Archive for the ‘Great White Elephant Gift Suggestions’ Category

We have been suggesting that sharing REAL gifts through social networks is a viable solution for dispersed family and friends. We have even built a demonstration application called AlbinoPhant to prove our point.

Sometimes we feel like our story if falling on deaf-ears; because the idea is so new and unproven…

But we know it can be done and are just waiting for others to agree.

We would like to thank the Reddit users for their absolute proof that a gift exchange can be organized and completed using internet connections.

Antonio Cangiano’s Blog shares the story:  Antonio writes; “Dan McComas (kickme444 on Reddit) came up with a website to collect sign-ups, and put forward a few ground rules for participants. For instance, to cut down on the number of ill-intentioned users (the so called trolls), only users who were already registered with Reddit before November 10, 2009 were allowed to sign-up for the gift exchange.”

Further TechCrunch reported that this Secret Santa style exchange has demonstrated that almost 4500 internet users can exchange personal details (including shipping information) and share over 5000 gifts with other online users.

Now,  these were not virtual gifts…
The Reddit group shared $160,000 in REAL gifts!
They even earned a Guinness World Record for thier efforts.

OK, people…. WE TOLD YOU THIS COULD BE DONE…!!!

We also  suggested that sharing real gifts and using the images to represent the real thing, would work as well… Again the proof of this vision is in the redditgifts.com photo gallery.

We now have proof that an online gift exchange can be hosted, organized, facilitated, and indeed work in social spaces.

PartyWeDo will continue to promote this opportunity for family and friends to share real gifts online, using a fun and engaging traditional party game.  We are confident that the rest of the world will eventually catch up…

Thank you Dan and your Reddit community for proving our point…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

We live just south of were the Oregon Trail ends at the ocean. The trail and its historic trailblazers represent one of the pioneering achievements in American history.  It speaks to the strength and determination of our predecessors, who sacrificed so much to build the west.

Today we can cover the distance that Lewis and Clark spent a lifetime traversing, in mere hours by plane.  These and other pioneers blazed the trail with guts and brawn and laid the foundations of many of our great western cities.

The pioneering responsibility falls upon those who see something in the distance that has never been reached before. The trails aren’t prepared for pioneers, and the route is never clear.  But nevertheless, the pioneers must trudge on, or discovery fails. The investment of time and resource falls upon those who blaze trails for the future to the benefit of all followers.

There are families in the world for which distance is like a great prairie without a trail, or a forest without a clear path.  They long for a trail to closer relationships and a path that leads to better personal connection.

In many ways the pioneers of social networking have carved a passageway for connecting families, separated by distance.  They blazed a trail that has now become the super-highway of interaction over the great divide. Like all pioneers, the internet explorers used guts, determination and vision to lead the way.

In this fast-pasted world of technology, we sometimes forget to thank the modern Lewis & Clark teams that look beyond today and push forward toward the opportunities just out of normal view.

We can thank Amazon for teaching us to shop in places all over the world… eBay for building the bridge to distant sales opportunities… Google for delivering information for us without boundary…  PayPal for surmounting the many trust issues between strangers…  And, Facebook for carving the roadway between family and friends…

As the pioneers on the new path of internet gift-giving, we take heart that others have endured the tough times and have prepared much of the needed infrastructure for this journey.  We thank the internet pioneers that have made our journey easier.

We stand ready to blaze the trail for better gift-giving over any distance.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Gift exchange parties are full of hot air…

Especially parties that carry the Dirty Santa or Dirty Thieving Santa moniker.
You see, these are the gag-gift cousins of the tamer and more common White Elephant Exchange or Yankee Swap.

The “dirty” implication is associated with the “stealing” portion of these gift exchange events. Gifts are opened by random players and then subsequent players can swap or “steal” from those who have gone before.

The gifts that create the most banter are usually the weird gifts that can be associated with something funny. Gifts that can prompt a conversation will make the party more lively and will pull more guest into the fun.

Many Dirty Santa, Yankee Swap and White Elephant parties are hosted with a theme of some sort.  This way, the conversation can share a common subject line and sets the scene for creative conversation.

Lets assume that you have a fun group of friends and it is time to share gifts among them; It could be Christmas, Valentines Day or St. Patty’s day… Just pick an unusual theme and then let them shop creatively for gifts that would releate.

For example:  Choose the theme   “HOT AIR” and send out the party invitations…

We entered the AlbinoPhant Markets and found a few items that could be associated with HOT AIR…

As you can see, the shopping could be as fun as the actual game, with players planning their explanations as to how the gift  relates to HOT AIR.  Then, these explanations, during the game, will build the banter and the fun conversation into the party.  
It is the conversation, that is built around creative shopping, that makes the Dirty Santa and the White Elephant exchange social explosions.

Now, be creative and bold… Host a gift exchange party with a unique theme and watch what Hot Air blows your way!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The best white elephant gift parties and Yankee Swaps, start with interesting or entertaining gifts.  We have worked with Amazon to provide you with some great gift markets in which to shop for your AlbinoPhant Party. You will find gifts in markets with level pricing, from $15 dollars to $50 dollars, spaced at $5 dollar increments.

Before you shop for your own party, take a look at some of the great gifts that we have put in the AlbinoPhant markets.  There are several hundred Amazon gifts to choose from,  for your own party adventure.

When you join a party you should select a gift that brings out the fun conversation in the online white elephant exchange…  So we  pulled out 17 gift ideas that we believe you could make some great conversation around.

What story could you start with a Hide-A-Squirrel?  Could you find a way to talk about a Backseat Organizer? What about posting a video about Pinocchio and telling lies…  Or, put someone in “Time-out” with a new Pad!

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King Thibaw
The Royal Thibaw, Golden-footed Lord of the White Elephant, Master of a Thousand Gold Umbrellas, Owner of the Royal Peacocks, Lord of the Sea and of the World, Whose face is like the Sun.

If it has a cord, a battery or solar cells it can be a real shocker of a gift.  Adding these electrical items into the gift exchange party can really turn-on the conversation.

Try a “Shocking theme” for your next Yankee Swap or white elephant gift exchange. Invite your friends to the party, but tell them that all the gifts must have something to do with electricity or power.

You will be shocked and amazed how creative your friends will be in stretching the meaning of power, as they open gifts and banter about what is revealed in the swap.

This extra dimension will spice up the traditional white elephant party or the online version of the Yankee swap. Your friends will be more engaged and will have a better memory of your party.

Then, if you really want to liven up the event; require that every comment, image or video that they post or discuss in the party has some tie to electricity or power.  Partiers will start defending what they do and say, as other players accuse them of forgetting to follow the rules.  When it gets going, the more arguing and banter will build more laughter and greater fun.

Try one of these shocking gift exchanges this year. You will add some real juice to the conversation and flip the switch on the fun, as you plug into creativity of your group.

We spent some time in one of the AlbinoPhant markets to pull out some ideas for the “Shocking” Yankee swap.

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King Thibaw
The Royal Thibaw, Golden-footed Lord of the White Elephant, Master of a Thousand Gold Umbrellas, Owner of the Royal Peacocks, Lord of the Sea and of the World, Whose face is like the Sun.

White elephant gift exchange parties are well known as banter generators.  You know the drill, right… Get friends together with some wacky white elephant gifts and contagious banter breaks out from all directions.

Last year our family online gift exchange included a gift that got the potty humor going right from the start.  And, it all started with an item  that would not normally be considered a great white elephant gift.

Someone opened a gift pack that included a tall blue container and a can of hot chocolate mix.  Someone asked the question; “does it have any hot chocolate left in the container??” That seemed to be a reasonable question.

Then out of nowhere, the comment box displayed a statement from our law student son-in-law: “I didn’t do anything. And maybe the container is filled with poop.” He was obviously answering some accusation from another player, but then added the poop comment.

That keyword – Poop - started a fire storm of creative comments and conversations concerning poop… Someone posted the video from the TV series Scrubs, with a song about poop…  There was an image posted of dog poop… Winnie the Pooh was mentioned… A discussion on dirty diapers came from the parents of toddlers, and there was some banter about out-houses…  The “poop” gift took on a life of its own, built great conversation and even garnered rather high rating points in the game.

What we find interesting is that just a simple keyword placed into the banter of this engaging party atmosphere moved a simple blue bottle into the world of potty humor.  No really dirty stuff was shared, just funny and clever banter filled the comment stream for the day.

Our son-in-law didn’t plan on his statement blowing up the conversation, it just happened. Granted, any statement containing the word “poop” is going to get some attention, and this time it generated 4 pages of comments, several images and a video or two into our online party.

We thought that it would be fun to take a little time and explored some of the AlbinoPhant markets to share a couple of items that could get the potty humor going in your next online white elephant party.

Do you have any other crappy suggestions?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The best white elephant parties have the gifts become the topic of fun conversations. Unique and fun gifts are why these gift exchange events are such popular social activities.

We not only use the gift itself to build the banter, but we also play off the title of the gift, the uses for the gift and even the brand name. Any one of these will assist in growing the conversation with other participants.

Part of the magic of this party is that everyone’s creative thought increases as each gift is opened. Then, each thought turns the conversation in another direction and toward the next subject for discussion. Clever conversationalists build upon the personalities of the other players, the gifts, the stealing and the banter to turn the event into a social explosion.

The online version of the white elephant party uses gifts in exactly the same way as the traditional gift exchange does – As conversation starters. Therefore selecting the right gift to reveal on the gameplay page is very important. Many take great care to find a white elephant gift that starts a great conversation.

We went into the AlbinoPhant $25 dollar market and pulled out some examples of ten great white elephant gifts that should start the banter building … (in no particular ranking order)

You can imagine how the conversation can begin around a bath tub thermometer, or a pig bongo buddy or a shear sarong…

The white elephant party can take many twists and turns as gifts like these are opened, discussed and then re-discussed, during the party.

As you plan for your holiday events this year, you should include your family and friends in a gift exchange. Take some time to shop for a gift that will be sure to add to the fun of the party…

What could be more social than a fun white elephant gift exchange and great gifts?

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King Thibaw
The Royal Thibaw, Golden-footed Lord of the White Elephant, Master of a Thousand Gold Umbrellas, Owner of the Royal Peacocks, Lord of the Sea and of the World, Whose face is like the Sun.

White elephant gift parties use the gifts as a part of the conversation.  The banter between friends and family is the magic of the event, with increased laughter and fun building as great gifts are opened and discussed.

We have discovered a perfect conversation starter for your next white elephant party; and his is name is Norman.

Norman PhartEphant to be exact…

But, being an elephant is really only the start of why Norman creates a buzz.  You see, Norman pharts (read.. farts).  Yes this is a farting elephant. Eight different pharts to be exact.

So you can imagine the banter that will build in the room when this gift is revealed in the game.

I first learned of Norman from Mindy and Holly, at Mommies with Cents, who gave this flatulent fuzzy a great review.

The creators of Norman PhartEphant are a family, so we have common ground with Norman and his creative family.

This gift idea is a great example of what you can bring to your next Yankee Swap, or Dirty Santa, or Chinese Exchange or White Elephant party. That is, if you intend to stir up the conversation and not bring a real stinker, of course.

We bet this one gets stolen many times during the game!

Norman is number one in our book… May the Pharts be with you Norman..

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FTC in advance Disclaimer:  I am taking some Norman’s to BlogWorld next week in Vegas. My intention is to share Norman and some AlbinoPhant T-Shirts with some of my Blogging associates.  They may choose to share any of this and other information publicly and if they do, this farting elephant may have had some influence over them, so let th e party begin!

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