Surprise!!...the grand opening (Part 1)

I am afraid this post was due to have lovely snaps of people opening presents but I have failed to copy them to the correct computer so just for today, due to the success of the previous one, here is another cute kitten...ah.

It feels like so long since I started this and it seems a little sad that it has to come to an end but it must. We have had the early Christmas party (we were not going to be able to be together as a family on Dec 25th so decided to have a great big party before we all head off to our respective retreats) and the presents have been distributed.

Before I get into what was in all of my parcels I'd like to thank my gifter (to continue the lame naming convention I started with "giftee"!) for my goodies...I received a number of running / fitness / recovery products to help improve my performance but more importantly to soothe my bones in the hours and days afterwards!!

There were a number of other imaginative / thoughtful gifts for the rest of the family including some materials for a reluctant artist...look forward to seeing the results some day?

OK, to the list. I am please to announce that currently I have received 32 gifts (and have the promise of 4 outstanding...it's not too late to get them here!!) and the the lucky recipient is my little sister, Lucy. In a strange twist of fate I think (although cannot be too sure) that I may have recognised her handwriting on the tag to my gift.

In order to keep these posts to a manageable length and to give due space to the top presents I'll go through the first 10 gifts now with more to come.

Perhaps the most important present was also the first I received, from a lovely woman called Emma at Lego. Her simple reply to my note was,

"You have made me laugh, go on. What is your address."

Without that reply so soon after sending out my first batch of notes I might have given up on what seemed like quite a cool if a little random idea. In the package was a cool Lego Duplo plane which will be given to one of Lucy's friends little boy.

Also amongst the first few gifts were teabags from Twinings...and if you look back at the post you can get some too, some vouchers and pens from Hovis, post-it notes and pencils from Weetabix and another pencil from the Independent newspaper (which thrilled a certain crossword puzzler in the family, sometimes it's the little things!)

Both of the mystery presents were solved I can tell you in this post about the first...it was from Boots who cunningly tied their gift into the 3 for 2 offer they are running for Christmas and to make up for not mentioning it that much when the parcel arrived here is the link to all the info - Christmas @ Boots!! BTW it was a set of nail varnish!!...good job the present was for a woman!

Which brings me nicely on to Mr & Mrs Smith who were the only people to ask anything about the person I was giving the gifts to...Aline - gold star for you guys! And for this extra little bit of effort you reaped huge rewards, Lucy loved the CD (get your copy and romance someone here) and I am def looking forward to staying in your places again very soon (I had an amazing first anniversary thanks to our finding your website.)

Rounding out the first ten was a cool poster from Berghaus and some signed Michael Phelps goodies from speedo...mum and aunt were quite taken by the cute swimmer although they'd never admit it!!

To be honest I would have been overjoyed to have given just these gifts to my sister but there is more, much more, to come...

Perfect for the chilly winter...I guess?

It's getting quieter as we get closer to the grand opening, I haven't sent out any emails in the past week or so but am patiently waiting for a couple of parcels to turn up...one big promise in particular!

As we slide towards the end of the year it is also getting quite cold, readers in the UK will have noticed a distinct bite in the air of a morning. There may be some help in the form of the latest arrival from Helly Hansen makers of great ski / outdoor clothing layers and more. Quite a big package with a number of different humps and bumps...although I am not feeling them, of course!!

Those of you following the lost pen saga will be pleased to hear that the original "measuring pen" has been found safe and sound in a drawer nestled in a spiral notebook...if there is enough demand it might make another appearance before this is all over?

Thinking about pens, I wonder what the protocol is for "Thank you" letters? Will I have to get the giftee to write 30+ letters of gratitude to each of the generous donors?...or are these blog posts enough?...or will I have to get some Winnie the Pooh notelets?

Big update, lot's of little parcels!!

Blimey, things are really hotting up now...I have 6...YES 6 new parcels to add to the pile, mound, mountain, tower.

Just a couple of pics at the bottom today so that I can concentrate on the writing to tell you all about them. Firstly an intruiging little envelope from Sara Lee (and with a bit of googling I tracked this back to Radox on the list) I'm sure my giftee could do with something to soak the winter bones in!! Another minor company investigation led me to Nivea by way of Beiersdorf.

Next up the first reply from a drinks company...Famous Grouse...now one person in my family is a great fan so perhaps if these gifts are not going to him then he might want to try and persuade the lucky person to donate to his cause. I can confirm however that the envelope is flat and very un-bottle shaped!

More food related goodies arrived in the form of an envelope from Domino's pizza, I'm personally hoping that is it something pepperoni related but it is distinctly lacking in any kind of smell that would suggest a pre-Christmas Meat Feast delivery!!

I was told a bit about the penultimate gift from AEG and can only confirm that it / they might help if you were wanting to keep any pizza you did get from dribbling down your front!

Last but in no way bottom, a tantalisingly described "Christmas in a bag" from Pret (again a free unbiased plug from me - my favourite holiday shopping lunch is their Turkey and Trimmings sarnie!!)

I am genuinely getting very excited about this, not sure if I can keep my twitchy fingers away from those little envelopes and large expanses of sticky tape holding all of the answers inside. Roll on S-day!!

P.S. am quite proud of the grouse pic.

Pirelli and Wow!

Yes I know this text is bigger than normal and it may seem like I am shouting but that is because I have just received the largest parcel yet, from Pirelli.

Now it could be a joke, as one thing that everyone I have had contact with during the project has had in common is a decent sense of humour, but I am very excited about what it might contain. I felt that the normal pen for scale was not adequate in this case so decided to hold the pen too (please bear in mind I have quite small hands.) As you can see from the picture there are some tantalising clues about the contents. Could there really be 200 pieces of something in side? Has the parcel come all the way from China? What relevance La Spezia? We shall soon see.

Spoiler alert - another company spilled the beans so I feel duty bound to share with you. P&O have very generously added to the pile (and it is now a jolly large physical pile) tickets for a bunch of people to make a return trip between Dover and Calais!!!! Not in a rowing boat either...in one of their bloomin' great ferries and you should take a car with you too so that you can drive the other side!

This (following quickly on from those pups at Innocent smoothies) was the second of a triumvirate of great emails I received on Friday and am just waiting for the third to convert from promise to delivery...it was delivered with such confidence that I think it may trump everything so far??? Don't prove me wrong!

Everton come good...phew

I am concious that not everyone likes football, so if you are not prone to finding yourself excitedly anticipating Super Sunday on Sky Sports of a weekend then this post is not really for you. In order not to alienate you though I have provided a nice picture of a fluffy kitten and in order to make this an accurately interactive experience please look at it for 25 seconds which is the average time it will take the rest of us to read the footy bit. If you are a particularly slow reader then you could linger a little longer on it's little button nose? After you have done this simply skip to the very last line.

OK, back to the point of this post.

I am happy to report that after my plea last week I was very happy yesterday to find 2 new envelopes in my mailbox. Judging by the thickness of the envelope from Goodison HQ I am sure that anything the reds can do the blues have done better! It did seem to take a bit of doing though, I sent the note to the main info email address and after a couple of forwards it found its way to John Howard to whom I am very grateful....and Tim Cahill's people (I am sure he doesn't do his own mail) also provided a nice little package.

It has been really interesting to see how requests for this kind of seasonal fun have been received / dealt with. It starts with the company website which may or may not have email links to a customer care group or (if I have been very lucky) a marketing / media team...otherwise it has been the "tell us what you think" form. I have tried to keep the request worded exactly the same throughout for fairness altough in some cases I have had to work within the tweetlike confines of a couple hundred characters.

You will have seen in previous posts some of the most amusing, impressive and disappointing replies...I will no doubt have more to share before the end of this jape. My single favourite however is the knockback that concluded "Dave Gorman would be v impressed"...not sure about that as when I asked him to send a copy of his DVD he replied "I don't have any at my house, it's the distributor you need to ask"...I didn't receive a further reply when I kindly offered to accept a piece of signed furniture instead.

I continue to be amazed by the amusement contained within most of the replies (positive or otherwise) I have received, it seems that I have captured a few people's imagination and the outcomes have proved well worth all of the effort.

So that is the secret of a happy marriage, a good life and continued health...hopefully more updates tomorrow!!

On my wavelength - Innocent smoothies

EDIT - parcel arrived from Innocent!! A small but no doubt fun filled envelope from Jojo, thanks v much, look forward to seeing what is in this one!

----

Friday was, for a few reasons, VERY brilliant...most of them are still coming to fruition (see what I did there!) but I can tell you about the one that has made my weekend a huge amount of fun!

Jojo from Innocent Smoothies replied to my note with the following;

Thanks very much for your e-mail. As we're inundated with requests for free stuff, we've developed a revolutionary policy whereby if you do something nice for us, we'll do something nice for you. People have made us handmade wall-hangings and bottle bags, homemade cakes, even photo stories starring their favourite recipes. Put your thinking cap on and who knows what might happen.

Well this sent my brain a whirring (and must admit that Cath was a great source of ideas over dinner on Friday night) to find something appropriate to show the love. Given that it was the weekend that we normally celebrate that great parliamentary near miss we settled on something fireworky. After a few beers / glasses of wine we had a fabulous idea...given the amount of time I think we have done pretty well.

Our plan was put in place in Battersea Park on Saturday before the main show although we did have to improvise after finding out that some of our planned equipment is no longer allowed in public...yes there was a ban on sparklers!!

About 30 minutes of horsing around and we had what we needed...an afternoon of digital tomfoolery today and all was done!

So here it is...with a lot of thanks to shape-thrower extra-ordinaire Mark and artisitc directors Cath and Caryn.

So, Innocent Smoothies...my gift to you... x

...and here are some extras from the cutting room floor!!

Thick and slightly more leisurely pace...catch up number 2

This is the second part of the big weekend catch up...I am really sorry for this but the envelope got bundled in with another and as I was doing a bit of a check and tidy I realised that I hadn't thanked you...

So thank you, I hope the drawing makes up for the tardiness of the gratitude.

Next up Russell & Bromley, and a lovely short note from Jo stating that they had found the perfect gift...definitely a small hint of excitedness about that one! I look forward to seeing what comes out of that package...it definetely is not a shoe is all I can say.

Two more mentions, firstly KP...nuts, nuts, nuts although the parcel was more squishy than crunchy and a pretty sizeable / weighty box from the guys at Mentholatum. I really appreciate this gift as I know they also support a number of local sports clubs and charities. For one or two members of the family, these could be very fitting presents and more readily received than some of the more exotic gifts!!..we will have to wait and see.

Almost lastly thanks to those who replied but couldn't help...Pepsi, Panasonic, Honda, Ford, Toilet Duck, Thermos, Visa, HP, Callaway, Dermalogica, TRESemme, Four Seasons, Sanatogen, M.A.C., Whiskas, Audi, Marmite, Whirlpool, Lindt, Tesco, IKEA, L'Oreal, Toys R Us (a personal disappointment!!), Johnson & Johnson, Longleat, Charles Worthington and Amazon.

Final, final thing I am very excited about the coming week I have been promised one BIG COOL gift and am waiting to hear about the results of a VERY special Monday morning brainstorming session.

Thick and fast...catchup part 1

I have now completed my list...everyone on the Superbrands top 500 have been contacted and a huge thanks for the replies and offers...keep them coming. As you will see I have updated the league table and the competition is hotting up!!

This week has seen a number of new arrivals - first came a very speedy delivery from hmv.com with the help of Fopp - I think that I got an email reply within the hour and a crisp logoed envelope hit the desk by the next morning! Well done for embracing the competitive side of this challenge!...and yes, that is why they get 2 logos!!

Next up a very intriguing box from Wagamama, my fave stop in Putney for chilled Sunday evening nosh!! (They didn't ask me to say that - that's for free from me!) I reckon it might either be a miniature knives set or possibly something a little more decorative. The best bit of this whole wheeze is trying to guess what is in these parcels...I almost burst the other day when one of the larger deliveries arrived.

The third mention today is a wonderfully squishy parcel from PG Tips (perhaps a giant inflatable tea bag?) Congrats on being the only company from the Unilever world to offer goodies (I hope that is correct - there are quite a large number of corporations with some quite random product linkages!!)

P.S. I lost my other pen so now have to use my "nice pen" as a size guide...it's about the same length and I'm not sure you care anyway even if al of these parcels are miniature they are still flipping amazing!!

More to come later / over the weekend!!

Red, Gold and Green & Blacks

I am a bit behind in catching up with things so have quite a few parcels to update you on. First up is the one I have been dreading since sending...Liverpool FC!

I have supported a different team who play within a stone's throw of Anfield all of my life and have therefore reason to build up a completely irrational dislike of the RedSide so imagine my peril when I scanned down to number 225 in the Superbrands list to find my footballing nemesis.

After a short pause I realised it was only fair to give them a chance to supply goodies so I fired off a note to their marketing department smug in the knowledge that no other sporting team or hero had offered anything (Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal) and my favourites had not even replied (yes that is you Everton and Bath RFC.) How wrong could I be? Without email warning they only went and sent a lovely neat envelope that looks about the right size for either something signed or a season ticket...well would you buy one at the moment would you?

I am obviously being mean...thank you very much for taking part and I wish all at the club a Happy Christmas...but Boxing Day, well...?

Next up Green & Blacks...a lovely weighty parcel and a promise from my contact that they have included a special little extra for me!!

Thank goodness as we are now at 17 presents and I am starting to think that I am going to be pretty jealous watching this lot getting opened...not to mention my other family members who stuck completely to the rules!

I also know that they are running a comp at the moment to become one of their tasting panel check website for details - linky here

Off to bed now but at the moment such excitement as each day brings with it new things through the letter box...I have just seen 2 or 3 more that I will update you about that arrived earlier this afternoon but just haven't had time to study!!

Thanks but...and we'd love to but

I'd like to take a short amount of time to mention those companies that kindly replied to my silly email. In most cases it was to explain that they already partner with community teams / charities in their chosen geographical or product area.

So to Crayola, Clarks, Five TV, Clinique, Timberland, Reckitt and Benckiser, Carbtree & Evelyn, Nectar, Maltesers, Imperial Leather, Lucozade, Molton Brown, Cadburys, Heinz, Ted Baker, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Adidas, Thorntons, Guinness, Nike, Dyson, BMW, Duracell, Virgin Mobile, Apple, BBC and British Airways...

Thanks and I hope that you and your beneficiaries have a great Christmas!

To all the others, I look forward to hearing from you.

A years free Krispy Kreme doughnuts - oops there goes the surprise!!

It has arrived!!

Now I know I said that I wouldn't open any of the presents thus making the surprise bigger and better for all of us but this could not be helped.

A couple of days ago I received an email from the lovely Nicola telling me that she was prepared to supply a Krispy Kreme Gold Card for the giftee...a quick google confirmed such thing existed and the excitement started to build.

I was at a work function last night so was a little later (and fuzzier of head) than normal this morning and went straight into a meeting, on my way back to my desk I checked my postbox. I must admit that I was told to expect delivery early next week but couldn't help a little peek...felt a little like Charlie Bucket. And there it was, the little envelope.

So, my giftee...along with all of the other cool stuff so far...you now have a whole year of free doughnuts!! From Krispy Kreme!!!...yes I did need that many exclamation marks.

If you don't know who these doughnut makers extraordinaire are then check out their website - www.krispykreme.co.uk - or facebook page - krispy kreme fb - they've got some fun hallowe'en specials at the mo.

Thanks Nicola and Mr / Mrs Krispy for hopefully changing the dimension of this game!!

BTW - If you think you or your company can outgift this then please get in contact, but a years free doughnuts (and not those dried out supermarket specials either!!) is going to take some beating!!

Say it very quietly...something big this way comes...

...and it's doughnut shaped...I will divulge more when it arrives...but everyone will need to up their game to beat this one...

KRISPY

...whisper it...

KREME

How will the mid table Superbrands do?

After the success of the Superbrands 450+ (9 promises and still counting) and a drawer that is quickly filling up I thought I'd see if this was a mere fluke by contacting the mid table companies.

Using highly precise statistical modelling I would expect to get about 4 or 5...I mean exactly 4.36 gifts from this burst. Let's see if my maths degree stands up here.

Go on, send something and ruin my formulae.

Oh, and I still haven't had ANY replies from those muso types! And I still love that pasty email / box. AAaaaarrrggghhh.

WOW! What a way to start the week.

It was a long wait over the weekend to see what bounty had arrived since I last checked. All kinds of shapes and sizes awaited me in my inbox...squishy, square, tubes and something that may win most subtle packaging!!

Firstly a nod to the 2 pack

ages with no outward sign

of sender...if you recognise the photos then please

drop me a note and I will give you a shout now, otherwise unknown brand 1 and 2 will be revealed post opening (in mid Nov - I know it is early but that's when we have our party.)...I think Boots may be the biggie so thanks if so...very excited!

You might think that 2 parcels is a pretty good Monday morning welcome but I had a further 6 bundles of joy...as you can see, these are mostly flat offerings so they could be leaflets / promotional pamphlets...but they could also be £400 in cash??

Special mention again to Mr & Mrs Smith who have sent something specifically for you giftee, and Ocean Spray who have sent a pretty heavy box of stuff and asked me to mention that they are celebrating the launch of a new range of Blueberry juice drinks...wonder if that mixes as well with vodka as Cranberry juice does?...also came a little clue as to the gift...

This new flavour highlights an exciting new dimension (there’s a clue there!) for the brand, which is perhaps best known for its range of deliciously health cranberry products.

http://www.oceanspray.co.uk/products/blueberry

Thanks as well to Berghaus, The Independent, Scholl and Weetabix!!

Last but by no means least, in fact the BEST packaging AND the best email chain (including multiple AAaarrrRRRGGGHHss is the one and only West Cornwall Pasty people...I never doubted you, thanks for representing the South West!!!

And there is still more to come...this is turning out to be one of the best ideas I have had in a lony while...definitely since I decided to sauté mushrooms in raspberry wine vinegar.

Same same but different...

...just a quick post here, have had 3 parcels but frustratingly am out and about again so won't be able to pick them up til Monday...pics to follow.

This is more to talk about the let down emails, most are fairly standard with wording stating that said company does a lot of work with their preferred charity so cannot help me in my quest (very understandable and appreciated.)

However there have been a couple of stand out replies that coincidentally I received this morning. The first made me feel a little silly for even thinking about mailing this Dutch brewer...perhaps this is the reason that their French child brand is more respected than they are? Their reply gave a distinct impression that mine was a quite dull not at all worthwhile use of time and I should go back to collecting stamps!!

"I am sure you will not be surprised to learn that Heineken UK is frequently called upon to support a wide range of interesting and worthwhile activities."

Straight after that was the phone number of their merchandising company who run a credit card hotline in case I want to buy a beer mat...perhaps not.

The second note was a joy of language...I did have to look up invidious in the dictionary just to make sure they were not making fun of me...I don't think I need to tell you that this was from one of the high end high street grocers...congrats Waitrose, you win my best refusal (so far!)

"As I am sure you will appreciate, we receive a large number of requests of this nature, and it would be invidious for us to choose which we would accede to. In the circumstances we are unfortunately not in a position to provide you with your request.

I am very sorry to disappoint you."

Have a great weekend.

The Quickening and Super Swimmers

What a lot to tell you, the offers have come rolling in now and the second arrival in the post.

Thanks to Speedo who gave a small hint in that they have sent something signed by their star athlete. By the size of the parcel I reckon it might be a pair of their swimming trunks?

It seems like the Superbrand 450+ companies are really embracing this challenge now and are streaking ahead in the promising of goodies stakes. I am not counting any unhatched chickens but was blown away by the response with positive notes back from Berghaus, Hovis, Scholl, Specsavers, Ocean Spray, The Independent and West Cornwall Pasty Company...more about each of them in detail when the parcels arrive.

My favourite brands are also keeping pace, very excited about a lovely note from Mr & Mrs Smith (who were the first folks to ask about the giftee...expect a nice surprise in that one!!), Pixar written by Buzz Lightyear no less and a certain not yet to be named Premier League footballer who scored a very important goal at the weekend...OK, it's Tim Cahill!!

And so we come to my so far most misguided selection, I really thought that radio / music / promo people would have mountains of things floating around the office that they would happily part with for a bit of a plug...but no....silence. Perhaps they were all at the same BFI awards party and haven't checked their emails for a couple of days...?

Much action

It has all started happening now, in the past couple of days I have had another 2 promises from Speedo and Weetabix - both from my faves list...and loved since childhood...no new arrivals to show you but have been out and about so hopefully a pile waiting for me to pick up when I get back to base next.

I have also kicked on with 2 more lists; I'm hoping that the music and PR folk will have goodies lying around from the various bands / events / nights out and that the companies in the Superbrands list from 451 - 500 get invloved in the excitement and show those in the Top 50 what they are made of.

No news...good or bad?

It's been a quiet weekend, not much apart from a small nibble from Twinings...apparently you can get free tea from their website (so you can too - a little gift from me to you - http://www.twinings.co.uk/free-tea) so 2 tea bags added to the pile...wooHoo!

Instead of going for the celebrity / lower end superbrands tonight I thought I would take my super brands, I listed out 50 of my favourite things and their makers...you don't realise how many "objects" you have in your life until you stand back for a minute and count them.

...so if you got an email this evening...I am loving your work!

P.S. I also found out this evening that the Neet Weet gang were called Bixie, Dunk, Brains, Brian and Crunch.

Double Happy

My first package has arrived from Lego, I have included a pic with pen as scale. I haven't opened it yet...I think that it might be some fun not to...even I won't know how cool the things I get are...everything is going to stay wrapped!

Secondly had a yes from the guys at Boots...who are sending me something that is included in their Christmas 3 for 2 offer although more on that when it arrives!!

A number of sorry and thank you's but a special mention to Jonathan at Proctor & Gamble (they make Duracell and Fairy) who told me that they had nothing suitable to send...and after my reply that they also had nothing unsuitable.

You can see on the right hand side a little counter, I'm going to track the most generous groups (will try and keep them roughly the same size.)

Next up, either the lower end of the Superbrands to see if they can out-generous their counterparts higher in the list...or...Celeb / Personality types as I quite like the idea of getting numerous signed things.

...also waiting to hear from one special contact...you know who you are.

Pushing on...

After the flush of my first success yesterday I received my first knock back today - a very polite note from Mrs. BA saying that they receive many such requests and cannot possibly start just giving away free first class flights to the bahamas...I guess that is fair - hope rolex are a little more flexible??

Also of note, not quite a knock-back, was a kind reply from Isaac @ Mercedes customer services in the Netherlands - suggesting I contact my local dealership...awaiting reply there.

Given that I so far have a winning percentage of only 10% it is time to put some hard graft in...contacting the rest of the Superbrands Top 50 tonight. Any ideas about how / who to contact next would be welcomed.

P.S. Also will be emailing my employers and their hottest rival...fingers crossed for that one!!

Winning mentality

I must admit that when I logged off last night I wasn't feeling overly confident about this endeavour. I'd only managed to send out 10 emails but this morning I had the most pleasant of surprises, a reply...and not only that but an acceptance!

Thanks to the folks at Lego for starting the snowball rolling, you've steeled me to push on and make sure this is a success.

As soon as I receive the package I will pop up a photo...exciting!!!

Superbrands

So start at the top and aim high...all 10 of this year's Superbrands contacted...fingers crossed.

http://www.superbrands.uk.com/consumerresults

...interestingly Encyclopedia Britannica @ number 10!

This is how it works...

With Secret Santa there are more regional variations than the game of pool, some games you buy for a pot instead of an individual and others you get to roll dice to see who walks away with what. This one is nice and simple, about a week ago I received a piece of paper in the post asking me nicely to buy a gift that would be opened at our family Christmas party.

So I got thinking and being someone who doesn't always like to follow the most obvious path, I tried to work out how I could give my giftee (I know it's a bit of a naff word but best I can come up with currently) the most amazing present whilst still working within the rules...yes I like to be a rebel but was always a bit of a swot at school and can't shake that now.

I don't know where exactly the idea eventually came from but I figured that if I spent the £10 on a standard present (in this case I chose chocolate and wine as it is universally consumed around this time of year!!) I then would ask some people to help me top this up with free things. Simple.

So the hard work begins...I now need to find a place to start and then get the email warmed up!