FORUM EVENT: "I-MOCKERY'S 2012 SECRET SANTA EVENT!"
 

YO HO HO HO! WELCOME TO...

OFFICIAL SIGN UP THREAD

Christmas is approaching once again and that means one important thing: getting price estimates from a roofer due to the damage that Santa's reindeer caused when they landed on it. Aside from that, it's also time for I-Mockery's annual Christmas Secret Santa event! Every year, registered users from the forum community come together to share in the holiday commercialism by buying and sending each other gifts that range from hilarious to just plain awesome. It's tradition, so whether you're a new member or an old one, you should absolutely join in the fun, so be sure to reply to this thread. 10,000 Volt Ghost is running the event this year, so be sure to read the important rules he'll be posting below BEFORE you reply to this thread and sign-up:

How it works:

You sign up in this thread by stating that you want to join. The last day to sign up is November 24th. Send 10,000 Volt Ghost a private message with your full mailing address, real name and your forum name/alias. On November 25th, you will receive a PM with the name and address of the person you will be sending your gift to. At this point, you send out your gift before December 7th and get ready to receive a gift of your own! Upon receiving your gift, you must post pictures in this thread to show everyone what you got! It’s not mandatory, but many participants in the past have made a little story out of enjoying their gift(s), so do that if you wanna have extra fun! But at the very least, you need to post photos of what you received. Everyone needs to get pictures of the gifts they received posted by December 22nd.

Everyone has plenty of time to do all of that, so do it!

Special note for those of you who live outside of North America:

You’re more than welcome to participate, but pay special attention to the “how people will be split up” section below.

Rules and Guidelines:
This whole thing is for fun, but there has to be some assurance that everyone will keep up their end of the bargain, so failure to follow the rules and instructions will result in a permanent ban from the forums. Plus, we know Santa pretty well, and he’s assured us that messing up in any way will result in a nice big chunk of coal being rammed up your rectum! :D

Here are some general rules and guidelines everybody should follow:

• Spend somewhere between 15-25 bucks (USD) on your gift. This amount does NOT include shipping costs. No one likes a cheapskate, so if this is too much money for you, get a job and join next year instead! Don’t go overboard and get something expensive, but don’t cheap out either. If you want to spend more than 25 bucks, you can, but please understand that you most likely won't receive something of equal monetary value. Then again, that's not what this is all about, so that shouldn't matter to you anyway, Scrooge!
• Obey all deadlines. Screwing someone over, especially at Christmas, is a guaranteed ticket to hell! Let’s see if an eternity of torture will help you be punctual!
• Before signing up, make sure you have a working camera. If you can’t upload pictures to your computer directly, there are other options such as getting your film developed and put on a CD. Uploading pictures of your gifts is just as important to our Secret Santa event as sending some gifts out is. Remember, if you don't have a camera of your own, your cellphone probably has a working camera and/or you can also buy disposable digital cameras too.
• MAKE SURE YOUR ADDRESS IS UP TO DATE AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY TROUBLE RECEIVING PACKAGES! It’s not hard to find your current address, so don’t fuck it up!
• Don’t be cheap and make something. If you have to do that, keep the minimum spending amount in mind and please consider sending other purchased stuff along with your creation as well. It's fine to make something in addition to purchasing gifts for your recipient, just try not to only make stuff as it's hard to put a monetary value on that sort of thing
• Your mailing address CANNOT be a P.O. Box. No gifts will be sent to P.O. boxes nor will anyone with a P.O box as a mailing address be allowed to participate in the Secret Santa event.
• Again If you fail to uphold your end of the deal, you will be permanently banned from the forums. So please, don't be a dick. We want this event to be fun for everybody.
• YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PURCHASE GIFTS FROM DOLLAR STORES. We've had too many people get screwed over by cheap gifts at 99cent / dollar general stores, so please do not purchase gifts from them.

IF YOU’RE A NEW MEMBER (Registered AND active less than a year)

In an effort to cut down on people who might sign-up just to get free shit, new users need to take the following steps to be eligible to join in the fun:

1. Provide a picture of themselves holding up a hand-written sign that says both "I-MOCKERY SECRET SANTA 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" along with their message forum name/name in plain view.

2. Post this picture in this thread for all to see.

3. PM 10,000 Volt Ghost, informing him that you are a new member who wants to participate in the secret Santa event. He will then send you a letter with a mailing address.

4. Send a test letter to the mailing address that you were provided with by 10,000 Volt Ghost. The letter needs to include your full name, return mailing address and your name here on the I-Mockery forums.

5. To ensure that you’re eligible to participate, do all of that as quickly as possible!

These steps are necessary to verify that you have a working camera and the motivation to get your ass to a post office.

DEADLINES!!!!

-The last day to SIGN UP is SATURDAY, November 24th (watch this thread because if we have an uneven number, we might accept more)

-The last day for SENDING your gifts out is December 7th (deadline was extended to this new date this year since we were a little late sending out Secret Santa assignments)

-The last day for POSTING PICTURES of the gifts you receive is December 22nd (deadline may be extended since sending out Secret Santa assignments has been delayed a bit this year)

MAILING YOUR PACKAGE:

-You MUST send out your gifts by priority or express shipping methods to ensure that everyone receives their gifts in a timely fashion. Someone will be doing this for you, so please do it for someone else.

-You MUST purchase a tracking number for your package so that you can keep track of it if there are any delays.

-Do NOT send a PM or email to the person who you are sending a gift to in an attempt to let them know that you're their Secret Santa. It's called "Secret" Santa for a reason, people. Half of the fun is people being surprised when they learn who their Secret Santa is!

RECEIVING YOUR PACKAGE:

-Post pictures of all the gifts you receive no later than December 22nd. If you want to be funny with it and make a video or pictorial story or something, that’s great, but just make sure you post it all by the 22nd.

-Take pictures of ALL of your gifts. Half of the fun of this event is seeing recipients enjoying their gifts.

-If you don’t have your package and it’s getting close to the deadline for postings pictures, send a PM to 10,000 Volt Ghost so he can see what the delay is.

HOW PEOPLE WILL BE SPLIT UP:

Everyone who participates will be paired randomly with someone to send their gift to, but if certain conditions are met, some switches might have to be made:

Because this event attracts people from all over the world, special attention will be paid to making sure people won’t have to spend too much on shipping. This doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to get someone from the same country as you, but if there are only a couple participants from your part of the world, it’s a possibility. Either way, we will not tolerate complaints from people who refuse to mail packages outside of their country. If you have a problem with this, you shouldn't sign up because there's always a chance you will have to pay a little extra to ship your package out. This season is about giving, so you shouldn't be picky about little things like shipping fees.

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS:

Mockery
10,000 Volt Ghost
BatmanJohnson
Dextire
Nick
Ex leper
Replicant
Bloodpanther
Thanos
Stevetothepast
Snoogans
Mariorpg
Chrisglass
Dr. Boogie
The Punk hippie
Dimnos
Protoclown
Euphorixlost

Also my manager and my hr department banned me from I-mock while working. i'll update the colors when I get home. Doing this from my phone can be cumbersome so if you pm me your name and info it will get put up bi-daily.

I'm in!

And so ends my useless attempt to avoid getting into the spirit of Christmas before Thanksgiving. :xmas1
Yeah, I'm in!

I'm in as always!

Awwww shit. Sign me up. I love doing I-Mockery Secret Santa.

I'm definitely in!

Totally down for another year of secret santa!! :D

Also as a reminder make sure to still pm me your info even if it has not changed. I do not keep a mockery rolodex.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I'm thinking about it................................................ I'll come back later

Once again, I lurk all year, but I'm in!

Had another great time last year with Secret Santa, so let's do it again this year!

I missed out last year, but count me in for this year! 2013 or bust!

I just realised t's been 6 years since the last time I particpated :O I'm back again this year!

I'm slightly proud that you copied and pasted the rules and such that I made (and Mock edited) years ago, 10k. Not proud enough to join in or anything, though.

Count me in.

If I'm your Secret Santa, I promise not to show up at your door like I did for GrislyGus last year.

I need to add in a special note about "CHRISTMAS TIDINGS FROM ZOMBOID".

You have to though.

Been in every year, can't stop now. I will cram your mailbox with so many goodies, you will not even need a visit from Santa.

Ahhhh yeahhhh!

Remember to use this wrapping paper:
http://mcphee.com/shop/santa-monsters-gift-wrap.html

Dibs

Who is snoogans?

I'm the guy next to the pikachu.

Is there going to be a new "Share your interests" thread or should I reference last years if I'm lucky enough to get someone who isn't new? I'm psyched!:xmas3

That's actually a good idea.

I'm still out of town, but the thread is up now. Have at it!

hmmm seems to be less people joining this year. oh well, hopefully it'll still be just as fun. And still some time left I guess.

I wanna do it, but I always get turned down. Am I allowed this year or what?

No.

After what you did that one time, eeeh. Still iffy.

Damn i would love to do it again this year, it was great last year. But i haven't had time
for shit, work is running me ragged. oh well its still fun to watch so have fun.

What was it ZBF did again? Was that the vegemite incident?

I belive it was because the gift he sent out way back in 06 was a broken dollar store fm/am radio and a bouncey ball thing. he later admited he just sent random stuff he found. then he proceeded to call his own awesome gift "shit". for what it's worth, my vote would be to not let him back in. but thats just me.

Personally, I'd vote no.

I'm getting in at the last minute, yay! :D

In the saint nick of time.

Idk if you got me before because my name isnt on the list but Im in agian. :posh

I am in! And my girlfriend Ducky is in. She'll be creating an account and posting on this thread in just a few minutes. I can vouch for her, and Roger will as well--she won't have any problem posting pictures of her gifts or anything.

I'm in! I am also the aforementioned Ducky (:

Indeed, I vouch for her. Protoclown, however, I wouldn't trust him at all. :chatter

We have a pretty good list of participants this year! I always get a chuckle at some of the people that seem to come back just for this one event and then disappear for a another year. :xmas1

every year I arise from the winter mists, only to be banished after the i-mockery secret santa ritual is complete. it is the only thing keeping me from devouring this mortal realm.

Yeah I'm guilty of disappearing. But I love doing this event.

I keep trying to stick around but I never have anything interesting to add. I use to try way too hard and now that I know I'm skilled at giving stuff, I lay low till the holidays.

haha yeah, I check in with the occasional article comments but I don't frequent any message boards anymore.

That's kind of the way the Internet has gone actually. This site still gets a lot of traffic, but most people come to read the articles without dropping a comment. Sure, they'll "Like" it and share it on their favorite social networking sites, but getting involved in discussions on individual forums isn't something people do nearly as much these days - especially one like this that has old code and doesn't allow you to use your Facebook account to post or anything. I miss the way the web was before all the social networking stuff came into play, but as long as people are still reading / watching and enjoying the material on here, I'm a happy guy in the end. And in all honesty, I'm very, very lucky to have a site that's lasted so many years. Still can't believe it sometimes.

All that said, it's always nice to see some people coming back out of the woodwork for the Secret Santa event each year. It's like that during Halloween too. Some people are gone for ages, but come Halloween time on I-Mockery, they magically reappear as if summoned by an unseen force. Always puts a smile on my face.

Enjoy the Secret Santa event. And for those of you joining in for the first time, trust me when I say that the most fun part of it is seeing the reactions of the person who you send your gift to. So yeah, choose your gifts well and have fun with it!
:xmas2

Guilty as charged. :P
In my defence, though, I'm a workaholic so I don't have the time to hang around on message boards

& I agree with Rog, I miss the way the internet used to be, before all the social networking sites took over everything (or at least the popular ones)

PM's sent out. Waiting on a two addresses. Let me know if you've had your secret santa before, I'll do a rearrange if needed.

Good night y'all.

Thanks again for running this event again this year. Especially with a new one to take care of.

You have a girlfriend? Well, there goes my perception of you, jerk.>:

And here I thought I was the only one to think he had a boyfriend.

I just mailed out my items by the way. My Secret Santa will get their gifts around the 28 to the 30th. There are three different packages, so I hope you can wait and open them all at once if they don't arrive at the same time!

Yeah, I can vouch he's dating a girl. Not some blowup type either. She's uber awesome and luv her to bits. :):rock

Wow! Talk about expedient! :):xmas3

I don't play around with no gift givin'

had my gift at the post office today. Found out you cannot send batteries....or the post people will, quote, "destroy" the package. damn. will send tomorrow.....without batteries. sorry secret santa, batteries not included!

Already got gifts ordered, just waiting for them to arrive. My giftee is going to be so shocked (in a good way). ;-)

I still need to go shopping for my Secret Santa, Hopefully shipping Wednesday.

Have my item picked out, ordering it this week.

package is away, and should arrive in 5 days max.

I am not allowing myself to open my gift until my recipient receives theirs. I will let you know when I get mine and soak in the anticipation.

I got curious so I went back and re-read the Secret Santa 2006 event. Geez, that has to be the worst year out of them all. I'm glad the last five have been super awesome, though.

I finally have what I need to mail out my stuff to who I got. Will go out Friday...payday! woohoo! :D

Nick, your comment got me wondering, so I had to go read the Secret Santa thread from 2006. Thanks for making me waste an hour of my life, jerk :P

(seriously though, if I could find a shitty radio, & a box with a fake bottom so I could include the REAL gift, I would completely troll the person I got)

Alright, I finished my shopping today :D Now I just have to wrap, & find a box to fit all this stuff.
I should be able to get it in the mail on Friday :)

I've shipped my packages.

Merry Chrimmas all! Looks like it's coming early this year. :xmas1

Woah, don't blame me. It's a fun read. So many people got ripped off, and over half the people who posted in that thread are banned for some reason or another. It's kinda like a holiday themed train wreck.

Nick, sorry, I meant that comment in jest - I'm not actually blaming you :)

Shopping done. Packaged up and ready to ship! Hopefully sending out tomorrow or Friday.
Also, 2 packages out of 3 received, Nick! Waiting patiently for the other one to show up before opening any of them. You're one super speedy secret Santa there, sir. :xmas3

Looks like I'll be shipping friday, instead, couldn't find the exact thing I wanted to give.

You guys are doing great.

Also, a great crimmus gift would be them releasing Saul of the Molemen on DVD.

edit: 10,000 Volt Post

I'd rather have more Saul of the Molemen instead of these other live action shows they have now.

Shipping friday!

Package shipped and on it's way! :xmas2 :xmas1

Shipped it today. When my package gets to me I will wait till my person gets theirs.

You don't have to wait, just post when you guys get your stuff :P

yeah, if everyone waits to open their gifts until others open their gifts, then everyone will just have a bunch of unopened boxes!

I mailed my package off today - they said it would take 1 - 2 weeks, so I'm glad I sent it out earlier than the deadline

My gifts have been purchased, but I haven't had a chance to send them out yet. Will be doing that early this week.

Shipped today!

My giftee has got most of their gifts. They just have one more that hasn't arrived.

I completely missed it this year! (It was super fun last year, too - thanks again, Santa!)
AARGH! Oh, well, I can't wait to see the gift photos, and I'll be sure to jump in again next year!

Should send mine out in a few days. Just need to finish wrapping a few things.

I sent my package out to my victim.... er, I mean Secret Santa giftee today. This is going to be so awesome!

Shipped my gifts out of the country today and the shipping cost almost as much as all my gifts did this time (which was a lot). Damnit. >:

To my recipient: MAKE IT WORTH IT. :xmas1 :rock

I hear you there about shipping Rog - I ended up spending $15 on shipping, & that was the cheapest viable option o_0

Whatever, it's completely worth it. If I hadn't spent my money on this, I would have just spent it on something stupid, like food or living expenses ;P

I wasn't able to get tracking due to it being out of the country, did you have that same problem?

Yeah, I'm not sure any shipping method (FedEx, UPS, USPS) offers international tracking.
Shipping always tends to be expensive for me. I guess I send a lot of heavy crap. :lol

Oh, well. It is Christmas after all. :xmas1

Just remember everyone. The point of the Christmas spirit is to give your money to the post office or fed ex. Those guys work really hard year round and deserve the christmas bonus we here at I-Mockery have provided them with this year.

I could have got tracking, but it would have been an extra $8, & from what I know of tracking out of the country, it just tells you that it left the country - not worth it IMHO (I know the rules tell you to get a tracking number, but sorry guys, I broke that rule - if you'd like, I can make up a tracking number & it'll be about as useful as the one from the post office :P)

I can understand why the post office wouldnt offer internation tracking, what with it being a different post office in a different country and all, but I can't see why fed ex/UPS wouldnt offer internation tracking. I mean isnt it the same company no matter where in the world it is?


edit: So on a whim I checked my canadian tracking number on the US postal website, and was surprised to find out, it works and it's still tracking even out of country. so you guys might want to give that a shot.

Yeah! I gots paid now I can ship ship ship. Hope my SS likes their loot. :D

Update: It's shipped! Woot!

Yeah, tracking works somewhat. I ship to Russia occasionally to inlaws. And it's cute when the Postal Workers say "It'll arrive in 6-10 days" when it's really 15-20. And most of that it's just sitting in customs, according to tracking. I don't believe we've lost a package yet to Russia, they just take FOREVER.

So did anybody get their goodies yet? Seems like a few people should already have their gifts so they can start posting 'em. Looking forward to seeing whatcha got!

I received my package today. I'd say its my best fallout so far! I have to charge my camera but after gym and dinner I'll take pictures as soon as possible! Thank you still anonymous person! :rock

You're welcome! :rock:rock:rock:rock:rock:rock

Oh sweet I got you last year right?

That seams to be the trend the past few years.

Yep, you sent to me last year. Funny how the universe works itself out, eh?