Kat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kindness_says) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yuletide2021-11-03 08:00 pm
kindness_says) wrote in yuletide2021-11-03 08:00 pm
Entry tags:
Yuleswaps 2021: ALL MATCH-UPS SENT! FINALLY!
Hey swappers -- we apologize for the delay! We are a day or two behind schedule due to various RL interruptions and distractions, but...watch this space! Yuleswaps 2021 match-up emails are coming over the next three(?) days. This post will be updated as each batch goes out:
Candy? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 2:33 PM PDT on Thursday 11/4, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Drinks? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 4:09 PM PDT on Friday 11/5, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Books? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 6:50 PM PDT on Saturday 11/6, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Once match-up emails have gone out, if you do not have yours:
1) Make sure you know which email you signed up with -- look for your sign-up confirmation if you're not sure! (Searching "Swaps Forever" should bring up both your Google Forms confirmation/s AND your match-up email/s, ideally. But if not...)
2) Double-check the various Inbox tabs (e.g. "Promotions" on gmail) AND YOUR SPAM!
If you still don't have it (or have forgotten which email you used), please leave us a comment here WITH YOUR AO3 NAME. Also, email us -- ideally also with your AO3 name -- at yuleswaps at gmail dot com.
If you do have your match-up email, as hopefully most of you do:
Please check in, as always, at...
SWAPS CENTRAL [2021]
PLEASE DOUBLE-CHECK THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED THE SAME AO3 NAME YOU SIGNED UP WITH, with correct capitalization/spelling, and with no extra spaces!!
Throughout the course of the next 1-3 months, please keep us AND your sender and recipient as in the loop as possible. Your sender and recip, via email. Us, via Swaps Central (and sometimes also email)!
At Swaps Central, you will be able to tell us:
+ RIGHT NOW: that you've received your match-up email/s! (Please make sure you are checking boxes under the correct swap. Leave swaps you are not participating in BLANK.)
+ when you've first written your recipient, and heard back!
+ when you've first heard from your sender, and written back!
+ when your package is SENT and on its way to your recipient (yaaaay)!
+ when your sender tells you their package is SENT and on its way to you (double yaaaay)!
+ when your recipient emails to let you know they RECEIVED your package (triple yaaaay)!!!!
+ when you've RECEIVED the package your sender sent to you (no yays. I've overplayed the yays)!!!!
+ IF ASSIGNED A PINCH-HIT: all of the above, in the same general fashion. (Please tick the relevant pinch-hit box -- INCOMING if you're the recip, OUTGOING if you're the pinch-hitter -- plus whatever ticky-box you're actually there to report.)
Note that, at later stages, there is no need to re-check boxes you've already submitted, but you can if you can't remember if you've already done them. Or just enjoy checking boxes. :)
If you've received your match-up AND checked in about it on Swaps Central:
Woohoo! Now email your recipient and chat with them about:
- any questions you still have about their tastes
- allergies and other restrictions (ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK!)
- their full name** and address
- any possible customs-related issues, forms to fill out, etc. (if international)
**Sometimes initials/partial names/fandom names work fine. Sometimes your package gets rejected and shipped back across the ocean after your sender paid $$$$ to mail it to you! It is unpredictable, but we STRONGLY suggest including, for example, the surname that is ON YOUR MAILBOX -- or whatever you think has the least chance of being rejected by your local postal service. This goes double if your sender is sending from another country. Returned packages suck for everyone. :(**
Please give your recipient 48 hours to respond, and be conscious of any away periods mentioned in your match-up. If they do not respond after 48 hours, and no away periods seem relevant, please email us, and we will do our best to check if they and/or your email have been eaten by bears.
When purchasing or otherwise locating gifts:
- Pleeeeeeeease double-check ingredients against dietary restrictions, if applicable! We cannot stress this enough. WE CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
- Don't feel like you have to break the bank! Most recipients are more interested in local color, genuine effort, and/or variety than sheer volume or cost. If you're worried about pleasing your recipient, or wondering if the swaps package you're creating is sufficient/appropriate, please refer to the Yuleswaps FAQ -- and then, if still super-concerned, feel free to email us.
- Again, customs. You don't want your package confiscated by Australia!!!! (For those shipping to the US,bobcatmoran once kindly offered information on this here.)
SENDING DEADLINE: Saturday, November 20, 2021
Extensions/Defaulting: As always...get your packages out as early as you can! Holiday post is slow always and we expect will be extra slow (again) this year. However, should you need an extension for any reason, please email us as soon as you realize it is a possibility AND INCLUDE A REQUESTED TIMEFRAME. We almost always grant small extensions, especially to historically reliable swappers, without feeling like a pinch-hitter is needed.
And, of course, if you need to default for any reason, please, please email us. Communication is everything! Life happens! Just let us know. (It's silently disappearing that will get you banned.)
One More Time: don't forget to check in at Swaps Central! And a safe, merry Swapstide to all!
Current FAQ and very old resources post here, for anyone who needs them. Questions and comments here or via email, as always.
Kat & Livi
Candy? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 2:33 PM PDT on Thursday 11/4, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Drinks? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 4:09 PM PDT on Friday 11/5, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Books? ALL MATCH-UPS SENT as of 6:50 PM PDT on Saturday 11/6, from the yuleswaps email. Comment here with your AO3 name if yours didn't come!
Once match-up emails have gone out, if you do not have yours:
1) Make sure you know which email you signed up with -- look for your sign-up confirmation if you're not sure! (Searching "Swaps Forever" should bring up both your Google Forms confirmation/s AND your match-up email/s, ideally. But if not...)
2) Double-check the various Inbox tabs (e.g. "Promotions" on gmail) AND YOUR SPAM!
If you still don't have it (or have forgotten which email you used), please leave us a comment here WITH YOUR AO3 NAME. Also, email us -- ideally also with your AO3 name -- at yuleswaps at gmail dot com.
If you do have your match-up email, as hopefully most of you do:
Please check in, as always, at...
PLEASE DOUBLE-CHECK THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED THE SAME AO3 NAME YOU SIGNED UP WITH, with correct capitalization/spelling, and with no extra spaces!!
Throughout the course of the next 1-3 months, please keep us AND your sender and recipient as in the loop as possible. Your sender and recip, via email. Us, via Swaps Central (and sometimes also email)!
At Swaps Central, you will be able to tell us:
+ RIGHT NOW: that you've received your match-up email/s! (Please make sure you are checking boxes under the correct swap. Leave swaps you are not participating in BLANK.)
+ when you've first written your recipient, and heard back!
+ when you've first heard from your sender, and written back!
+ when your package is SENT and on its way to your recipient (yaaaay)!
+ when your sender tells you their package is SENT and on its way to you (double yaaaay)!
+ when your recipient emails to let you know they RECEIVED your package (triple yaaaay)!!!!
+ when you've RECEIVED the package your sender sent to you (no yays. I've overplayed the yays)!!!!
+ IF ASSIGNED A PINCH-HIT: all of the above, in the same general fashion. (Please tick the relevant pinch-hit box -- INCOMING if you're the recip, OUTGOING if you're the pinch-hitter -- plus whatever ticky-box you're actually there to report.)
Note that, at later stages, there is no need to re-check boxes you've already submitted, but you can if you can't remember if you've already done them. Or just enjoy checking boxes. :)
If you've received your match-up AND checked in about it on Swaps Central:
Woohoo! Now email your recipient and chat with them about:
- any questions you still have about their tastes
- allergies and other restrictions (ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK!)
- their full name** and address
- any possible customs-related issues, forms to fill out, etc. (if international)
**Sometimes initials/partial names/fandom names work fine. Sometimes your package gets rejected and shipped back across the ocean after your sender paid $$$$ to mail it to you! It is unpredictable, but we STRONGLY suggest including, for example, the surname that is ON YOUR MAILBOX -- or whatever you think has the least chance of being rejected by your local postal service. This goes double if your sender is sending from another country. Returned packages suck for everyone. :(**
Please give your recipient 48 hours to respond, and be conscious of any away periods mentioned in your match-up. If they do not respond after 48 hours, and no away periods seem relevant, please email us, and we will do our best to check if they and/or your email have been eaten by bears.
When purchasing or otherwise locating gifts:
- Pleeeeeeeease double-check ingredients against dietary restrictions, if applicable! We cannot stress this enough. WE CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
- Don't feel like you have to break the bank! Most recipients are more interested in local color, genuine effort, and/or variety than sheer volume or cost. If you're worried about pleasing your recipient, or wondering if the swaps package you're creating is sufficient/appropriate, please refer to the Yuleswaps FAQ -- and then, if still super-concerned, feel free to email us.
- Again, customs. You don't want your package confiscated by Australia!!!! (For those shipping to the US,
bobcatmoran once kindly offered information on this here.)SENDING DEADLINE: Saturday, November 20, 2021
Extensions/Defaulting: As always...get your packages out as early as you can! Holiday post is slow always and we expect will be extra slow (again) this year. However, should you need an extension for any reason, please email us as soon as you realize it is a possibility AND INCLUDE A REQUESTED TIMEFRAME. We almost always grant small extensions, especially to historically reliable swappers, without feeling like a pinch-hitter is needed.
And, of course, if you need to default for any reason, please, please email us. Communication is everything! Life happens! Just let us know. (It's silently disappearing that will get you banned.)
One More Time: don't forget to check in at Swaps Central! And a safe, merry Swapstide to all!
Current FAQ and very old resources post here, for anyone who needs them. Questions and comments here or via email, as always.
Kat & Livi
no subject
no subject
and you!
no subject
Quick question. Is it a problem at all if someone in the sender/recipient chain is someone I know, if not well? I don't know them RL, and I'm honestly pleasantly surprised about the fact that I got matched with somebody whose name rings bells, but is that a swaps no-no?
no subject
Occasionally people specifically warn us not to match them with certain people -- close friends in other cities, partners, nemeses, very recent or multiple-repeat matches, etc. -- but as this doesn't sound like any of those things: that's lovely, I'm glad you're excited, and I hope you both have an extra-fun Yuleswaps! (Though now I'm extremely curious if it's sender or recip and may email you to find out. Also because I just remembered a charming story about one time when we accidentally matched two best friends and they had to ask us to change it -- and we were all like, LOL WELL CLEARLY YOU'RE VERY COMPATIBLE THEN. ;))
Because we're not a huge pool, and consequently have never stopped hand-matching, one of the things that actually takes up a fair bit of time is trying to not to constantly match the same people, haha. I feel like at this point I personally know a fair slice of our regulars, and you will too if you keep playing! (Although, thanks to geography, you probably have better odds than some swappers of always getting new matches.)
Enjoy! <3
no subject
I am totally game for a backchannel e-mail, if you feel like sending one, and I will absolutely spill all the details. :) Hi, by the way!
You know the saying (maybe you do, anyway?) about how in Europe, 200 clicks is a long distance and in the States, 200 years is a long time? That definitely applies in my case. :P I'm usually game to mail internationally, but given the whole pandemic kerfluffle and *gives our postmaster general an old-fashioned speaking look* well. I don't trust that holiday gifts for a gal pal in Ireland will reach her in time, if that tells you anything.
no subject
I don't know that saying, but I like it.
I think a lot of people are mailing closer to home this year! though thankfully not all, or some swappers wouldn't have been able to participate. But those who frequently mail internationally are pretty used to the roll of the dice as to whether they'll get their swaps packages in November, December, or April, I think. Last year I sent a (non-swaps) domestic package to a friend that not only arrived many weeks late but had...been torn open and taped back together with a different package inside???? (Like, a small package inside another small package. I think my friend just threw the inner package back in the mail, bc wtf.) SUPER strange. The contents of my original package were just cookies, so not terrible to lose (they'd have been stale by then anyway), but it was just so bizarre.
Let us hope nothing like that happens to any swappers this year, haha!