Who's your Secret Santa in the 12th Annual QT3 Secret Santa Gift Exchange?

Welcome to the 2018 Secret Santa gift exchange, running for the 12th consecutive year! You are cordially invited to join fellow QT3 members in the annual tradition of gift-giving.

QT3 Secret Santa is a non-denominational gift-giving game in which you are tasked with sending a gift to another participant. We celebrate the winter holidays by opening our gifts in the same week, called Opening Week, and posting photos of ourselves and our gifts.

This is the link to sign up:
–> SIGN UP HERE <–

For reference, here are the previous years’ compilations of Secret Santa:

Assuming we have critical mass of at least 10 participants, let’s play!

Rules:

Deadline: The cutoff date for participation is listed below. After this date, I (fire) will post all of the participants’ handles and begin matching Santas with Santees (secretly, of course).

Personal information: Please note that the exchange of personal information with any other QT3 members is not required, and that any information you send to me (the organizer) will remain strictly private. I will not disclose personal information to anyone other than your Santee unless you expressly give me permission. In previous years, there were some QT3 members who were asking for other people’s addresses to surprise them with gifts. Please understand that in order to protect people’s privacy I simply can’t do this.

In!’: To participate, fill out the Google Form and post in this thread to indicate you’re in! Participation includes a) being a Secret Santa for someone, and also b) being someone’s Santee.

Here is what I’ll need from you (the form linked above will ask you for these things):

  • Your mailing address. You can use your QT3 handle or a pen name if you prefer, but please add “QT3”, “Secret Santa”, or both as package identifiers.
  • Your shipping preference. The choices are: Domestic (to your home country), Continental (in your continent); International (anywhere in the world). If you have no preference or don’t mention your preference, you will be placed in whichever bucket I find most convenient for me.
  • (Optional) Your wishlist, if you have one, or want to share one with your Santa. You can also post your wishlist in the thread (publicly) if you like. Having (and sharing) a wishlist is not required.
  • (Optional) Any special requests (relatives, roommates, allergies, etc.)

Getting a Santee: After the deadline, I will send you (by e-mail or PM) your Santee’s address and wishlist, if provided. You will be responsible for getting a gift to your Santee. If you are shipping internationally, plan ahead, and get your gift out at least three weeks early. International shipping (especially around the holidays) can take extra time. Your gift should arrive in time for Opening Week. No freeloaders! If you don’t give a gift, we’ll know.

Giving a gift: There is a $20 minimum gift value; no maximum. You can send gifts directly from a retailer, or from your home.

Receiving a gift: When you receive a gift from your Secret Santa, it’s helpful to post in the thread saying you got it – it puts your Santa’s mind at ease. Or you can e-mail or PM me, and I’ll do it for you.

Requesting a gift: You can subtly or not-so-subtly talk about things you’d like to get in this thread, although that in no way means you’ll get what you ask for.

Keeping track: We’ll keep track of who is participating in this thread. Once sign-ups close, the list will be in alphabetical order. After the exchange, the organizer will post a summary of the Santa to Santee pairings, and links to the opening posts.

Opening Week!: Begin opening gifts as early as the first day of Opening Week. Have a camera ready so you can snap a picture and get it in the thread!

Previous offenders: If you have participated in QT3 Secret Santa in the past and did not send a gift, you are ineligible for participation this year. Sorry.

Problems: If you encounter any difficulties, or have any concerns during the process, please e-mail the organizer: fire.qt3 at gmail, or PM fire.

Checklist:

____ Post in the thread!
____ Sign up with your information (by Thursday, November 1, 2018)
____ Receive Secret Santee information (by Tuesday, November 6, 2018)
____ Send gift to Secret Santee (International by Saturday, December 8, 2018; Domestic by Saturday, December 15, 2018)
____ Send fire.qt3 at gmail shipping confirmation (optional)
____ Receive Secret Santee gift
____ Post in the thread about gift received
____ Take pictures of opening gift, and post them (Week of Monday, December 24, 2018)
____ Have fun!

2007 The Qt3 Secret Santa Thread
2008 Qt3 Secret Santa: The Return (deadline to register: October 15th)
2009 QT3 Secret Santa Part III: Better Than the Last Sequel
2010 QT3 Secret Santa: Episode IV: A New Hope
2011 QT3 Secret Santa: Episode V: Santa Strikes Back
2012 QT3 Secret Santa: Episode VI: Regift of the Jedi
2013 QT3 Secret Santa: Episode VII: What’s in the box?
2014 QT3 Secret Santa: Episode VIII: Eight Crazy Years
2015 9th Annual QT3 Secret Santa Gift Exchange
2016 10th Annual QT3 Secret Santa Gift Exchange
2017 11th Annual QT3 Secret Santa Gift Exchange

Finally, a shout-out to Ryan Markel who was the previous years’ chief organizer for QT3 Secret Santa I-V.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. :) These are so fun to read.

In!45

What kind of gifts do people send usually? Video games? Geek stuff? Random crap presents?

In!!!

Yay! In.

In!45

We have 11 years of answers in fire’s post :D

Yeah, I looked it up. There are some very nice gifts being given, “gulp” maybe a bit too nice for me. Anyway, I’m impressed, you guys are doing a fantastic job.

I’m in.

I’m in. Sign up done.

The floor is $25 and I absolutely hung out near that level when I was fairly skint back in the day. Not everyone gets a MacBook :-)


Edit: more to the point, it’s an excellent opportunity to share something very special and selflessly kind with your fellow forumites. Whether you stalk them relentlessly, grab a wishlist item, or just send them something you like that you think they’d appreciate, you’re taking time and making effort to give them a gift, reaching out across miles and sometimes even borders to do so.

That’s a beautiful thing, and I’ve been very glad to participate every single year that I have so far!

I’m in as well!

And I totally agree with Armando: it’s not the price that counts. Trying to figure out what someone you don’t really know would like and sending it across the world (in my case), while knowing that someone else is trying to do the same for you, that’s what makes it fun (to me anyway). Not to mention receiving large mysterious boxes, long before Christmas, that you then have to leave unopened for weeks and weeks. Drives my daughters crazy! :-)

Signed up and in! Hox3, y’all!

-Tom

So you’re hinting that you want jeans? Noted.

I’m in!

I’m in

If i do this (it’s been a long time), i just want everyone that your gift will be selected from the following table by fair 2D6 dice.

2 Send Horror (horror mark likely)
3 Guided Missle Strike
4 Jinn in a bottle
5 100 Tacos
6 Edible Arrangement
7 Summer Sausage
8 Tofu Turkey
9 Turducken
10 An impossible puzzle box
11 One way ticket to Mars
12 Translation to the Volynich Manuscript (may cause madness). Tradable for a glimpse inside The Church of Our Lady Mother Zion (may cause blindness).

Fair? FAIR?

2d6 HAS A NORMAL DISTRIBUTION YOU FRAUD!!!