Thank you to the organizers of the Secret Quonsar Swap.

January 23, 2014 1:47 PM

We've had the announcement threads, the planning thread, and the "thank you for the stuff" threads, but I think we all need to take a moment to thank the organizers of the Secret Quonsar swap.

I know that they are so humble they would disagree, but it seems like an injustice that these MeFites don't yet have their pictures on money or postage stamps or maybe the side of a mountain in one of the Dakotas.

Or, at the very least, a MetaTalk thread created specifically to thank them.

All the MeFite-hours (days? weeks?) they put into the Secret Quonsar results in endless amounts of joy for those of us who participate.

As far as I can tell, the folks who did the work this year* are:

Julen
Arcticseal
Megami
Lampshade

Forgive me if I've left anyone out.

Please join me in thanking them for their hard work and all the fun that occurred as a result. I'm still seeing activity in my "recent activity", showing me they're still working on it. God damn!

Julen, especially, has been involved for a number of years. I used to hang out at another web forum where we had a Secret Santa and two years in a row the person who organized it got so stressed and fed up that they were never heard from again once the swap ended. Yet Julen keeps returning.

So, to you all, thanks so much for the work you've done.

*I didn't go back to look to see who helped in previous years but if you did, add your name to that list.

posted by bondcliff to MetaFilter-Related at 1:47 PM (55 comments total)

For me personally, they were in constant contact with me to make sure I had received my somewhat-late gift and even provided a tracking number once it had been shipped. I should add that they provided this service at no charge.
posted by bondcliff at 1:48 PM on January 23, 2014

So pro. Such elf. Wow.

I was seriously impressed with the level of professionalism they all gave to a holidaytime gift swap, a challenging undertaking even if everything goes well, which it never ever does.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:52 PM on January 23, 2014 [9 favorites]

Thanks, SQ organizers! (Especially arcticseal, who answered my queries instantaneously!)
posted by mlle valentine at 1:55 PM on January 23, 2014

Yeah, they all do amazing work and should be congratulated. Thanks Quonsmas elves!
posted by Rock Steady at 2:00 PM on January 23, 2014

Thanks so much for doing this and the super speedy responses to questions. You all rock.
posted by bearwife at 2:03 PM on January 23, 2014

Three cheers for you guys! Or, four cheers, so it's easier to split up the cheers and mail them in a timely fashion.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:04 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

These are usually amongst The most thankless tasks. So Thank You for taking it on, and rocking it!
posted by ldthomps at 2:05 PM on January 23, 2014

A+++++++++ ELFING
WOULD ELF AGAIN

(Seriously, thanks for the magical Quonsmas awesomeness!)
posted by scody at 2:10 PM on January 23, 2014 [2 favorites]

YAY! HOORAY! THANKS!
posted by rmd1023 at 2:10 PM on January 23, 2014

I couldn't agree more - it's a great aspect of the community, and that people are doing it purely for altruistic reasons year in, year out, makes it even better. I work with salaried people who are less professional and competent (not to mention less friendly, fun, all around great!).

Thanks guys,
posted by smoke at 2:11 PM on January 23, 2014

Yaaay, thank you organizers!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:16 PM on January 23, 2014

Thanks!
posted by ocherdraco at 2:27 PM on January 23, 2014

Amen! Massive project, done with love, that enriches many a person's December. Thanks so very much for the hard work and also being gracious about your hundreds of kibitzers watching the hard work get done. It really is a lovely gift to all the participants.
posted by Miko at 2:38 PM on January 23, 2014

fooooooooorrrrrr.....


they are jolly good quonsars
for they are jolly good quonsars
for they are jolly good quonsaaaaarrrrs

and so say all of us
posted by greenish at 2:40 PM on January 23, 2014 [7 favorites]

Yes! Thank you so much. The Quonsar thread is consistently my favorite thread to follow every year. Hip hip hooray for our Quonses-in-chief!
posted by kimberussell at 3:14 PM on January 23, 2014

This was my first time participating, and I was amazed at how much fun it was, and how smoothly it went.

I can't even imagine how much time and effort our lovely organisers put in to making it such a great experience for everyone, but I appreciate it greatly. Thank you all for being awesome!
posted by dotgirl at 3:18 PM on January 23, 2014

Thanks for all the hard work. Without all that dedication to holiday cheer, I'd never have gotten meat socks from Cortex.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:25 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Seriously -- I had some gifting issues and some shipping issues but the part that wasn't related to my own idiocy and the post's idiocy was SO SMOOTH thanks to the organization here. Thanks again so much.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:26 PM on January 23, 2014

Yeah, great work everyone!
posted by zennie at 3:42 PM on January 23, 2014

Really fantastic job -- you all handled a huge job with a lot of humor, grace, and patience! Thank you!!!
posted by mochapickle at 3:48 PM on January 23, 2014

I didn't participate last year but the times I did were great fun. So yeah, thanks to the SQS organizers for their efforts!
posted by misozaki at 4:03 PM on January 23, 2014

Thanks to those who helped get the mammoth Quon-zep into the air and keep it aloft without a ginormous 'splosion.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:31 PM on January 23, 2014

Yes, thanks to you all! It was a boatload of fun!
Very impressive.
Santa's got nothing on you guys. Seriously.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:09 PM on January 23, 2014

They are all awesome!

Their quick responses to questions and smooth management of the whole process has made for a magical Quonsmas, and I say that as one of the (very few) people still waiting on a gift.
posted by Vectorcon Systems at 6:32 PM on January 23, 2014

Thank you thank you. I enjoyed it so much I am beginning to question my lack of involvement with the Holiday season in general. I loved my gifts and was unreasonably pleased by the posting by my giftee saying how much he liked his.
posted by InkaLomax at 6:33 PM on January 23, 2014

Aw, shucks. *blushes*

Seriously, julen deserves much of the thanks as she sets up the worksheets so well that tracking is easy by the time I get on board. This is the second year I've done it and I'm already signed up for next year as it's so much fun watching people get excited about SQ. I view it as a way of giving back to the community where I spend so much of my online time.
posted by arcticseal at 6:51 PM on January 23, 2014 [4 favorites]

Thank you, quonsar masters, for doing such a great job with this!

Holidays become more complicated as we get older, especially if we started out with complicated families, and I for one enjoyed this holiday season a whole lot more for having something separate from all the complicated relationships in the rest of my life. A little moment of pure joy! A gift given and received with no strings!

Thanks again and again and I can't wait for next year!
posted by Tandem Affinity at 7:10 PM on January 23, 2014

yes, we love you! Thank you for making it such a wonderful internet holiday! I accidentally drew my spouse (meatspace spouse, not just metafilter spouse) and they gave me a new quonsee. Hear hear. (Here, here? I don't know which it is.)
posted by Tesseractive at 7:19 PM on January 23, 2014

Hear, hear!
posted by donajo at 8:06 PM on January 23, 2014

Um, wow.

OK, if we're handing out thanks, we should start with parmanparman who suggested it and Argyle who was the first organizer. Indigo Rain took over, and then we worked on it together for a few years. After that crunchland, phunniemee, and arcticseal were follow quonsczars (I'm still trying out terms for the administrators, cycling through them, running them up the flagpole, etc). This year arcticseal and megami were awesome. Lampshade was slated to be on duty in February, which looks like we won't need since we're at the tail end of the swap now. He also provided some excellent advice last year that was probably super-basic stuff for him, but made a difference for me.

But mostly you all were awesome and expeditious and communicative and patient and good-natured and understanding and delightful this year, which made us more efficient than ever. We needed fewer second chancers, had no mysteries, and only a small subset of you made us shake our heads in disbelief (not always negatively!).

Our efforts this year is on the shoulders of previous years - we learn a lot each year, and the various administrators of the years have done wonderful work in refining our tools and processes, the rules and the guidelines and the best practices, and in establishing the swap as something people are willing to participate in.

Our goal is to be more efficient, have better communication out, and find ways to make everything run smoother next year. So I've been banging the drum in the Thank You thread for feedback and suggestions from people whose perspectives aren't formed by running the thing. That thread is also an excellent place to thank your quonsar if you haven't done so already.
posted by julen at 8:32 PM on January 23, 2014 [9 favorites]

The amount of work Julen, Arcticseal, Megami, Lampshade (and all those who came before) do to make Secret Quonsar possible is simply incredible. As a participant, I find Secret Quonsar to be sheer joy, and I know it is such fun for me because they do all the heavy lifting. My heartfelt thanks to you all for making one part of what can be a complicated season nothing but excellent fun. You're all awesome!
posted by faineant at 9:43 PM on January 23, 2014

As another first time Quonsar participant, thank you very, very much to the organizers! This was just fantastic fun.

A+++ WOULD QUONSE AGAIN!
posted by RedOrGreen at 10:31 PM on January 23, 2014

Thank you all for making a dark time of the year brighter.
posted by you must supply a verb at 1:14 AM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

This was my first year and between my inbound gifts coming in from Japan and my out bound gifts crossing from Canada to the US they were on to of communication and made sure things were smooth. So awesome!!!!
posted by chasles at 4:28 AM on January 24, 2014

Quonsar was fun and perfect, great job!
posted by oceanjesse at 5:14 AM on January 24, 2014

More with the: Thanks! This was my first time, and I was a little nervous, but it was so much fun, and felt so good, and it was just everything they said it would be. Thank you. You folks are the cat's ass!

From the cat's perspective, of course.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:48 AM on January 24, 2014

This was really great. My first time - and I'll definitely take part again. Thanks to all the organizers and thanks to quaking fajita and freyja for making my sending and receiving experiences so much fun!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:52 AM on January 24, 2014

*kermit wave* Yaaaaaay! */ kermit wave *
posted by Sophie1 at 7:07 AM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

Without question, the hard work and thoughtfulness and goodnatured-ness of all those involved in organizing this is wonderful and much appreciated by me.
posted by darsh at 7:54 AM on January 24, 2014

Adding my thanks; I'll send a suggestion separately. Great job by all of you.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 8:38 AM on January 24, 2014

I concur; the Quonczars are elfsome. Thanks!
posted by theora55 at 8:42 AM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

Yes, thanks so much to the excellent organizers of all things Quonsmas! You all did such a great job to make the experience pleasant and easy. Huzzah-huzzah-huzzah! I'm already looking forward to next year.
posted by but no cigar at 11:11 AM on January 24, 2014

I agree with everyone that this is a real cool thing to do for the rest of us. Many of us end up moaning about getting our single present bought and sent off but the organisers are doing a pile of work for no reward except perhaps the warm glow of a job well done. It's a great effort. Many thanks.
posted by biffa at 12:57 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yes, thank you so much. My gift did not get to its proper place for a looonnnggg time and julen was right on it.
posted by readery at 1:44 PM on January 24, 2014

Yeah, thanks! You guys went above and beyond in keeping track of mailings and arrivals, and relaying messages from senders/recipients! Thank you!
posted by ms.codex at 6:47 PM on January 24, 2014

All the SQ organizers are made of awesome. It's just about my favourite thing ever and made possible by the hard work of the Secret Quonsar elves. Thank you, thank you!
posted by angiep at 6:53 PM on January 24, 2014

Would totally quons again. Thank to all who helped organize such an amazing effort.
posted by TrishaLynn at 7:35 PM on January 24, 2014

Thank you! The communication from everyone was amazing, and they even managed to pass on my new address to my Secret Quonsar in time for them to ship to our new house!
posted by Lulu's Pink Converse at 10:01 AM on January 25, 2014

Thank you!
posted by introp at 5:55 PM on January 25, 2014

I really enjoyed my first quonsar and a lot of that is definitely due to the organising and behind the scenes work, so thank you, thank you! :D
posted by halcyonday at 5:40 AM on January 26, 2014

To all the Quonczars, a massive pile of quons-thanks! You run the whole operation so smoothly that most of us never even see how much work you do: you're like ducks serenely floating on a pond but all the while paddling furiously, out of sight!
posted by easily confused at 8:17 AM on January 26, 2014

I said it before and I'll say it again. Last year really sucked, and SQ was one of the brightest spots. I love that Julen and her elves for making it happen, and it's one of my favorite things in the world. Thank you for making the world a lovelier place. <3
posted by bibliogrrl at 4:26 PM on January 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

So many thanks to everyone who made this year's Quonsmas wonderful! Julen and all the elves kept on top of it all and I'm in awe of their secret powers of organization and Quonsmas magic.
posted by notaninja at 4:48 PM on January 26, 2014

Awesome work Quonsmas elves! Thank you!
posted by travelwithcats at 10:25 AM on January 27, 2014

Thank you guys so much for all your hard work in organizing this. May the spirit of Quonsmas be with you always!
posted by amelliferae at 3:15 PM on January 27, 2014