Meta: I Ran a Secret Santa Three Times. This Is What I Learned.

[catwalksalone]

Panel Author: witchqueen



Before You Open For Business

• Prepare the website or LJ community:
  
  
  • Set your due dates in stone (include the time and timezone in the due
    date.)
  
  
  • Make the graphics and pick the colors (or bribe someone to do it for
    you.)
  
  
  • Write the FAQ (have clear and stringent consequences for defaulting;
    do not back down for death, disease, or dismemberment.)
  
  


• Create the sign up form:
  
  
  
  
  • Restrict the qualities by which you are going to match participants
    together: fandom, characters, pairings, and other datum suitable for
    manipulating with a spreadsheet.
  
  
  • Restrict the amount of things participants are allowed to reject.
    (Personally, I'm in favor of no opt-out at all. If you say you can write
    in that fandom, you should write any character in that fandom. If you say
    you can write that character, you better be happy writing the character
    paired with anyone or doing anything. If you say you can write happy, that
    better be anything from curtainfic to crackfic. Some people are not the
    draconian dictator I enjoy being.)
  
  
  • Restrict the amount of prompt participants are allowed to sign up
    with. They should not be giving story summaries and stage directions.
    Premise and situation, or possibly just a noun or a concept. If they want
    to run rampant with ideas, remind them that that's what the Dear Santa
    letter is for.
  
  

Once You Open For Business

• Advertise your Secret Santa in your fandom
  newsletter


• If you set up your secretsanta as an LJ community, make one of your
  interests secret
  santa, so people can find you.


• Ask for pinchhitters when people sign up to participate. Make it clear
  that you can sign up to be a pinchhitter without requesting a story. There
  are crazy wonderful people who dig that.


• If you are a procrastinator or one of those people who turns in
  stories to challenges at the last possible minute, do not request a story
  in your own challenge. If you do decide to request a story in
  your challenge, pick the request you want to write. If you randomly throw
  yourself in the pot, you can be stuck with some WTF request. You don't
  have time for WTF.


• As soon as you get your first sign up, start throwing your
  participants in a spreadsheet with their name and the characteristics by
  which you are going to match them.


• Keep in contact with your participants. Send them reminders that they
  have a story due, send them tips for working on their story, host 'Dear
  Santa' letters. Every time you contact your participants, include the
  due date.

Once Stories Are Due

• Do not give extensions for any reason. If it's late, send the request
  out to a pinch hitter right away, no matter what excuse they give
  you.


• Everyone who turned in a story on time must get a story. This
  is both because it's the right thing to do (you enticed them to
  participate in the challenge with the assurance that they would get a
  story), but also because people will stop participating in your challenge
  if they turn in a story and don't get one. They may stop participating in
  gift exchanges all together.


• Post late work if it is turned in before the posting date. No one is
  upset to get the story they were supposed to get and a pinch
  hit.

After the Stories Are Posted

• Thank your pinch hitters. A lot.


• Take notes on how things can go better next year.


• If you don't want to run the challenge again, let people know. Someone
  just may be crazy kind enough to take it off your
  hands.