updates:
march 2: over 350 sign ups have been received
but you may still continue to submit your forms in case
someone falls through. sign ups will close on march 4 instead
since the response was so fast. thanks!
march 4: sign ups are now closed..
thanks to everyone who signed up!
500 responses received:
will do my BEST to try to get everyone in :)
april 1: all partners are almost assigned.
everyone will be emailed within a couple days, promise!
thanks for your patience. sorry i'm about a month behind!
hi friends! hurray, the 2010 lovely package exchange is HERE! :) i have reviewed a lot of information from the last exchange and tried to figure out the best way to host this...last time it took me about a week to pair everyone up. so we're trying a different method this time. we'll see how this goes and if it goes smoothly, we can hopefully have another swap in the fall. it's a lot of information, but please be sure to read all of it to get an understanding of how it will work. thanks!
if you've followed my blog, you know i LOVE pretty packages. i started the lovely package exchange as a way for the blog community to get involved with one another. my hope in the exchange is for you to make new friends with fellow bloggers and express creativity in sending a really thoughtful lovely package.
How the exchange will work: For this exchange, we will be using the site elfster for part of the exchange. I figured this would be the easiest way to pair everyone up. I am not sure how many people are intending to sign up but just in case, the limit is 350. I will also need 35+ 'group-leaders' please read more about this below. here are the 5 simple steps, to hopefully make this understandable:
Basically, everyone participating will be placed into groups of approximately 10 - 12 people based on your interest forms that you will fill out below. Then you will be notified by your group leader to join the elfster. Once everyone in your group joins elfster, partners will be randomly assigned. So, you will eventually need to sign up for an account on elfster.
Swap Partners: This time we will be doing 1 swap partner only. This way, we can focus on putting lots and lots of effort into our lovely packages!
Swap Dollar Amount: Suggested amount I feel is reasonable to spend is anywhere from $25 - $30 before shipping costs. So the $25-$30 can include packaging your gifts as well, but please use your discretion. Don't spend $20 on packaging and only send a $10 gift. If you own a shop, please don't just send $25 worth of items to promote your own shop...however, feel free to include an item or two from your shop in addition to the other gifts you will get your swap partner.
Exchange Group Leaders: I need 35-40 friends to head up a group on elfster. Once I break down all the sign ups into groups, the group leader will be emailed with the people in their group. Group leaders will then invite their group to elfster and have them all join the swap. Here is a timeline of the info:
This will also be my way of communicating with all 300+ people. If I need to tell everyone something, I will simply email the group leaders and the group leaders will relay the message for me. Once everyone has joined, the group leader must tell elfster to assign the partners. It is not too hard and it would be such a BIG help for me! :) There is a place on the sign up form to mark if you are interested or not: please don't feel obligated but I do need about 35 people.
Overseas: Unfortunately I received a few emails about people not receiving their packages from overseas. So I'm afraid this time we will keep overseas friends in their own groups and vice versa. There will be no option to send overseas. If you are in the us, you will receive a partner in the us and if you are in Europe, you will receive a parter in Europe.
Signup Form + Interests: The sign up form is simply to sign up: Once you sign up on elfster, you may add your interests, likes/dislikes, your wishlist for your partner to see. When you have your assigned partner, it is up to you to email them and get to know them :)
Flickr: we have a lovely package exchange flickr group. post all your images of packages sent and received! also see the nice package! flickr group for lots of package inspiration!
Dates: Sign ups begin today, March 1st and will remain open until Tuesday: March 9, 2010. Please tell a friend and spread the word! Everyone will be placed into their group by the weekend (hopefully by March 13) and I will have the group leaders invite everyone into their elfster groups on the 15th. Partners will be assigned March 18. Then you will have about 2 weeks to send your package. Please plan to have your package sent by April 1st.
Unfortunately, there is always someone who doesn't follow through :( It is unavoidable. But hopefully this will filter out some of those people.
The requirement for this swap is that you must have some sort of reliable website to participate: a blog, shop, twitter account. (and they must be active! you can't have a blog that has one or two posts from april 2008)
If you don't have one of the above requirements but did participate last time and your partner can vouch for you, you will definitely be allowed to participate. If you have been reported by your swap partner and are on the list of non-senders from the last swap, you will not be allowed to participate in this exchange.
Please note filling out the sign up form is your contract: you are committing to sending a great package! Please plan to put some time and effort into the things you send, as well as how you present it. That is all I ask :)
If you've made it all the way to here, thanks so much for reading everything! Please fill out this form and leave it in the comment form. I receive so many emails and it is too hard to keep track so please do not email me your forms at this time. Please also be thorough with the information - I don't have time to email everyone individually seeking out missing info so incomplete forms will be skipped over, so sorry!
Name:
Website: (blog/shop/twitter)
Email Address:
Location:
List top 5 favorite things: (things you may collect, your favorite shop, blogs, sites, etc)
5 words to describe you or your style:
Would you be open to being a group leader:
Anything else you'd like to mention:
please support the swap by blogging, twittering, or linking one of the swap buttons. i've designed 3 buttons for you :) images can be found at my flickr: banner one | banner two | banner three. please link it back to this post!
whew! are you on information overload? i sure am! ;) sorry it had to be so much! if i thought only 20 people were going to sign up, i would have just said "comment if you want to join" but since i am anticipating over 300 people, i needed to organize it somehow. i've reviewed this post over a dozen times, so i hope i didn't miss anything. (thanks to nicholas for helping me proofread, hehe) but if i did miss anything, additional information will be updated at the top of this post, so bookmark this post and check back!
