?
-do you have any piercings?

This is last year's questionnaire. (ignore the last one, that's just for sorting. :P)

Username:
Real name:
Address including country:

Willing to ship internationally?

Some of your favorites/stuff you want:
-books/novels/stories/etc:
-colors/color combinations:
-guilty pleasures:
-music:
-candy/snacks:
-animals:
-scents:

Dislikes?
Allergies?

Are you stalkable? (flickr, wist, facebook, etc please provide links!)

Do you have pets?
Any shirts you want?
Shirt size?

Anything else your Secret Santa should know?
Pick a number (1-20):


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Ok, that's all I can think of now. If you have something to bring up, please do so, and those who haven't participated in SS before are welcome to make suggestions. I thank you if you read this entire thing! :)

PS- I'm posting this at 3:30am EST because I've been doing/am doing RA training and orientation and that stuff lasts aaaall day and this is the only time I have. :P I'll bump it in the morning and if i have breaks!