HO!HO!HO!
I'm back to bring holiday joy and score some dough!
NSG can at times be an unpleasant place. Emotions run high, and often uncaring words fly like mosquitoes in Minnesota. In an effort to promote harmony and a sense of community, and just generally reduce the temperature here, my elves and I will be administering an annual tradition: a Secret Santa exchange! Instead of gifts, we will help to exchange anonymous kind words among those who wish to participate. Imagine you're about to type out some less-than-complimentary response to someone in an argument, or make some assumptions about the person's character--mightn't the possibility that the person you're about to respond to is the same person who sent you a very kind, sweet message around Christmastime lead you to think twice? At any rate, it's worth a try!
Here's how it works:
- If you wish to participate, indicate your willingness by a post in this thread. If you would prefer delivery on the Julian calendar, please indicate that as well--otherwise we will assume you mean Gregorian Christmas.
- On December 12th, around midnight, we will cut off new participants. At that time, any account not currently in existence will be culled from the list (if you are deleted between now and then but come back with a new account, please feel free to re-register with your new account--you do not need to identify the link with your old account if you do not wish to, as it will be removed from the list anyway).
- Remaining participants will be matched up at random, and each participant will receive a TG indicating to whom they will be sending their gift of kind words.
- The spirit of Secret Santa is anonymity of the gift-giver, so instead of sending your kind words directly to your Santa-ee, you will send it to me and we will distribute them as soon as we can. I'm sorry, children, but delivering these words to all on Christmas day may be a bit of tight squeeze, but do not despair, we will try to work as fast as we can!
This year, Santa is looking for elves again! Sometimes folks sign up but can't find the time to craft a nice message, so having a few volunteers to spread some extra holiday joy to those in need is certainly welcome. If you're interested in being one of Santa's helpers, please say so via posting here (you can do it in your sign-up post if you like). However, please be aware that just because you sign up does not mean you'll get chosen--I don't need an infinite number, after all, and I am likely to select only those who have been around for a while so I know they'll still be here when it's time to get to work.
That's it! Once matches are made, there will be no re-selecting. Even if you feel at first you can't come up with something nice to say about the person you're matched with, give it a try. You'll feel good when you do.
Needless to say, any negative messages submitted will not be delivered. You will be given an opportunity to submit a more appropriate message, however, all the way up until the regular deadline.
And remember--if you sign up, please, if at all possible, try to get your message out--and put a bit of work and research into it! Messages that show that you took the time to tailor it to that specific person are so much nicer to receive; and just remember, someone's probably putting a lot of time and effort into yours! Even if not--pay it forward!
Current Participants:
If you have already signed up by posting in the thread and it seems like you were missed, please TG me. I will post in this thread when I've caught up on all the new applicants, so if then your name is not on the list I probably will have missed your name with my old eyes.
