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Every Christmas for the past six years members of the Great British Hobbit League have entered into a mutual gift giving like no other. The annual SBG Secret Santa is one of the continuing reasons this community is undoubtedly unique among gaming scenes - people from across the world enter into an agreement to send a gift package to a complete stranger in the expectation another person returns the favour...
It works every year, and the GBHL Facebook page is FILLED with people sharing posts about their SBG Secret Santa Gifts, it's delightful in so many ways. But every year there are people wishing they'd joined... Well, this is its seventh iteration, so get involved! To help persuade you further, Sebastian Raats - head elf for the programme - has written the following article, enjoy!
"Every year, I receive the same question in October. Will there be an SBG Secret Santa event this year? Of course there will be. It’s something I don’t mind being asked, because seeing the exact same question from multiple people in my inbox only confirms that this funny little idea I had years ago is now something those same people genuinely care about. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll refer you to last year’s excellent blog post about the event. And if you do know, then it’s likely that you’ve either already participated, or are at least considering it. (You should, it’s great fun!) Is SBG Santa a perfect event? Of course it isn’t, but that’s part of the charm of it. Every year things go wrong. And every year, improvements are made. This year in particular brings a particular leap forward. I’m already anticipating things to go terribly wrong because I’m trying out things for the first time again. But if I can pull this off, it will mean that future editions will be all the better for it. But enough reflecting. If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering what these changes are, and how they will affect you! (Assuming you’re participating, but you are, right?). Well, let’s take a look at the internal kitchen of SBG Santa HQ.
In previous years, people were asked to send an email with all the necessary information. You’d be surprised how many emails I got with incomplete information, or from people that simply ignored the request to not just send a wishlist comprising one or two kits. To streamline things, I’m introducing a Google form this year. It’s a simple matter of filling in all the questions and submitting, and it shouldn’t take any more time than composing an email. The advantage is that all answers are automatically sorted into a worksheet, from which I can easily sort people by tier and shipping preferences. From this sheet, I can then send out batch emails for each pool through mail merge. This should streamline things as well as speed things up considerably, both for myself and for all participants, which leaves more time for painting models or getting a game or two in.
Last year, a whopping 105 hobbyists participated, and of course, I hope we surpass this number again this year. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing someone post a picture of the gift you carefully put together, and expressing their feelings of thanks. And who knows? Perhaps you’ll run into your recipient at a gaming event and are able to play against their army that you planted the seed for with your gift. Of course, I’ll be participating myself, just like every year -in fact, I’ve been putting off the purchase of specific kits just so I could tailor my own wishlist so if my recipient is reading this… No, that would be spoiling things. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have to finish painting the Dragon Emperor I was so graciously gifted last year, and I do want to have that one finished before this year’s gift arrives."
Thanks to Sebastian for that! It's a cracking idea, and I've LOVED taking part every year, I've had some amazing gifts and incredibly thoughtful snacks - every year I feel I need to up my gift giving game because of the quality of what i've received!
If you haven't already signed up GET ON BOARD! The Deadline for entry is the 21st of November so you still have a few days to decide what you'd like under your tree this Christmas!
Finally, on behalf of all those involved in previous years, I want to thank Sebastian for the amount of work he's put in this year, and for the last seven working on this.
League Update!
Since the last blog update the League has continued to hot up with David Farmer leapfrogging over Jake Rawson onto the top of the podium, his win at The Battle on the Coast (near Belfast) securing him the extra GBHL100 win he needed to take the top spot... But will he hold onto it?! Keep an eye out, and if you want more on Dave and Jake's duel, check out this marathon Gollum's Gamer interview with them.
CURRENT GBHL PODIUM:
David Farmer
Jake Rawson
Ashley Woolger
Team Rankings:
The Guardians From Distant Lands
7th City Crusaders
Gollum's Gamers
To see where you are in the National League, Sporting, Painting and in the regions have a look at the GBHL Rankings here. And to get the latest results and pictures from events head over to "the insta" where we're posting about the best MESBG players and Painters! Tap here to follow the official GBHL Account @gbhl_official . UPCOMING EVENTS*
*With event pages on the GBHL and Tickets still available.
We'll talk more about the 2023 league soon, but in the meantime check out the calendar of events here, read winning army lists here, and check where you are in the placings for both gaming and Hobbying here!
Until Next time, may this hobby be a light for you when all other lights go out.
BURARUM - HARRY - GBHL Marketing CoOrdinator
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