Originally Posted By Stacers76 I'm going to chime in for just a second on the length also....I couldn't participate this year because it was longer than I thought (I wasn't on LP yet last year so it was all new to me this year) but possibly make the "getting to know your pal" part a little longer and then have the actual gifting start a little later...more time to prepare right?! Anyway...just my .02 and I do hope to be a Basher this year! You all obviously have a BLAST wiht it!
Originally Posted By Labuda ukfan - what ACTUALLY made me think you were int he UK was that a good number of your e-cards were from UK sites. hehe When the gifts themselves were coming to me, I had NO idea. Heck, the first one I got was an artist's rendering of my beloved little kitties, AND came from Goodgirl wayyyy over on the west coast, so I was *certain* at that point that my BP was Kar2oonman! lol Totally threw me for a loop when I saw more UK stuff. And, even the Gromit mug wasn't a total giveaway, though I *did* figure it was purchased in the UK, but not necessarily by a UK LPer since Wallace & Gromit stuff is hard to come by here in the US.
Originally Posted By u k fan What's funny though is that I only used 1 uk card site. I think what happens is that knowing I'm from the UK they tailor the ads on the side to a UK audience. Kind of like those google ads we have on the screen here now. I have 5 all for UK sites, I bet you don't! I may have to look in to that for next year!!!
Originally Posted By LilliBelle >>However, I worry that there is some amount of "gift inflation" going on. I doubt very many reveal packages came in at under $20, and that's not including postage. I feel a slight pressure to up the money and time that I spend on it next year, but maybe this feeling will pass by next Nov.<< It may "look" that way, but doing research and watching for bargains really pays off. I did a lot of my shopping watching sales and visiting discount stores regularly during the Bash. I printed out my pal's wish list and kept it with me at all times. I was able to pick up tons of gifts for a fraction of what they are "normally" priced. eBay played a big part as well, since I was able to purchase a normally high priced fragrance for my pal at a very affordable (and within Bash "guidelines") price. As others have said, you need to be creative and committed to your pal. It does take time and effort to find the bargains, but they are out there and oh so satisfying to find!
Originally Posted By smedley Yay for the bargain shopping! Tip for UK Fan, I set up a 'temporary' hotmail account, and told it I lived in the US, I then used it to send e-cards etc, so they appeared to come from the US And Yay for the bargain shopping, I am so picking up every cool free thing I see on my travels this year lol!
Originally Posted By u k fan I don't think that would have made much difference with the site I mostly used. If what I think was happening was happening. The only email I ever used was the secret pals one. I mostly used one particular US site, that showed me UK ads before I even logged in. I don't know if it then showed those ads to Labuda, but it was definitely a US site that I used. It did occur to me once that it might be a problem, but because it wasn't a UK site I guessed Labuda would see US ads!!!
Originally Posted By Labuda Yeah, mainly you did use 123greetingscom, but I got enough from a .co.uk si9te that made me think you were a Brit. Plus, th e "one of these things is not true" made me think it wa you or the baloos since one of the things was something like "I've never met you" and another was something like "I'll mever forget the time we spent together at that meet" - which made me think it was one of the UKers I spoke to on July 17th.
Originally Posted By goodgirl MissCandice was the one who cracked me up. She pretended to be English on the boards to throw her Bash pal off.
Originally Posted By MissCandice And I had a jolly good time doing it. My thoughts: I know I ran out of ideas the last week or so for fun stuff like links for my pal, and I was worried that I may have sent her the same ecard. I would love it if the bash could begin after Thanksgiving. That would still be a month of bashing fun. Perhaps there could be a kind of a two-step bash? We could find out who we have at the beginning of November but not actually start doing anything until after T-day? That way we can all research who we have and be prepared once the bash process actually begins.
Originally Posted By trailsend Lisann's Post 15 says it all. I was as new as new can be. I started on LP in June of '05. And I started in WE which made me a sitting duck but I eventually got to the sections where everyone is having so much fun and I wanted to have fun, too. This Bash was right up my alley. But, I was still trying so hard to break in. And when you have an undertaking such as this, you have to be totally committed. I was terribly afraid to not do my part. I was unsure how to find links and ecards so I shopped for things early that I felt my Bash Pal would enjoy and figured I would do more mailing than online communication. But when it got started, I just followed the lead of the more experienced and it became easy. And the instructions from the Facilitators are completely clear. But you must be totally committed. The facilitators make it too easy to send ecards and it's too easy to log on here under a different name and post anything. (Provided you don't forget who you are logged in as like kmsandrbs did one night in the Great Winter LP Snowball Fight and I just happen to see it before he had it removed which meant I couldn't blackmail him) Just make sure you look just above this gray box where it says "You are currently logged in as . . . ." I have no problem with any of it. But if you made Reveal Day say, a whole week before Christmas. That gives time for unexpected things that might happen. I loved the Bash!!!! It couldn't work without the Facilitators. Just read their instructions, follow them and enjoy!! But be committed.
Originally Posted By kmsandrbs I actually think the idea of learning who your Bash Pal is a little before the Bash starts would be great. But I bet some people would ... um ... push the start date And I appreciate your not blackmailing me, trailsend. I'm also pretty sure I was not the only Bash mistake corrected by the Administrators.
Originally Posted By Ursula I could have SWORE that my sister blindly and inadvertantly gave me away this year. In a thread on the Red Hat Society I said (as the SP of Miss Candice) that my mother was a Queen Mother as a hint. Right after me, my sister posted that HER mother was also a Queen mother. Considering it's the same mother, I thought I was done for. But the mystery of the bash somehow hid all of that and covered it in plain sight. I think that was really cool. (a lot of bashers didn't know 999Haunts was my sister and of course no one knew for sure that I was Miss C's SP.). That's one of the things I love about the bash. I've been in every bash. I have nothing but gratitude to everyone who bashed me and to everyone I've bashed. The facilitators should get lavish gifts and enough good Karma to last them a thousand lifetimes for what they do and for what they put up with at times. I could imagine that the end of a successful bash gives them nothing but sheer pleasure and the payment of a job well-done. I know Inpsector wants constructive criticism from us. Sorry darling, I can't think of a single thing to make this work any better. I love it and it's perfect. Shorten it if it makes life easier for others-I'll still be here. Penalize us for spending more-I'll still be here. LP is my haven, I give it all it gives me and I try to give more.
Originally Posted By JazzCat I know this might seem like an odd idea, but I think we should start later and end later. I think the day after Thanksgiving to the Epiphany. Here's what the Epiphany is: Epiphany is the climax of the Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from December 25th until January 5th. In most traditions, the day before Epiphany is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the evening of which is called Twelfth Night. This is an occasion for feasting in some cultures. In some traditions, January 5th is considered the Eleventh Day of Christmas, while the evening is still counted as the Twelfth Night, the beginning of the Twelfth day of Christmas the following day. In these traditions the Twelfth Day of Christmas is January 6th, the Epiphany.
Originally Posted By m2 The idea of having to run the bash through Christmas week would be impossible for me. It's hard enough finding the time for the reveal that week. It'd be nice JazzCat, but too much added stress for me. I also want to add that there are many LPer's who are more than generous with their donation of money and postage to help out. Thank you!
Originally Posted By Labuda I very much like the idea of finding out WHO we have a short while before the bash starts... give us a little more time to look at posts made by our pal and make sure we "know" them if they're at all unfamiliar to us! Also, I kinda like the fact that the end is about 4 or 5 days before the 25th. It's nice to have it go that long into the holiday season, but still be over and done with a few days to finish prep fro the 25th.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Thanks for your feedback, everyone! This IS really helpful! Keep 'em coming! Give us a post here, even if it's just to say, "Yeah, I thought it was fine" or "I'll never do it again."
Originally Posted By tapdancemom I loved it and will do it again, but just want to say I agree with the statements about staying committed. Some people seemed to go along time without any posts for them. Also if it was a week or so shorter, that would be fine with me. Another BIG THANK YOU to the facilitators
