Posts Tagged ‘dirty santa’

There are no reminders needed to bring to mind the current economic doldrums for empty nesters and their dispersed children. Money is tight and the cost of travel creates increased restrictions on their regular family gatherings.

Some call this phenomenon “The Tyranny of Distance”. Yes, now distance has become the de facto tyrant of family connection.

When everyone lived close, family celebrations only required setting a time, notifying everyone and then purchasing the gifts. But today, thousands of miles separate us; giving distance and travel costs tyrannical power over each of us.

These economic restrictions have not stopped some  traditional family activities from finding a way around the problem of distance. We still ship gifts to one another and attempt to spoil grandchildren from a distance. We still attempt to connect by phone, webcam, email and social networks. But the rich personal connections are much more difficult to produce in today’s realities.

Distance has challenged our personal closeness, particularly during holidays or other special occasions.
The internet is delivering many great tools to break the grip that distance has placed upon us. Many creative applications are springing up to reduce this tyranny of distance, even while saving family resources.

There is an online version of the white elephant gift exchange that is attempting to breakdown some of these restrictions. It is allowing families to stay connected in a much richer way than ever before in the online space.

This online gift exchange party uses several tools of the social web, and then wraps them into a traditional party activity. Like any yankee swap, Chinese exchange or Dirty Santa party, this online mimic provides a way to share gifts and to connect individually with family and friends through game play comment streams.

New eCommerce systems allow families to shop for gifts and then share those gifts with one another, without expensive travel costs.

Parties have traditionally been the unifying activities for special family events, so these online parties should feel natural, as they are used to stay connected.

Using the web to connect and to share during our special life occasions will become our personal protest against the tyranny of distance.

What are you doing to beat the distance?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

According to Wikipedia; the White elephant gift exchange is a popular party game usually played during the Christmas season in the United States and Canada.

The wiki has also compiled the most popular rules of game play as well.  Get them here.

This post is not about the rules or the definitions, but rather how to do this fun activity online.

Most people in the US and Canada play the game of White Elephant, Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa or Chinese Exchange pretty much the same way.  Most join a host at ether a home or a community center for the gift exchange party. The sponsoring host sends out invitations by phone, mail or email and announces a time and location.  Many hosts express a spending limit such as $25 gift maximum, and some provide a theme for the party.

What we are suggesting is that this party can be moved online and mimic most of the features that benefit attendees of traditional white elephant parties.  In fact, the party communications can actually be enhanced using many of the online tools. Online versions can reach out to people all across the country and save traveling costs.

How is the online version played?  Well, we have heard it played using email where images can be attached and sent. We have seen it played on social sites like Ning, where videos can become part of the fun.  A commercial version is coming to Facebook, with these enhancements and plus many more.

The online variation of this gift exchange has a host or organizer, just like before.  There are invitations, usually delivered by email or on Facebook wall posts. Attendees RSVP to the host, select gifts that they want to share and then make sure that the image of the gift is available for the party.

Just like the traditional white elephant exchange, the online versions build upon friendly banter and the stealing of gifts to create the fun.  In the online space, the conversation shows up on the screen and the images of the gifts replace the pile of gifts in the middle of the actual room.

In the end, every one enjoys the time together as family and friends. But what is exciting about the online style gift exchange is that these events can last 2 or 3 weeks and the memories forever.

So if you are looking for a variation on the old standby, try going on online for your white elephant gift exchange this time.

Have you tried the party online?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists