Gary Hayes has created this dynamic chart that demonstrates the real-time growth in social media. Pay attention to the ratio of virtual product sales and the REAL gift sales on Facebook. Then ask yourself 2 questions…

1. Is there room for growth in selling real gifts in social media?
2. Who is moving the real gift sales in social media forward, besides Facebook?

We watched the chart for 60 seconds and determined that over $10,000 was spent on virtual goods in the same time that less than $140 was spent on real gifts in Facebook.

We realize that this is an apples to pears comparison, because virtual goods encompasses all social media channels and Facebook gifts only measures a portion of a small service on one social network. And the chart does not track all of the real products sold by affiliate links from social sites. But it does show an opportunity for growth, especially when you consider that social media is a virtual mimic of real human interaction and that virtual purchasing mimics real-life  purchases.

Here is the thing you might want to consider… If people gather together in these internet social spaces and spend money on virtual things for each other, why wouldn’t they do the same thing for real gifts?

Think about this comparison:

Let’s assume that you sell me a virtual gift at $1 dollar, as a birthday wish for cousin Earl…
The result: You, Earl and I are all somewhat happy with this small gesture.

Now assume that you could sell me a $25 real gift at a 12.5% profit.
The result: Earl gets something real that he can enjoy beyond his computer screen.  I get the satisfaction that comes with providing some true support to Earl.  And you get $3.12 for facilitating the gift-giving.

Now all we need to do is find a fun way to pass out the real gifts in the social networks…. Any ideas?

We really give a tip of our hat to the host who goes the extra mile to make the party memorable for everyone involved. It is amazing how even the small differences can make a huge change in the level of fun and engagement at the party. It is the host’s responsibility to find the “little extra” that will turn the party into a social explosion.

One of the galvanizing aspects of any group event involves joining attendees together in a common activity, like a party game. These activities are proven social bonding tools that turn mundane events into great social experiences.

Our family uses the gift exchange format to add a spark to our gift giving parties and create unity. But this year we went a bit further and added just another dimension to the fun.

On the day of our Christmas Eve party we invited all of the attendees to meet us at the local Goodwill store, just before coming to the event. We suggested that if they had not purchased a gift for the exchange, that this would be a good time to find the perfect present…

But we had another surprise in mind.

We asked everyone to shop for a silly hat to wear to the party, and it would be our treat.

The hat selection was fabulous and the variety was amazing ( it is interesting to realize that someone paid retail for some of these at one time!). The store was soon filled with laughter as our guests discovered hats and then modeled them for anyone who would pay attention to them.
Down several isles of the store walked grown men with furry or floppy hats, still displaying the price tags. Women that were trying on hard hats and football helmets were giggling like school kids.

The party had started at Goodwill and the excitement was spreading.

The regular store customers and clerks were entertained by this odd display, and our guests were getting into a very festive mood. We didn’t even need to ask the group to continue wearing the hats as they made their way up to the checkout, they just kept them on and delighted the other shoppers.

These unusual hats became the uniform for our party and added a social-glue among the participants of the evening’s activities.

The hats cost about $2.00 a piece, but their value as a group bonding tool was priceless. It created a memorable event for those who attended.

We take our hat off to the host who takes the extra steps to build a better party experience for family and friends.

What have you done to add something extra.?

This idea is rooted in the belief that the internet is a tool that runs without emotion. It is hardware and software, not warmth and compassion. The human element must be combined with these tools in order to create something that is of real value.

A virtual hug is a cheap disappointment, and we want to put human warmth into these social networks that are now connecting us. We want real hugs by real people, and we want REAL gifts not just virtual fluff…

This virtual mumbo jumbo started when developers decided that applications on Facebook and other networks should offer everything for free. They started allowing free virtual hugs and gifts as a replacement for the real thing. We don’t believe that this free stuff is worth a dime, and many are beginning to join our thinking.

Amber Nasland blogs at Altitude, and she added to the “free” discussion in a recent post when she said: “But just because free is everywhere doesn’t mean that free is a given. Nor does it mean that free is always better. (Though I will say I’m all about Free Hug )”

If you did not take the time to watch the video that she posted (I share it again here) then you may have thought that Amber was promoting “virtual-hugging”. But the “Free Hugs” displayed in this short clip involve real people embracing; there is not one virtual hug in the lot!

These real hugs required some investment in resources and emotion, by real people. They were “purchased” by personal effort, not by a quick click of a mouse. Likewise, real gifts speak warmth, thought and love. These can not be replaced by sending someone a silly virtual flower in Facebook…

Real hugs, even among strangers, leave a good impression and are appreciated more deeply because they are created by a human action.

Mitch Joel discussed the problem with not making a personal investment in things during a discussion he titled, The Problem with Free: “When you pay for something, you appreciate it more than when you get it for free”. Then he quoted motivational speaker Mike Lipkin’s favorite onstage line: “I would do this for free, but I am going to make you pay for it so that you appreciate what you’re getting.”

We again state that the only way that supportive gift giving on Facebook works is if a user can buy a REAL gift and then use the social tools to make the gift presentation memorable and engaging.

It is our believe that a virtual party can facilitate this process in a way that will make giving memorable and provide important feedback. It is this tradition of joining together in one purpose that has made real gift giving such a valuable part of personal support.

Freely giving of ones substance results in the same warmth and feeling as a real hug…

You are free to comment.

We were interviewed for an article in the Conversation Agent blog, written by Valeria Maltoni. She asked why we are building an online party application. Here is my quote:

The tradition of supporting family and friends with gifts does not end when distance separates us. Nether does the desire to have a meaningful conversation with those that we love.

Parties are the traditional gathering point for both conversation and gift-giving among those who desire to support each other on special occasions. When distance interrupts this opportunity to gather, we all feel a loss of personal connection.

We are building this online party application as a demonstration that the tools of the modern web can, at least in some measure, replace the actual party experience with a valuable substitute.

Amazon provides a trusted shopping portal for gift purchasing. PayPal allows for secure payment systems. And AlbinoPhant provides a fun way to gather on Facebook to pass out all the gifts.

That is the “Business” side of why… But on the personal side, it is a much more emotional reasoning.

We love our children… and we want to stay involved in supporting them and their children with gifts. We would love to be at every event and milestone in their lives, but we can’t….   And we shouldn’t be.

Just because they have left the nest, we haven’t lost the strong memories of what it was like to host birthday parties and friend stay-overs, or to watch their excited faces on Christmas morning. The memories are great, but we are still craving to add more…

Distance and time have created a void in the conversation and the banter that was an important part of our family life for many years.  The traditional party experience is now a distant memory, and we just want a little of it back…

We know that we are not alone in our desire to share gifts in a better way than just shipping them off with UPS.  We have now found a way to bridge the distance and build a memory or two at the same time.  We can share gifts and great banter in an online party from any computer.

We have proven that it can be done for the past 3-years in our family, and we want others to have the same experience.

We Built it to Share it…

Give it a try and you will see why we did this…

Thanks to Valeria for her great article and the use of the image.

We have provided a way for you to take a “hosting test-drive” and to learn how much like a real party this really is. You can test this system with OFFER CODE 1234.

Here are the steps: Begin by joining the application HERE
Now follow these screen shots and balloon messages to start your test-drive…

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For any event to succeed, someone steps up and takes on the responsibility to lead. It is amazing that millions of parties actually happen every month, when we measure the effort it takes.

We appreciate the efforts of the host…

There must be a compelling reason that drives a host to be a host. The fact is, the rewards of completing a successful party must outweigh the work, or parties would never happen. The recognition and gratitude of guests push a host to invest their time and resources.

In the end, we are all grateful to our host for putting out the effort on our behalf.

Parties require many tasks that are not visible to the attendees, but yet are on the checklist of any host.

• Guests see the invitation, but the tasks of collecting of the addresses, designing and printing the cards are invisible. The labeling, the sealing of envelopes, the stamp placement and the delivery to the post office are all completed behind the scenes.

• A guest enjoys the venue and decorations, but misses seeing the reservation process, the running of the streamers and the clean-up of the room.

• The cake and the drinks are enjoyed openly, but bakery visits and the punchbowl filling are hidden from view.

Even with this large checklist, a host moves through these tasks knowing that the finished result will reward them with social capital, or just a sense of accomplishment.

We salute the host and pay tribute to the extra effort it takes to provide the party for us.

At PartyWeDo, we stand ready to assist a host in providing a fun party atmosphere, when they decide to host a party online. We are building applications that will expand the opportunities for hosts and hopefully make their job a bit easier. We want family and friends to find a way to make a party work for them, even when distance stops personal attendance. There is no reason that parties cannot be hosted from any computer in any local.

The advancements in internet tools, partnering with committed and willing hosts, will move parties into a new dimension, and we are happy to assist in the process…

Other faiths are preparing for the tradition of sharing gifts on each of the 12 days leading up to December. 25th.

Still more are shopping and wrapping presents in preparation for one of the largest single gift opening days of the year; Christmas day.

Gift giving in the holiday season has become a tradition for those with or without religious connection. It seems that retailers start this seasonal “rush to buy”,  earlier every year.  Many  use traditional party activities to distribute these gifts.

All based upon a Tradition of giving…

Even with the recent popularity of virtual gifts, the traditional gift is still a REAL one. The gift card, which has become extremely popular, even carries the promise of something real, rather than a silly image on a computer screen.

Gifts have become an important part of the traditions which support our family and friends during various life milestones or seasons. We take the gift selection, presentation and delivery very serious, because it is part of our traditions.

“Giving gifts to family and friends is a way to show our love for them. Our gifts don’t have to be lavish or expensive. In fact, the best gifts are often simple and inexpensive.” Suggests Writer and Editor Lillie Ammann.

Billions of dollars churn through the world economy as we both give and receive these real expressions of support. We are also aware that this spending is not limited to the final quarter of the year, as the gifting tradition includes many holidays, birthdays, weddings, baby births and more.

The tradition of opening, touching and experiencing a real gift can never be replaced by a virtual item from any social game. Nor will the virtual gift ever find its place within any popular traditions.

PartyWeDo is leading the movement to help social networks facilitate the tradition of sharing real gifts with family and friends. The online party blends a virtual connection for dispersed families, with the convenience of eCommerce and efficient shipping.

This fun gift sharing system will never completely replace the warmth and reward of presenting a gift in person, but it will allow some of the tradition to extend to those who can’t be home for the holidays.

May your season be bright and your hearts full of the tradition of giving…

Thanks to Refinery 29 for the image

THEY ASK:
How do you take a regular group activity and turn it into an online mimic of the real thing?

Further; how do you turn the mimic of a traditional gifting venue into a revenue source for online sales activities?

Let’s look at eBay…

First… Look at what it takes to do a regular off-line sales auction:

The auction requires that many details are completed for a successful sale.
* There is gathering of the items for the sale.
* There is the cataloging and detailing the descriptions of each item.
* There are preparations for storing and then displaying the items for sale.
* There are the bidder lists and the invitations to come for bidding.
* There is the auctioneer who must be scheduled and compensated.
* There are the preparations for the auction ring and the bidding area.
* There are the multiple functions that support the day of the actual sale.
* There is the money exchange between sellers, bidders and the auction house.
* There is the out-bound freight of all the items that are sold.

How could all of these complex traditional activities be translated into an online version of a real auction?

Ask eBay!

Before eBay proved that some very complex tasks could be organized and understood by online bidders and sellers, nobody considered it possible.

Today, do we question if a traditional selling venue, like an auction, could be built and work effectively online?

No… We point to eBay!
Who would have believed in 1995 that the auction niche would become such a powerful force in today’s internet?

Now… Let’s talk about parties…

Let’s look at what it takes to host a party for a group who want to share real gifts:

* There is the scheduling of the date.
* There is the invitation list and the distribution of the invitations.
* There are the gift shopping and wrapping tasks.
* There is organizing and decorating the room for the event.
* There are refreshments and maybe some desert or drinks.
* There might be party favors or prizes that need purchasing.
* There are the party activities to plan and organize.
* There are the welcoming and the other host duties at the event.
* There are introductions; there is crowd control and some small talk.
* There is the gift table to manage.
* There is the clean-up and the thank you notes to send out.

How could all of these complex traditional activities be translated into an online version of a real gift party?

…Get inspiration from eBay… Then proceed to demonstrate that online parties can mimic the same experiences that family and friends enjoy when they gather together to share real gifts.

In 2009 AlbinoPhant is demonstrating what is possible for the gift party niche.
PartyWeDo seeks to leverage the positive experiences of Ebay, Amazon, PayPal, Facebook and others to build a catalog of online party activities to support the gift selling and giving processes.

Moving the traditional party online will take some time to develop, as people learn that it is possible. But eBay has demonstrated that even complex traditional activities can be converted into web success.

There are over 300 million people in the US that purchase or receive gifts several times each year. PartyWeDo is positioned to help many of them buy and pass gifts around in a fun-filled party atmosphere.

Ask eBay if that can be done…

A Christmas Party Doesn’t Have to be Expensive

By: Candace Martin

In these stretched economic times even festive celebrations are falling onto hard times. The past couple of Christmases have seen a bit of a downturn in the level that folks were willing to pay for gifts along with the celebration itself, and the upcoming season looks to be about the same. If you are affected by budget issues but need to prepare for a holiday celebration, you do not have to let those things impact the quality of the merrymaking. There are lots of ways to throw a good gathering with limited funds.

The number one thing to keep in mind is that seasonal events take place each year and pretty much everyone you are acquainted with participates in them. Basically everyone you are acquainted with is also accustomed to putting up decorations for them. This means that, once you choose a spot to hold your party, you can almost certainly decorate the whole thing at no cost. All you require is to acquire the contribution of a few of your guests. Ask them to give or loan their preferred ornaments, or even only those that they don’t use any more.

You can also decide to have your gathering at a restaurant or at a bar. Despite the fact that doing this nearer to Christmas is typically challenging as those venues will have restricted room and won’t very likely offer you the space free of charge, near the beginning of December you won’t have much trouble obtaining a location. As long as they are not busy those venues will in fact give you a reduced rate on meals in contrast to making you pay you for space! What’s more, bars and restaurants are bedecked for Christmas from early winter, which means you won’t need to worry about putting up decorations for yourself.

Food is an added concern you will likely be concerned about. Well, at locations such as those mentioned there’s not much flexibility on meals. If you host it at a home or a different place there are lots of alternatives available to you. The ideal thing to do for spending less on the food for your Christmas party, apart from making it a potluck, is to make as much of the food on your own as feasible. In this respect, choosing a dessert buffet in comparison with a complete meal is likely your best bet. And keep in mind, punch isn’t just the cheapest beverage you can provide, but it is in fact a drink that everyone expects to find at a seasonal party.

As for crafting the right atmosphere, you do not need to pay a lot of money. Christmas events can have live bands, DJs and other expensive musical alternatives. Producing a good Christmas ambiance, though, does not require all that flash. Even for sizeable events the most fundamental things are often the most enjoyed. Consider sing-a-longs and gift exchanges. For a gathering where the guest list is loaded with folks without a lot of spare cash, try out the idea of throwing a Dirty Santa type of gift exchange where individuals actually have to re-gift (ie: they have to give gifts that they have received themselves, but didn’t care for.)

The bottom line is to be imaginative and not to be concerned about asking for assistance. Don’t forget that the key consideration of any seasonal party is people, and as long as they are together they’ll accomplish nearly all of the tasks by themself. If you aren’t content with that though, then spend the week after Christmas shopping for all the holiday merchandise that are on sale so you can throw an all-out celebration next year.

Author Resource:-> Get shopping tips, find Christmas games and activities, and learn strategies to get you through the stressful holiday season at Christmas Ideas.

Article From ARTICLE GALLERY

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