Lawrence, KS

One of the more popular holiday games, Secret Santa is a fun and easy way for a group of friends, family members or co-workers to exchange gifts.

The basic concept of the Secret Santa game is simple. All of the participants’ names are placed into a hat, box, etc. and mixed up. Each person then chooses one name from the box, but doesn’t tell anyone which name was picked. He/she is now responsible for buying a gift for the person selected.

Ashley (dadsbadnews) had an idea to have a Lawrence Secret Santa for the Lawrence tweeters. With Christmas quickly approaching (in 45 days) we were trying to think about how to get this organized. I spoke to Ben Smith (benasmith) regarding an extra tweetup next month but I believe with the holidays this would create much more chaos and less fun. Who really needs a bigger headache over the holidays, right?

So here is what we’ve decided…

• You must let Ashley (dadsbadnews), or myself, Kimberlee (Jells) know if you would like to participate via comment here, a DM on Twitter or an email (kimberlee.bourdon@gmail.com) no later than Wednesday, November 11th.
• Those attending the tweetup (ltwup) at The Barrel House (barrelhousepb) on Thursday, November 12th from 7pm – 10pm will be able to pick a name for the Secret Santa. Those not attending can DM me or Ashley & we can give you a name not chosen that night.
• Buy one gift that costs no more than $15 (max) for the name you’ve drawn. One of the funnest parts is getting to know the person whose name you’ve drawn. Try to keep the fact that you’ve drawn their name a secret though. Read their tweets, blogs, etc. & see if you can pick up on any clues of things they like, or don’t like. This will help you choose a suitable gift.
• Bring your gift to the December 10th Tweetup – plans are that it will be pot luck dinner also bring a non perishable food item to be donated to the local food pantry afterward. If for some reason you cannot make this tweetup, please let us know so that we may find another way to get your gift to the name you have chosen. We don’t want anyone feeling left out.

Secret Santa is suppose to be light, fun and easy. Not only are you getting to know each other better but also spreading holiday cheer between one another.Be creative, re-gifting is fine, make something, bake, buy, create, it’s your choice. Just have fun with it.

Remember if you would like to participate please let Ashley (dadsbadnews), or myself, Kimberlee (Jells) know before Wednesday (Nov 11th).

UPDATE: Names so far:

Kimberlee (Jells)
Dave (HawksGun)
Ashley (dadsbadnews)
Joe (JoeDavis34)
Mary (MarymEnt)
Jessica (jessicaboehle)
Debbi (debjohanning)