Archive for June, 2009

This past week I spent some time in a Boy Scout high adventure experience with some 14 and 15-year-old boys.

Our goal was to spelunk in the lava caves of the Mount St. Helens volcano, climb to the top of that mountain’s rim (just over 8000’) and then bicycle for 50-miles in a local mountain range. It was all a great experience and we accomplished about 75% of what we set out to do.
We made it from one end of the lava caves to the other – 100% of our goal was accomplished.

The climb up the mountain was a different story.  We started the hike from the climber’s bivouac at 5am and hiked trails, climbed boulders and slogged glaciers up through the clouds.  We made it to 6800’ before the meltdown (more about that later). – We climbed to 80% of our goal.

The bike ride started the next day. – We made 30-miles before the second meltdown came.

I have learned two things from these adventures – One: Many times, the best rewards come after we push ourselves beyond what we believe are our capabilities.  And, two: There is not a replacement for good preparation.

On the mountain, a 14-year-old lost confidence after we had climbed above the clouds and could see that the mountain top was still a long way off. His meltdown and refusal to go higher was a lack of both will and preparation.  He learned something about himself and I am confident that it he will grow from the experience.

While returning to camp the thought occurred to me that joining the social web is like setting out on several adventures at the same time.  We have Facebook walls to scale, explorations in the blogosphere and attempts to ride the twitter craze.  To do all of these require will and preparation. To do them well takes some time and a growing confidence in yourself and your supporters.

Some of us meltdown and quit before we reach the heights of connectivity. Others seem to push forward and climb steadily toward the summit.

At 55, my wife and I are attempting to become web connected and to be contributors to the social networks.  Our will has been stretched and our preparation is lacking most of the time, but yet we push on.

Just as I cajoled, prodded and encouraged these scouts up the mountain side, many have made my climb easier with their support and encouragement.  As I sat by the campfire one night, I decided that my next post would be one of thanks.

The following are some of the people who have supported us and given me the will to climb with the desire to reach higher and peddle faster in the social web.

Thank you for being there and letting us travel the same trails with you.  With your guidance we can see the social view from above the clouds.

Paul Allen
Toby Bloomberg
Chris Brogan
Andrew Chen
Louis Gray
Marshall Kirkpatrick
Kyle Lacy
Valeria Maltoni
Ben McConnell
Babak Nivi
Eric Ries
Justin Smith
Jesse Stay
Rick Turoczy

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

For the majority of white elephant enthusiasts, a gift exchange game really has very little to do with receiving gifts. It’s much more about getting together with loved ones or friends or colleagues, and just having a bit of fun, conversation and silly banter together. The white elephant party is perfect for starting interesting or funny conversations, and more often that not the gifts come second to the opportunity to go to a party and have a good time. Entertainment, rather than gain, is generally the purpose of these events.

So why not do some good with your gift exchange party, and use it to help out a charity? The best way to do this is to make it known beforehand that no one will actually leave with a gift. Instead, all gifts will be gathered together at the end and donated to a charity bric-a-brac shop or fund raising garage sale, where they will hopefully be sold to raise money for a worthy cause. All your party guests still have the fun of wrapping, opening, stealing and bantering about gifts, but you’ll also be helping a good cause.

Alternatively, you could decide to help a specific charity by donating the gifts themselves. So, for example, you could organise a white elephant party to collect items for a local church making a relief trip to an impoverished area or war-affected country. Each party guest would be told to bring a new or used children’s toy, game or book, and at the end of the normal exchange game all of the items would be given to the charity collection, to be distributed amongst kids who normally don’t ever receive gifts.

You could even play the game the ordinary way, and keep the gifts, but devise some kind of system to raise money for a favorite charity. Maybe there could be a small entry fee for playing the game, if the gifts are to be of good quality. Or each gift could come with a card attached, specifying a small amount to be donate to the chosen charity in exchange for getting to keep the gift. There are lots of options – so with a little thought and planning, you can make your white elephant gift exchange an event that will bring happiness to so many more people than just the party guests themselves!

How else could you use a gift exchange party to help charity? Share your ideas!

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Princess Phant
Daughter of the King of Burma
Caretaker of the AlbinoPhant Parties

As the party princess, I’m always interested to hear of interesting ways to vary how the traditional white elephant gift exchange game is played. After all, rules are made to be broken, right?! And I’m realizing just how many fun ways of mixing up the game that you people have come up with.

I really love this one, which I read about today at a delightful blog called Knotty Musings. Here is a family who clearly don’t want to get into all the potential bribery and mischief that comes with the usual White Elephant game, where players swap and steal gifts from right under each others noses! Instead, Paulissa has stumbled across a great idea to keep the White Elephant or Yankee Swap basis, while adding a bit of fun, a cute story, and no doubt plenty of confusion — minus the stealing!

At least, minus the direct stealing. This version makes it all about chance, and players have no say in the matter of which gift they end up with. Everyone sits around in a circle in the usual way, but instead of the gifts being left anonymously to the side and opened one at a time, each guest starts the game holding the gift that they brought to the party. Then someone reads a story. You could make up your own, or there’s a good sample one in Paulissa’s post at Knotty Musings. Every time the word “right” is read out, everyone must pass the gift they’re holding to the right. Every time the word “left” is read out, everyone must pass the gift they’re holding to the left. Once the story is over, everyone keeps the gift they’ve ended up holding. Obviously the story is packed full of “lefts” and “rights”, to create maximum amusement and confusion!

Why not give it a try at your next gift exchange party? Or let me know about any other fun variations of the game that you and your family like to use. I love to hear about them!

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Princess Phant
Daughter of the King of Burma
Caretaker of the AlbinoPhant Parties

As the Princess of AlbinoPhant, I simply love the idea of using a white elephant gift exchange party as a way of celebrating all sorts of special occasions – not just Christmas! And with Father’s Day 2009 coming up, I’ve been looking into new ways of varying the traditional Yankee Swap style game so that you can have a gift exchange party that will make your dad’s special day that bit more memorable for him.

I’ve just read about a really fun new twist on the white elephant gift exchange concept – one that lets Dad leave with ALL the gifts at the end of the party! It’s the perfect way to show him he’s loved. And the best part is, you can use it to treat lots of different kinds of special guest. Maybe your best friend is having a baby, or getting married, and you want to do something more creative than the traditional Baby Shower or Bridal Shower ideas? Look no further!

Whether it’s a bride to be, an expectant mother, or a treat for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, you can throw a white elephant party that will give everyone some fun and laughter while ensuring that the guest of honor leaves with all the gifts! Sound good? Read on…

In the usual way, every guest brings a gift to the party. The difference is that these aren’t generic gifts: they’re all bought specifically for the special guest. That’s Dad, in this example, since Father’s Day 2009 is nearly here! Now, before the game starts, the host needs to secretly attach a number to the bottom of each gift. Every number will correspond to a random points value on a list that the host made up and keeps hidden.

Once the numbers are attached, you can start to play! Just play in the usual way, opening and stealing gifts. It will be the host’s job to keep track of who touches each gift, and tally up the points as they build up. At the end of the game, the points will be announced, and the player with the highest score will receive a prize (provided by the host). Dad goes home with all the opened Father’s Day gifts, and the players know that one of them will get a special prize too!

And for an extra incentive, why not also offer a prize for the person who brings the best gift to the party? Each player could receive a ratings card, and rate every gift as it’s opened, on a scale of 1-5. Whoever brought the gift with the highest rating gets a prize as a reward for their thoughtfulness.

What better incentive to put that little bit extra effort into making Father’s Day gift giving even more perfect for Dad!

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Princess Phant
Daughter of the King of Burma
Caretaker of the AlbinoPhant Parties

You might more commonly associate gift exchange parties with the winter holidays, but with Father’s Day 2009 almost upon us, why not consider doing something different for Dad on his special day? Let’s face it – gifts for dads aren’t hat difficult to come up with. Golf accessories, cologne, a new tie, a car accessory, or a fun novelty gadget… gifts for Father’s Day are pretty easy to pick out! But what if you could make the Father’s Day gift giving a bit more exciting and fun for everyone involved?

By holding a white elephant party, you’ll be sure to make your dad feel special this Father’s Day. How you do it is entirely up to you – there are plenty of ways to vary a traditional Yankee Swap game. Maybe you could get a group of your friends and dads together – the sons and daughters bring the gifts, but it’s the dads who play the gift exchange game! They get to unwrap, steal and swap gifts in the usual way, without having to actually bring any. It is their day, after all! Meanwhile, you and your friends can be waiting on them hand and foot: bringing them drinks and snacks, or perhaps even preparing an unforgettable Father’s Day meal for them to enjoy once the game is over. Father’s Day gift giving just became a whole lot more fun!

Or maybe you’d just like to keep it in the family, and make your Dad the celebrity guest. So many people spend time searching for unusual Father’s Day gifts, but why not make the Father’s Day gift giving itself special? Make sure that all the gifts are things that he’d love to receive, and possibly even change the rules slightly in his favor! You could, for example, give him an extra “steal” option, to maximize his chances of getting his favorite gift of the lot. Be creative and imaginative, and you’ll make Father’s Day 2009 a celebration that your dad will remember!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists