Sunday, December 18, 2005

Vasel & Santa

For all the crap on the www that gets tossed Tom Vasel's way for whatever reason, this is one of the most interesting things to happen on boardgamegeek that I've seen:

Tom's Secret Santa Thread

It's amazing for three things:

1) Over 200 people signed up to send a game, blind, to someone else regardless of geographical location. This all happened in a few hours.

2) There is no guarantee that you're going to get a game back. Tom worked eight hours to match people up, and he still missed some. People don't seem to really care.

3) People are having fun just scheming to send gifts out, and then some.

Tales of the Secret Santas

So, by posting a single thread on the Geek, Tom created sales for 200+ games and an equivalent amount of postage and delivery out of nothing. And people are happy to send out games because they know that the recepient is a boardgame geek like themselves. I think that even if you don't get a game back (possible) the giddiness of sending out something that brings joy is worth the $50 or so.

If I didn't live on the other side of the world, I'd be doing the same thing. Maybe next year.

Good show Mr. Vasel, good show.

No comments: