Posts Tagged ‘White Elephant Gift Exchange’

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Amazon runs huge product warehouses. In fact, there are now 24 of these massive distribution centers world-wide, stocking everything from CDs to bicycle tires.

The online retailer moves 3-times as much product through these warehouses than it’s next closes competitor.

Over 40% of the products that move through the supply system are sold by merchants other than Amazon itself. There are over 1.3 million suppliers who provide the products that are for sale on Amazon.com and through these other merchants.

When consumers  rank the trusted technology companies for privacy, they usually put Amazon in the top 5.

In 2009 PartyWeDo was looking for an e-commerce partner for the gift party application, AlbinoPhant. The natural choice was Amazon.

Amazon works great for a gift merchandising application because of their massive selection and top-notch customer service.

The gift exchange system uses a level pricing system for each custom AlbinoPhant marketplace. Each host selects the level at which their invitees will spend for the gift and the AlbinoPhant software sorts through the Amazon Warehouse to display products in that pricing category.

PartyWeDo hired the Utah based e-commerce software firm Gyrofly, to build the special interface that would allow each party guest to pay one price and cover the cost of the gift, the shipping and the fun.

The resulting markets are filled with thousands of gifts that can be used to share in the fun of a Yankee Swap or White Elephant Gift Exchange.

When any gift is selected from one of the AlinoPhant markets, it is identified by a unique number. This number allows us to use the image of the gift during the game play period and also ship the correct item from the Amazon warehouse to the correct players doorstep.

This system allows the virtual world of the internet to marry seamlessly with the real world of gift shopping and delivery.

All of these marvelous technologies and efficient shipping systems allow family and friends to purchase gifts, share them online and then receive a present at their home.

Thank you Amazon, for joining the party!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Hosting any event requires determination and ingenuity. We appreciate the efforts of a party host who takes the time and energy to pull off a great social experiences.

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.?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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

You have been invited to attend an online gift party like no other.

Your host has used a special offer code (1234) to begin a “test-drive” party that allows you to experience a gift exchange without spending any money…

Like a real test drive!

Here are the step by step instructions on how to get the invitation, RSVP, find a gift (virtually), get it wrapped and then join the party.

It is really easy, once you have done it one time!

Step #1 (these screen shots seem to display better in Firefox than on Explorer browsers, sorry)

Step #2

Step #3

Step #4

Step #5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Final Step: HAVE A GREAT TIME.. You are going to love this party!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Party hosting is not for the weak or timid. Successful parties are the result of the extraordinary efforts of a committed host.

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…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The social networks can now be used for friendly larceny, with the launch of an online white elephant gift exchange party called AlbinoPhant.

This Facebook application allows family and friends the opportunity to party together in a virtual gift exchange, just like they would if gathered together in one location. They exchange real gifts, share friendly banter and enjoy the holiday spirit, through the online party.

Gift exchange parties are social events that focus on sharing gifts with family and friends and then “stealing” gifts from one another in an organized party game.

www.albinophant.com brings people together to participate in the party on a common game-play page, where wrapped gifts are displayed, opened, stolen and where comments are shared. This application facilitates gift giving among those who would be sharing gifts with each other anyway. AlbinoPhant just provides a fun, conversational and social way to pass out the gifts.

Traditional white elephant parties build lively conversation and great stories around the gifts as they are opened. With the enhanced sharing tools on the web, the online version allows more expressive conversation than ever before. The AlbinoPhant comment stream allows party participants the opportunity to post YouTube videos and images to assist in making the exchange party a real fun game. There are even opportunities to share some of the conversation outside of the party in other social networks, allowing the party atmosphere to spill over in other corners of the web.

The online white elephant party uses a combination of eCommerce and social networking tools to build the party system. AlbinoPhant is a gift purchasing and sharing facilitator, displaying hundreds of Amazon items in level pricing markets for convenient shopping. The host and each party participant use these single pricing markets ($15 to $50) to select gifts for the party. This leveling feature is used to keep the gift spending closer to equal among all of the players, reducing the “big-spender/cheap-skate” issues.

When all of the gifts are virtually wrapped, opened, discussed, stolen and re-stolen, the game ends. The application’s management system then sorts out who gets which real gift and sees that each present is delivered to the correct address.

The online gift exchange is a labor of love by the Christensen family, who are new to Facebook application development. The Christensen’s have tested the online gift swap party with their scattered family members for several years. They hired a team of Facebook developers and other web professionals to take their simple family party exchange and turn it into a fully operational Facebook application. Now they are eager to share this fun exchange, AlbinoPhant, with others.

This holiday season the networks will play host to thousands of gift thieves and promote friendly banter to liven up holiday parties. What is more social than a lively party?

To see press release go to http://myprgenie.com/3333

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

White Elephant Gift Exchange parties or Yankee Swaps are the most popular gift-giving parties during the holidays. Millions gather in family rooms and church cultural halls to share gifts, steal from one another and enjoy the social banter during this group game.

Today, AlbinoPhant launches on Facebook as the online mimic of this traditional favorite for family and friends. AlbinoPhant is a partnership between the computer mouse and a well known white elephant party game. This online game allows family and friends from anywhere in the country to party together without leaving home.

The game application combines the massive audience on social networks with the convenience of online shopping from Amazon, into a party atmosphere. Friends and family share gifts with each other while AlbinoPhant gives them a fun way to pass out the presents.

Unlike other simple game applications on Facebook this party shares real gifts, not the virtual gifts that are so commonplace now. All players purchase a gift from special markets, and they virtually wrap their gift and get ready for the party. When all the players have their gifts purchased and wrapped, the game begins

All of the activities develop and are displayed on a common game-play page in the party. Players will find virtually wrapped gifts in the middle of the party room. They will see a display of the other players who are attending. There is a random player selection system and gift rating buttons. And of course, there is gift opening and gift stealing functions to build upon the fun.

Every good party is full of conversation, so the AlbinoPhant experience includes a comment box that allows many fun enhancement opportunities. In addition to the words that flow into the comment stream, there is the capability to include YouTube videos and images to assist players in creating a multimedia conversation.

The white elephant party ends when all the presents have been opened, stolen, rated and discussed. There are awards presented, and finally each gift is ordered and shipped to each of the player’s by conventional methods. There is no clean-up to do and everyone leaves with some great social memories.

This season you can combine your mouse with AlbinoPhant and bring your friends and family into one big party.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The Christmas season is perfect for a hot cup of soup on a chilly evening. What would warm the spirit even more would be sharing soup and conversation with family and friends.

Caroline, the author of Whipped, hosts a soup swap every year and,  in her own words describes: “…an event that embodied all of my favorite things: gathering with friends, eating together, talking about food and sharing food.”

This got us to thinking about how soup could be used as a part of a white elephant or Yankee Swap party. Here is an idea that we came up with… But you could expand this in many directions.

1. Develop an invitation list from those whom like to cook and those who like to visit.
2. Tell everyone that this is a themed gift exchange event around the word SOUP.
3. Ask everyone to bring a quart of their favorite soup for a group tasting.
4. Let everyone know that they don’t need to use soup as the gift, just have the gifts be soup related.  This is where the creativity of your friends will shine!
5. Ask all attendees to bring some 3-cup containers of soup for general swapping among the attendees. Have them include the recipe on a printed card.

Now you can fill the evening with several social experiences.. Soup tasting, a white elephant gift exchange and a swap of soups.

NOTE: Caroline added a few other helpful ideas for hosting a Soup Exchange, so you should read her tips section.

When it is all said and done, your holiday soup exchange will probably become a holiday favorite and warm the hearts of family and friends on even the coldest night.

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

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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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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