EMULSIVE Secret Santa 2015 - Decisions, decisions - Credit: @TobyVPhoto
EMULSIVE Secret Santa 2015

Decisions, decisions

Credit: @TobyVPhoto

Hello again everyone, thanks for stopping by.

We’ve just this minute made the Secret Santa 2015 draw and emails with details of your match are winging their way to you all now.

When the doors closed for registration on this first ever EMULSIVE Secret Santa, we had 112 players on board from a total of 23 countries. It’s been an amazing response to a little idea that wasn’t expected to have more than a couple of dozen wonderful people to join in. Thank you.

Thanks again to Ilford Photo, The Impossible Project and Kodak Alaris for jumping on board with their support, as well as the work you all put in to spread the word and drum up so much of a buzz on social media.

Extra gifts
If you’ve read our previous posts about Ilford, Impossible and Kodak’s involvement with this year’s Secret Santa, you’ll know that there are some extra gifts on offer for a lucky few. We’ll be drawing names for these very soon and you’ll be notified by email from us if you’ve managed to score one…although we won’t tell you who’ll you’ll be receiving something from!

All that’s left now is to make it happen and this is how.

This short post is going to (hopefully) answer your questions on the following topics. If you need further clarification, please email us.

– Preparing and sending your gift
– Receiving your gift
– Important notes
– Help

Important note: You must ensure that your gift is sent by Friday 11th December 2015 at the very latest.

 

Preparing and sending your gift

First things first, if you have not received an email from Elfster by the evening of December 2nd, please check your spam folder, then email us. Once you get your match’s details, you here’s a little checklist of things you can do:

  • Look through you match’s Wishlist and double check their address information is complete. Put yourself in their shoes, be kind, be courteous and most of all, have fun.
  • Send them a message via Elfster and get to know them a little. Remember that Wishlists are simply a guide. You’re not expected to go out and buy everything you see there but it should hopefully give you an idea of what they are looking for.
  • DO NOT tell your match who you are, or what you’re going to send but do make sure that they can use it. For example, if you were planning on sending some 120 format film but they don’t have a medium format camera, there’s not much point to you sending it, so you should think about something else.
  • Make sure you wrap up your gifts carefully (these are Christmas presents, after all), and throw in some sweets. Everyone likes sweets, especially if they’re from another country. Your parcel will be travelling during the busiest season of the year, so make sure that it’s carefully wrapped.
  • Write a letter, or a card. It doesn’t have to be War and Peace but it’s a nice gesture and (trust me on this), people love to receive the written word.
  • Seal it all up and head over to your local post office to send it off. Make sure that you write “EMULSIVE” somewhere on the parcel, so your match knows what it’s for. In addition, please make sure you send your match a message once you have posted your gift and mark your gift as sent on Elfster. This isn’t optional, folks and we need you all to do this for everyone’s peace of mind.
  • Please don’t write concise details about the contents gift on the parcel, or customs label. Be vague but don’t lie…and do not make it obvious that there’s something of value in there. If you do, you increase the chances of it being “lost” in the mail. Registered post is always best but don’t break the bank.

I cannot stress this enough: MAKE SURE YOU GET PROOF OF POSTAGE.

Take a photo of your receipt and keep it safe. No excuses, please.

 

Receiving your gift

You are not, I repeat, not allowed to open your gift before Christmas Day. No peeking, no peeling back tape. No exceptions 😉

That said, we’d all love to know when gifts start dropping on doormats, so please take a photo of the (still wrapped) contents of the parcel and post it to Twitter or Facebook making sure that you tag us, or use the #EMULSIVE hashtag. We want to see what you’ve got.

Please do not post images which include your address details, or those of your match. that’s bad. Very bad.

When Christmas Day rolls on over, crack your gift open and post images of what you got!

 

Important notes

Remember we asked you to take a photo of your proof of postage? This is as much to protect you, as it is for everyone’s peace of mind. Postal services around the world will be stretched this year and getting proof of postage could help you claim back the value of the items you sent if your parcel gets lost. In addition, it’ll help clear up any issues with questions such as “…did my Secret Santa really send my gift”.

If you post your gift by Friday 11th December 2015, it should arrive at its destination in time for Christmas Day but please be prepared for it to take a while longer. If you’ve had enough of waiting, just drop us a line.

Any player discovered to be faking, scamming, or otherwise ruining it for everyone else will have details of their misdemeanours posted here and on social media. They will also be banned from entering in future EMULSIVE promotions. Details will be passed on to the other organisations taking part in this promotion, so they may also take any appropriate action.

In short, if you don’t plan to play by the rules, or are unable to send a gift for any reason, please let us know now and don’t wait. We’ll take care of things with nothing more said.

 

Help!

Contact us, please. We’re asking everyone to send their gifts off by Friday 11th December 2015, which should be enough time for your gift to find its way to your match.

If you’re still waiting after four weeks, don’t fret, just get in touch and we’ll do our best to find out what’s going on and take it from there.

That’s all from us for now. It’s over to you to make this happen, folks. Good luck and happy gifting!

Similar stuff on EMULSIVE

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading