Posts Tagged ‘New Hampshire’

Bruce and Sarah Christensen are new Facebook developers, and they have delivered an online version of the white elephant gift exchange or Yankee Swap for families and friends this holiday season.

The white elephant party is called AlbinoPhant, and the Christensen’s have been testing this online game with their grown children for the past 3-years.

“When our youngest got married and left the nest, we started sharing our gifts through playing this game, and we loved the party atmosphere and fun conversations this allowed us” stated Sarah, the mother of five and grand mother of seven.

The AlbinoPhant party is a mimic of the traditional White Elephant gift swaps that are common among social groups during the holidays. The Facebook game provides real shopping markets from Amazon for selecting and purchasing a gift for the event. Players virtually wrap the image of the selected gift and then the party is ready to start.

“The game is just like the real party in many ways. The gifts are opened on the web page, there is gift stealing among the players and all the fun conversation that a group shares in a standard party”, explained Bruce Christensen.

Like a regular gift exchange, the AlbinoPhant party selects players at random to open gifts and then displays them on a common playing page. There is a comment box which allows players to share banter and poke fun at each other during the activity. There is the option to add YouTube videos and other images into the conversation. All of this is accessed by individuals as they play on their computers, from anywhere in the country.

Sarah continued, “Our family is scattered from New Hampshire to California, so this online party saves all of us the travel cost to attend family events, while still allowing real fun and personal connection with each other”.

The AlbinoPhant party is a Facebook application and takes full advantage of the social networking tools available. The host uses Facebook’s network to send the invitations and then the Facebook sharing system allows party conversations to spill out onto the web.

“We built the application to be as close to the traditional party as possible, so that families and friends would feel comfortable with the game. We use trusted brands, like Amazon and PayPal, and when the party is completed gifts are delivered using standard shipping companies”, added Bruce

This online party is a real gift exchange, so players use ecommerce to purchase the presents for the party. Then after the party is finished, these real gifts are sent out to each player’s doorstep. This party breaks new ground for Facebook, where virtual gifts have been the norm, and adds a new partnership between online retailers and social networks.
AlbinoPhant is now available thru the internet for family and friends to share gifts, steal gifts and banter together just like they have done for years, and McMinnville is this white elephant’s delivery room.

The Facebook application link is: http://apps.facebook.com/albinophant/

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

A spectacular suspension bridge connecting Nevada and Arizona is nearing completion. Construction crews have worked on this bridge for several years and the views of the dam, lake and canyons will be spectacular.

I have worked in construction for many years and have an appreciation of what can be done with concrete, steel and human ingenuity. So you can imaging how impressed I am with this dramatic bridge project…

But, today I received a photo in Facebook that really impressed me… These are my two oldest grand daughters building a memory for me. A dramatic memory, constructed from fuzzy flannel and pink polka-dot material.  A memorable image of a set of silly faces that I cherish.

Someday I might travel from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, and the new bridge at Hoover Dam will save some time and will display great vistas for my drive.  But the picture of the bridge will never hang on my refrigerator as a shrine to marvelous construction, like this costumed duo will, starting tomorrow…

My daughter-in-law’s construction of these cute costumes demonstrates that concrete and steel are not mutually exclusive to strong bridge construction. These kids hamming around, captured and shared in social media, is why the internet can be such a powerful bridge between generations.

Facebook, along with many other powerful web tools, have used great ingenuity to build bridges that span far greater distances than any river canyon.  Just this Halloween, we have used Skype to learn what a grandson in New Hampshire wore for trick or treat, a cell phone image to witness the costumes worn in Utah by two other granddaughters, and Facebook to connect with all the rest.

Before these marvelous bridges of connection were made available, we could only use the slow twisty road of old systems.  It is like a trick of magic how we are transforming our lives with these applications, in so many great ways.

It has given us real treat this Halloween.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists