Welcome to the 9th annual EMULSIVE Santa film and traditional photography gift exchange! Registration this year is open until November 19th, 2023. A huge thank you to the 650-ish players in over 50 countries who came together to participate in 2022’s 8th annual EMULSIVE Santa. It was a strange event following an even stranger couple of years, but I’m still glad for it, and the very personal touches I saw being shared on social media.
With 2023’s event, our main home (Twitter / X) for the past 8 years is feeling more than a little wobbly. We’re going to try and spread things around a bit more this year and wherever you are, you should be able to see and use the #EMULSIVEsanta hashtag to keep track of things in your corner of the internet.
If you participated in any of the eight previous events, please check your email now for an invite. If not, check this year’s details and sign up sheet at the foot of the page.
Here’s what’s covered in this article:
For new players: What is EMULSIVE Santa?
EMULSIVE Santa is the world’s largest annualfilm/traditional photography gift exchange and is now in its 9th year.
It works just like a typical Secret Santa that you might play with your family, friends, or at work but is focused purely on film and traditional photography.
Everyone’s name goes into a hat, and each person is matched randomly with another player, to whom they must send a gift worth at least US$20 (not including shipping).
Each player ends up with a match, and gift-giving goes around in an imaginary circle. It’s not a pairing, you are not giving a gift to the person who is buying you one.
Imagine this:
Event timeline and sponsors
Registration is open from today, Monday October 23rd, 2023 until Sunday, November 19th, 2023. No exceptions, I’m afraid.
Player matching is planned to be completed during the week of November 20th and players will receive details of the person they’re matched to send a gift to sometime during that week. For updates, follow the official feed over on Twitter/X: @EMULSIVEsanta.
The suggested deadline for sending gifts out is Monday December 4th, 2023 at the very latest. As with previous years, given the pressure on our global postal systems, the earlier you shop and ship, the better.
Regarding sponsors, we’ll have a few to announce in due course. For now, I’m keeping this quick, which you’ll probably appreciate is a challenge for me.
Matching and wish lists
Please be aware that depending on your event RSVP, the person you are matched to send a gift to may well be in a different country than you.
Be aware that if you choose not to ship internationally but are the only person in your country to join the event, you will be matched to send a gift to someone in another country – get around this by inviting your friends – physical and virtual!
A word on international sanctions and other challenges
It’s impossible to run this event and ignore the spectre of international sanctions and challenges arising from conflicts that displace members of our global community. As with last year, we will be matching Russian players along with other affected countries with other players in the same country. For example, if you are based in Russia, you will only be matched with other players in Russia.
Like everyone else, we’re also not certain how things will play out in the middle east right now, either. For now, we’ll leave players in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and surrounding countries to use their own judgement and decide whether to participate.
Sending and receiving gifts
The “Secret” in “Secret Santa” means you don’t know who is sending you a gift… but just like every year, we’re asking you all to let you match know who you are in your card, or in note with your gift.
If you’d like to stay anonymous, that is your prerogative, but more than ever, it’s about making and maintaining those connections.
Don’t let the lack of wrapped gifts bother you! Please still feel free to take a photo of what you’re sending out and post it on social media along with the #EMULSIVEsanta hashtag. You can also tag EMULSIVEfilm on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as EMULSIVEsanta on Twitter. There’s also the Film Photography Chat Facebook Group.
Not using those platforms? That’s ok! Please use the #EMULSIVEsanta hashtag wherever you are able to 🙏
On receiving gifts…
Please, please, please do not open your gift before Christmas Day. When you finally do, take a photo tagging the accounts above and using the #EMULSIVEsanta hashtag and anywhere else on social media.
When Christmas Day finally rolls around, post a picture of your opened gift on social media, and if your Santa has let you know who they are, go ahead and tag them.
Don’t be one of those people
EMULSIVE Santa is organised in good faith. While you can decide to remain anonymous, your actions reflect on yourself, EMULSIVE, and the good name of the analogue photography community.
Other interesting reads
As normal, any players caught no-showing will be banned from future events on EMULSIVE, and the event sponsors will also be notified.
Speaking of which.
To the dozen or so folks who truly freeloaded in 2020 (not those affected by the pretty crazy postal issues), I say this: I hope your films dry out and snap mid-roll, I hope your developer is always exhausted, and that your scans are nothing but the deepest 99.99% jet black.
There’s a special place for you in whatever version of hell you do or do not believe exists. It’s filled with people who will poke you in the eyes and other orifices with ghost peppers while rabid raccoons surgically insert a pipe between your anus and nostrils.
TLDR; get in touch if you’re having issues, please don’t be a prat.
How to get involved
Event registration is wide open, and the window is short.
You have until midnight in your timezone on Sunday, November 19th, 2023 to sign up and not a minute more. If you are a past participant, you can expect an email in your inbox already.
If you do not receive an invite in your inbox, you will need to complete the form linked below to receive your invitation link. This “double registration” system for new players was introduced back in 2017 in an attempt to reduce the number of no-shows, and along with a few other manual checks, it’s helped to reduce the no-show rate to just a few percent of players since 2019.
After you have signed up for the event, there are two things that each and every player absolutely must do. They are:
- Set a profile picture
- Create / update your wish list.
Sounds simple? It is. The reason for what might be considered an anally retentive request is that signing up for an event like this is simple. Forgetting to send that gift is even more so.
By setting a profile picture shows you are showing that you are engaged and interested. It takes only a little effort to complete this step, but when it comes to being matched, having one will give your Santa (the person sending you a gift), confidence that they’re matched with someone who took time out of their day to do it. As with past events, anyone who does not have a custom profile picture or wishlist set by midnight November 19th 2023 will be removed from the event without an additional warning, no exceptions.
Got questions? Send me an email once you’re registered on Elfster, and I’ll do my best to help.
It’s over to you
Sign up, get thinking and help bring joy to one of your siblings in this global film photography family of ours.
Thanks for reading,
~ Em
PS. One super important credit: a huge thanks again to @aislinn-chuahiock for the cover photo and support in pulling all this together with me. I could not do it without you!
Register for EMULSIVE Santa 2023
Please complete the Google form embedded below (or access it directly here) and grab the event invite from the confirmation page shown after you submit it.
IMPORTANT: This link is unique to you and cannot be used by anyone else. You must use that link to register on Elfster by Sunday, November 19th, 2023. Once registered, please make sure you are a member of the EMULSIVE Secret Santa 2023 gift exchange there.
Disclaimers and terms
EMULSIVE is not Elfster (the service provider used for the listing/matching). If you have any qualms about the level of your data protection, then I will have to suggest you bow out and not participate.
We’ve tested out and researched a few service providers along the way, and Elfster seemed to come out on top for the functionality they provide and what they do with data provided by their users.
We have no affiliation or commercial/personal connection with Elfster, and you use the service at your own risk. Don’t forget that I’m putting my details on there, too.
We can’t take any responsibility if anything terrible happens (they get hacked, lose your data, etc.). We’re using them in good faith, as much as you are.
Elfster is a public service, so we ask that you don’t invite participants in this event to others you may decide to create without their express consent. We’re sorry, but anyone found doing this will be excluded from entry.
Share your knowledge, story or project
The transfer of knowledge across the film photography community is the heart of EMULSIVE. You can add your support by contributing your thoughts, work, experiences and ideas to inspire the hundreds of thousands of people who read these pages each month. Check out the submission guide here.
If you like what you’re reading you can also help this passion project by heading over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and contributing as little as a dollar a month. There’s also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.
2 responses to “EMULSIVE Secret Santa 2023: Registration for year 9 is open until November 19th”
Tried a few times, I always land on last year page of elfster.
Same here