You may have noticed that in our rules this year, we stated that we're moving away from using wish lists in Elfster. Here is the statement from the registration thread:
1) In the past, we have had some difficulty with individuals making wish lists that only (or almost only) contained large ticket items. This was discouraging for many Secret Santas who wanted to give a good gift, but felt like what their recipient was expecting was far more expensive than they were able to provide. As you can imagine this certainly works against the spirit of what we're trying to do with our Secret Santa gift exchange.
2) We want to place the emphasis back on giving rather than receiving (or on creating an elaborate wish list). We felt that an exchange where (instead of pointing people to lists of gift ideas) we encourage you to really try to get to know your recipient would bring us back to an emphasis on giving and spreading joy which is truly what the R2R Secret Santa event is all about!! After all, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." So we want to place the emphasis back on giving!
Ultimately, the goal of the R2R Secret Santa has always been about us spreading holiday cheer and joy with one another. It's something we hope allows reefers to connect with one another and get to know one another. It's a kind of gift-giving experience that has us sharing kindness and thinking of others and...getting to play the role of Santa Claus for another person and really brighten their holiday!
So that's why we're asking everyone to not focus on wish lists. In fact, we're encouraging you not to even look at them. Instead, look at the information in the profile of your recipient, and maybe even poke around their other posts (their build thread is a good place to look). Then, get a gift that you think would be a good fit for them.
#R2RSecretSanta
@R2R Secret Santa 2022
- About Elfster wishlists: We're getting away from using these this year. Instead, we're asking each participant to make a more detailed profile and asking each Secret Santa to get a gift based on that profile. Our hope is that this will take some of the focus off of receiving and refocus us on giving and why we do this to begin with. We realize some of you may still enjoy making wish lists, and we're fine with you doing that, but know that your Secret Santa is being encouraged not to really look at that for gift giving this year.
1) In the past, we have had some difficulty with individuals making wish lists that only (or almost only) contained large ticket items. This was discouraging for many Secret Santas who wanted to give a good gift, but felt like what their recipient was expecting was far more expensive than they were able to provide. As you can imagine this certainly works against the spirit of what we're trying to do with our Secret Santa gift exchange.
2) We want to place the emphasis back on giving rather than receiving (or on creating an elaborate wish list). We felt that an exchange where (instead of pointing people to lists of gift ideas) we encourage you to really try to get to know your recipient would bring us back to an emphasis on giving and spreading joy which is truly what the R2R Secret Santa event is all about!! After all, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." So we want to place the emphasis back on giving!
Ultimately, the goal of the R2R Secret Santa has always been about us spreading holiday cheer and joy with one another. It's something we hope allows reefers to connect with one another and get to know one another. It's a kind of gift-giving experience that has us sharing kindness and thinking of others and...getting to play the role of Santa Claus for another person and really brighten their holiday!
So that's why we're asking everyone to not focus on wish lists. In fact, we're encouraging you not to even look at them. Instead, look at the information in the profile of your recipient, and maybe even poke around their other posts (their build thread is a good place to look). Then, get a gift that you think would be a good fit for them.
#R2RSecretSanta
@R2R Secret Santa 2022