Mr. Marsh from the old Amusement Park! December 7, 2011 1:33 PM   Subscribe

Idea for the The Great Mystery Box of MeFi

The combination of the MeFi Mall and The Phantom Gifter probably had something to do with this coming to mind but how about a traveling box of goodness/randomness that goes from MeFite to MeFite, each person taking something out and putting something in (or adding but not taking, or just not taking at all) and then shipping it on to the next person on the list.

I got the idea from a traveling box with the same concept that went around to some members of a straight razor shaving forum I'm a member of. We did 3 boxes/lists in sequence and it's a bit of an administrative hassle but really turned out well for the most part.

I get that MeFi isn't exactly a shaving forum and might have some randomness associated with anything people choose to add or remove but if there's interest it might be worth it to talk things out and see if we've got something here....

*opens the table to discussion*

Potential ideas/regulations:
(???) indicates potentially tricky ones.

A. You must opt in and provide shipping information to the person preceding you on the list by the deadline.
B. You must have X number of posts or have been a member since Y date. (???)
C. You must have been active on the site within X days of the person ahead of you on the list shipping to you or you will be bypassed and added at the bottom.
D. You must ship out within Z days of receiving the package.
E. Tracking/insurance should be purchased (???).
F. The package shall not exceed the size of a USPS flat rate box of X value.
G. Contributions should be as or more awesome than those removed.
H. Packaging should be done with the utmost care so as to prevent breakage/damage to contents.
I. Nothing over/under $XX.xx. (???)
J. No international shipping/members unless there's enough interest.
K. Jumpstart/initial items can be shipped to the person at the top of the list to help get things going. (???)
L. Items should possess X or Y characteristics, such as being unique to your occupational field, locale, or experiences. (???)

Anyway, thoughts? Has anyone else done this before and liked it? If there's no interest then there's no real point in going any further.
H.

update: link to spreadsheet here, from this comment.
posted by RolandOfEld to MetaFilter-Related at 1:33 PM (110 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

In theory I love things like this. In practice I've *never* seen them be successful beyond the first couple of people. Life, all too often, happens and people get distracted.

Also - way too many "regulations" there.
posted by FlamingBore at 1:35 PM on December 7, 2011


To clarify intent, the regulations are simply ideas and very much open to discussion.

I've seen it work otherwise I wouldn't bring it up. That doesn't mean it will or that I'm really optimistic though.. just curious really.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:39 PM on December 7, 2011


Neat idea, it would have to be very very unofficial since we can't really supervise any of this. I've also had mixed results with this sort of thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:39 PM on December 7, 2011


Yea, I wasn't really expecting any official buy-in, completely understandable. But good to hear that it isn't vetoed out of hand either.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:42 PM on December 7, 2011


I'd be up for this, particularly if I am one of the early people on the list. In my experience with this sort of thing it just takes MUCH LONGER than anyone thinks. I signed up for a traveling Polaroid on Flickr once, and it took literally 18 months for the box to get to me, and that was passing through only maybe 20 people.

If we do do this someone be sure to stick in a disposable camera.
posted by dirtdirt at 1:50 PM on December 7, 2011


a traveling box with the same concept that went around to some members of a straight razor shaving forum I'm a member of

Anybody else get a gurgling, nameless feeling of horror when reading that?

Seriously, tho, I wouldn't mind being involved in something like this. It occurs to me that MeFi might better lend itself to a traveling notebook kind of thing, and each recipient gets to do whatever they want with the next blank page before sending it on.
posted by jbickers at 1:52 PM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]


Yes, it does take much longer and there was one that disappeared for quite a while.

An example of what I'm talking about in case you're confused or in doubt of seeing one that works.

And yea, there were alot of plastic bags involved but the bog got quite gurgly and heavy. Check the link, it was an unreal experience to spread all that stuff out on the table and drool over the shaving goodness that was to come.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:53 PM on December 7, 2011


We should definitely do this with kittens.
posted by heyho at 2:05 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]


If my two cats don't learn to stop meowing in my ears from opposite sides of the bed (and sometimes even on the headboard) on and off between 4 and 6 AM), somebody down the list from me is going to get two.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:12 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]


What size box? We talking a body or just pieces or what?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:16 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]


Pieces or, possibly, a small urn. Too many shipping regulations here to attempt bigger appendages.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:19 PM on December 7, 2011


Please do not put baby in box thank you
posted by The Whelk at 2:19 PM on December 7, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sounds like you've got some good ideas there, RoE (maybe not B, I and L, but then again, maybe).

I think you're the right guy to organize and run this thing.
posted by box at 2:22 PM on December 7, 2011


C. You must have been active on the site within X days of the person ahead of you on the list shipping to you or you will be bypassed and added at the bottom.

Define "active". I read the site, especially MetaTalk, nearly every day, but make comments infrequently and almost never make posts. I consider keeping 90%+ of the noisy comments I think of to myself to be actively improving the site, but there's no official way to track that, and it would be a real bummer to be kicked to the bottom of the list for that.
posted by owtytrof at 2:27 PM on December 7, 2011 [13 favorites]


J. No international shipping/members unless there's enough interest.
Are you suggesting that only members located in Australia can participate?
posted by dg at 2:29 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]


Active could be you sending a message saying "I'm alive" to your shipping buddy.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:32 PM on December 7, 2011


Fair enough, proceed. Because you totally need my blessing.
posted by owtytrof at 2:35 PM on December 7, 2011


I actually feel better having it as far as that goes.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:36 PM on December 7, 2011


This stranger keeps sending me banjos for no reason. Can I put them in the box?
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:41 PM on December 7, 2011 [9 favorites]


Paddle faster, I hear banjos!
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2011


RolandOfEld: Idea for the The Great Mystery Box of MeFi

While I'm not totally convinced he deserves that title, I see he's already weighed in with his blessing.
posted by gman at 2:44 PM on December 7, 2011


This stranger keeps sending me banjos
I have a hunch who that might be.
posted by unliteral at 2:45 PM on December 7, 2011


Seriously, I think I'd like to get in on this. I'll watch this if it gets official. Do you have a deadline in mind for starting this?

And just to be clear, it's take one item, then add one item (unless you don't want anything, in which case you can forward it with nothing or add something out of the goodness of your heart)?
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:52 PM on December 7, 2011


This idea sounds kinda cool. Like geocaching for the lazy.
posted by mysterpigg at 2:56 PM on December 7, 2011 [8 favorites]


Pieces or, possibly, a small urn. Too many shipping regulations here to attempt bigger appendages.

A dick in the box?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:09 PM on December 7, 2011


mccarty.tim: We'll it looks like, for good reason, it'll never be official, official. So it may become real but never 'official'. /pedantic. Regarding your clarity question, yes, it's basically just like that. The option can be there for take 2, deposit 2 (or more), but that might be making things too complex regulation-wise. Following the intent of "making the box as or more awesome" should be the goal. If that's not enough to keep things groovy/fair/fun then there's not much we can do anyway.

mysterpigg: Yep, never thought of it that way but it's alot like anti-geocaching. The cache just comes to you.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:13 PM on December 7, 2011


Like geocaching for the lazy.

I also immediately thought of geocaching. My family does a lot with travel bugs and there is a quite low (in my experience) instance of lost/mis-logged tags because the community is solid and people who don't want to follow through generally don't take the bugs. MeFi has both of these factors in place.

I did one of these a few years ago with an electronics bits exchange and though I was fairly far down the list it moved pretty quickly and was very cool to get and add to.

I'm totally on board with this but depending on the value of Y in item B I may be out (just coming up on 1 year of officially being here) and because I don't have terribly many posts because of exactly what owtytrof said above.

I really hesitate on this next point, but here goes. Maybe the current box holder could vet the next in line based on posting history? I very much don't like digging through history for most reasons here and I'm only suggesting making sure that the person seems like they're here genuinely, not what they have to say or who they seem to be. I'll stand by the good faith of my posts and comments (regardless of the quality or quantity) and that could be a good test.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 3:24 PM on December 7, 2011


We should definitely do this with kittens.

M. All kittens shall be sent to Mintcake Industries for introductory hugging and drinking of cream before further travels. Mintcake Industries reserves the right to delay subsequent shipments as long as necessary so that it may satisfactorily HUG ALL THE KITTENS.
posted by mintcake! at 3:26 PM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]


Like geocaching for the lazy.

In Soviet Russia MetaFilter, geocache comes to you?

I think this sounds like a fun idea, if we can figure out how to make it work.
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:44 PM on December 7, 2011


Some fun-loving punk kids in my high school did something similar to this (at least similar to me) by buying a bright yellow T-Shirt at the beginning of senior year and writing "That Shirt" on it. Every day, it would pass to a new person in school, with the only rules being that the shirt couldn't miss a day and nobody could have it twice. When it was your day, everybody passing by would be all, "Hey! You're wearing that shirt!"

It was successful throughout the entire year.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:56 PM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]


Was the shirt still bright yellow at the end of the year?
posted by mysterpigg at 4:17 PM on December 7, 2011


Yep! People were shockingly good about laundering it carefully. Getting to wear the thing was like a sacred trust.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:53 PM on December 7, 2011


Doesn't one of the maker groups have one of these? A travelling box of tech? I swear I remember reading an article about how the dude got the box and it had some THING in it that he just really needed and how he couldn't figure out what to put back in it. Right?

Wouldn't be hard to logicize...enter name/address into form on the web to sign up. When you get the box, the label will have a code on it to verify that you have the box. Go to site, type in code, and it gives you the next $random person and their verification code, sending an email to both people. Right?
posted by TomMelee at 6:49 PM on December 7, 2011


Yeah, OK, I'll give it a whirl if we get to a critical mass.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:55 PM on December 7, 2011


What size box? We talking a body or just pieces or what?

So glad ColdChef didn't ask this question.

Would love this except I'm in China and I'm all too familiar with the customs regulations that would kill this stone dead.
posted by arcticseal at 7:17 PM on December 7, 2011


1. Not everyone on the Internet is nice and/or sane.
2. MeFi does appear to have more than it's share of nice and sane people.
3. See #1

Hey - nice bottle of Tylenol in the grab box - just what I needed!
Pass.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 7:24 PM on December 7, 2011


If my two cats don't learn to stop meowing in my ears from opposite sides of the bed (and sometimes even on the headboard) on and off between 4 and 6 AM)

This mental image made me laugh for a solid minute.

What size box? We talking a body or just pieces or what?

First, be smart from the very beginning....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:26 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]


So it sounds like we're getting some interest and some commentary on the potential list of guidelines. Don't know if we've reached critical mass yet, I'll give the post a bit more time to ferment and bubble before I start to think about a list of any kind.

With regards to vetting people, and how, I think it's a touchy subject since some people, like Wreckage and owtytrof, may be a bit self-restrictive with their posting habits and some people could have been lurkers for years and not signed up until recently. The sad things is, like jessamyn told me in a thread about MeFi Mall (and forgive me if I'm misquoting, but I think it kinda applies in this case as well) "we have to draw the lines somewhere because people tend to nitpick everything to death that doesn't have a bright line. The question is, where to draw the line? Anyone can play or only people that have been members here more than 6 months or have had more than 3 FP posts or more than 30 comments?

So I'd like to hear more discussion on that point. I see the options as ranging from no vetting at all, any mefite can participate to requiring a set number of posts/comments or a minimum number of membership days/years.

The other monster in the room is how we want to go about dealing with what goes in the box and how. I'm fine with taking candidate regulation L (mentioned above) off the table completely. I just thought that might draw some interest in and make it unique. I didn't think how it might make an already touchy task even more convoluted.

Item G is one I'm not really willing to budge on and I hope all participants can agree on that one at least. Without a firm and honest self-evaluation of what one is taking out and putting in, the box's quality will degenerate and be a waste of time/shipping cost for those latter people on the list. I don't know how to handle putting a set value, or even a range, on potential additions without being totally arbitrary and saying how about a $10-20 dollar range or some such. Any talking about this part would be helpful to get an idea of what people would enjoy. The jumpstart items mentioned in K would also be helpful but we can handle that down the road. Consider that means if there's 10 participants, just making up numbers here, then that's somewhere between $100 and $200 bucks (or more) changing hands and liable to disappear at any given moment.

Everything else, related mostly to shipping and administrative tasks, will depend on the above items.

Speaking of administrative points, I don't mind setting this up and managing participants and guidelines; however, it must be understood that I have no control on how things go beyond my front door. Once the box is gone, it's gone. Only goodwill and good people can keep it going/functional after that. I can't, and wouldn't want to be, some sort of 'box enforcer' pestering people to ship already or that their contribution was sub-par. I don't feel good asking the mods to take part in this either since I'm sure they already have plenty to do and this is shaping up to be our little red wagon to push or pull as we please.

In a nutshell: taking up facilitating things is fine with me, though depending on the number of participants I might need a helpful volunteer or two, but enforcing or policing others is not something I'll be taking on.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:01 PM on December 7, 2011


...And Poet_Lariat brings up a good point as well. Everything would have to comply with any reasonable shipping regulations, federal/state laws, and good common sense.

I may be missing something but as a general idea I'd think that means

No medications, no weapons, no hazardous chemicals, no extremely fragile items, no extremely perishable items, no explosives, no liquids without proper containment vessels, no smelly things without proper warning/containment vessels, no illegal substances, blah blah blah. You get the idea.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:08 PM on December 7, 2011


It sounds good to me. And maybe a rule should be that whatever you add should be something you'd be happy to get yourself.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:40 PM on December 7, 2011


I think more than 30 comments/answers (total of the two) or 3 front page posts is plenty. That shows involvement, and doesn't rule out people who don't comment much or don't post.

Since this is a new thing, we probably don't need to worry so much. It'd be an issue if it were a yearly thing and people outside of started trying to snatch the box*.

*There's got to be a better way of saying that.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:48 PM on December 7, 2011


Like geocaching for the lazy.

Combined with all of the rule-making of a nomic, what more could we ask for?
posted by cgk at 9:00 PM on December 7, 2011


So I'm seeing about 8 people as interested parties, give or take a few. Not too bad, I'm guessing around 20 or less is where we might want to hold off, but we'll see.

Just wanted to drop in and address TomMelee's comment about having the current recipient get a the next persons address via some sort of code input/web with verification codes and auto-notification emails. Initially it sounds cool but 1) I wouldn't be able to do that sort of coding/webwork and 2) the boxes I've dealt with in the past all had some issues with people receiving the box while away on vacation or away from home at work making verification with the next person on the list pretty important. It really does have the potential to be slower than most people think regardless of what we do. This throws off the planning or expectations of someone on the list being 'ready' to receive the box. Maybe those emails would work but it just seems like it might be easier (KISS and all that) to have the person before verify that the next person is ready and available to receive the package. Plus that distributes the responsibility of managing that aspect of the box's travels out to the actual participants which I don't see as a bad thing at all.

Open to input on the issue and number of participants to shoot for as always. The rule list may seem nomic or a bit silly but, honestly, things aren't all that serious and boil down to a few basic concepts, the highest of them being "be excellent to each other". The rule list would also be finalized before any physical movement of items began of course. No making up rules as we go along.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:27 PM on December 7, 2011


I have a magical pair of pants that fits both me and jonmc because each of us is beautiful in our own way despite our different body types. Anyone else want to try?
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:33 PM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]


I'm in. Sounds fun.
posted by Kloryne at 10:07 PM on December 7, 2011


Doesn't one of the maker groups have one of these? A travelling box of tech?

The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronic Junk, kicked off by EMSL. Box lifetime is short but it still sounds fun.
posted by hattifattener at 10:19 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]


Out of curiosity, should our box have an endpoint, or does it keep going from MeFite to MeFite until people lose interest, it gets lost, or the heat death of the universe?
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:24 PM on December 7, 2011


mccarty.tim: The three boxes I participated in ended in one of three ways.

The first round, the last person on the list was done with the box it was shipped back to #1 and the content inventory was divulged. Participants could speak up and volunteer to pay shipping for certain items if they wanted them otherwise the #1 person kept the leftovers.

The second time the box went back to #1 in the same fashion and it's contents were again made public. Some items (broken, crappy, meh) were removed and the remainder were phased into the root of a third box.

The third box was sent, after reaching the bottom of the list of participants, as a "pay it forward" gesture to US troops overseas.

I'm open to discussion. I'm against it being never ending, in my humble opinion a finite plan of action will pay off better than a neverending story. The same principle applies to signups, either you're in by a certain kick off date or you're out until the [hypothetical] next box begins.

hattifattener: Great resources! Yep, figure the same general idea, perhaps a bit more informally and (hopefully) managed in a dedicated MeTalk (or Project? or IRL?) post instead of on a separate management blog/site. Mods, maybe you could clarify if you'd rather have the thread in one spot or the other, I'd rather do things right instead of botching the job right off the bat.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:46 PM on December 7, 2011


Rick

There's a box here, Rick.

Rick.

Rick.

Rick.

I have an idea.

Put your hand in the box.

There is a surprise in the box, Rick.

You have to reach in and get it.

It could be cream in the box, Rick.




Rick.





Aren't you going to put your hand in?





PUT YOUR HAND IN THE BOX RICK.





Rick.

What did you do, Rick?

You did it wrong.



What is this...oh.



Good one.

Ha. Ha.

Very funny, Rick.

Open the box.



Rick?

You can open the box now, Rick.




Rick?

This is lame, Rick.

I'm a cat.

I can see in the dark.




Rick?

I lied, okay?

There's no cream in the box.

You know what's in the box, Rick?

Claws.

There're claws in the box.

And fangs.

Claws and fangs of Death.

Don't fuck with Death Rick.



Rick?

Rick?

Rick! You're back.

I was just starting to like the box.

Wait.

Who are you?


You're not Rick.

Rick does not hug.

Why are you hugging me?!




Cut that out.

Seriously, man, be cool.

This is getting embarrassing.



STOP HUGGING ME

Where is Rick?

I want Rick.

Hey.

Hey, what's that bottle for?

Is that cream?

I could really go for some cream right now.

You wanna hug some more?
posted by misha at 11:20 PM on December 7, 2011 [6 favorites]


This sounds like a great, fun idea. On a totally selfish note, I've only been a member for about a month but I'd really like to participate!
posted by Weeping_angel at 1:14 AM on December 8, 2011


I've been enjoying mailing things out recently so I'd totally be up for this.
posted by h00py at 3:50 AM on December 8, 2011


If this really moves ahead, I am totally in. Sounds like lots of fun.
posted by tr33hggr at 7:02 AM on December 8, 2011


I'd be interested if this were to happen.
posted by cabingirl at 7:12 AM on December 8, 2011


Seems like interest is still increasing, lets set a go number of 20 people. If we get that we'll green light the project.

We still need to address the issue of how to jumpstart the box's contents, I'm not really financially stable to drop $200 bucks of groovy stuff in a box. I'd have a few things to drop in but a little variety from the get-go might be nice. If someone else wants to lead things off I'm ok with that as well of course. If so, now's the time to speak up with your thoughts.

Anyone have an idea on how to manage the actual list displaying the order of participants/interested parteis beyond a google doc? That's kinda my go-to for distributed things such as this. Also I could setup a shared file in dropbox. Whatever works.

Here's a revised list of guidelines, ones I want to be sure to have group buy-in on (indicating my still fluid stance on those items) are in bold:

A. You must opt in and provide shipping information to the person preceding you on the list by the deadline.
B. You must meet at least one of the following criteria: 3 posts to the blue or a total of 30 comments or answers from anywhere else.
C. You must have been active on the site within 4 days of the person ahead of you on the list shipping to you or you will be bypassed with the option to be added in at the bottom.
D. You should aim to ship out within 4 days of receiving the package.
E. Tracking/insurance should be purchased?
F. The package shall not exceed the size of a USPS flat rate box. If the contents become too large then the group shall be addressed and the decision made for the current holder of the box to either purge items or step the box up a size.
G. Contributions should be as or more awesome than those removed.
H. Packaging should be done with the utmost care so as to prevent breakage/damage to contents.
I. Nothing over/under $XX.xx.
J. No international shipping/members unless there's enough interest.
K. Jumpstart/initial items can be shipped to the person at the top of the list to help get things going.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:44 AM on December 8, 2011


*bah, forgot: "Active on the site" can be as simple as a message to the person above you on the list saying that you're alive and ready to accept the package. No extraneous posting need occur for the sake of activity.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:45 AM on December 8, 2011


**No medications, no weapons, no hazardous chemicals, no extremely fragile items, no extremely perishable items, no explosives, no liquids without proper containment vessels, no smelly things without proper warning/containment vessels, no illegal substances, blah blah blah. You get the idea.

*** ...whatever you add should be something you'd be happy to get yourself. The box is not a dumping ground, though I hope this should be able to go unsaid. See G. above for clarification.

**** No magic pants allowed.

I think including an inventory/explanation sheet, journal, and disposable camera would be great ideas as well.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:51 AM on December 8, 2011


How the hell am I supposed to get rid of these magic pants then?
posted by The Whelk at 7:55 AM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


E. My understanding is that USPS never, ever, ever pays an insurance claim. UPS isn't much better. Tracking seems like it does make delivery more reliable, but instance is probably a waste
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:55 AM on December 8, 2011


*insurance* is a waste of money. (fumble fingers, hit post too soon,sorry about that)
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:57 AM on December 8, 2011


I'm ok with flying without a parachute with regards to insurance. I mean, in a deal like this you're already taking a good bit on faith anyway. I figure USPS/UPS/FedEx will not be the weakest link anyway. I pretty much agree with tracking though, could be very worth it. Anyone know the cost estimate for adding it on?
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:00 AM on December 8, 2011


What is the rationale behind the "site activity" restrictions? Seems to me if you get your address to the person ahead of you as required you should get the box. Everyone signing up is at least active enough to read and comment in MeTa, so that should be enough, no?

If it were up to me, I'd remove the "dollar value" restriction as well. Awesomeness can be $0.50 or it can be really expensive. Karma will deal with those who take out a Kindle and put in a pack of gum.

I would also not bother with tracking/insurance. If shit gets lost, shit is going to get lost.

MetaTalk: If shit gets lost, shit is going to get lost.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:01 AM on December 8, 2011


Yea, I'm pretty much neutral about tracking. If it makes others feel better, fine. But I'm not necessarily behind it or against it.

The dollar value thing can go to, again I'm pretty neutral about that if others are ok with taking it off. I agree that Karma is going to have to be the guiding light and will make or break the project.

The site activity restriction, as mentioned above, is to prevent the box from going to the home of someone who A) forgot about the box, B) is having real world troubles such that they can't/don't want to deal with the box right now, or C) dropped off the face of the map. Let's face it, any of those things can happen and my experience has been that it may very well happen more often than you'd think. It's simple and, hopefully, not too taxing on the people involved to simply pop up in the thread or contact someone notifying them of their acceptance of the box. This is one that I'm hesitant to budge on, honestly if you can't be troubled to drop a memail or comment down then how are we supposed to feel in any way,shape or form good about you being ready to ship the box back out in a timely manner when you get it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:26 AM on December 8, 2011


Continuing my last point: Will this still be in the front of your mind in 4 months? 'Cuz it could very well be that long before you see anything in your mailbox depending on the people ahead of you. The activity is reassuring with very little cost to the receiving party.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:28 AM on December 8, 2011


I think this is a neat idea, and I'd like to be a part of it. As it turns out, this is my 31st comment, so I guess I meet that arbitrary cutoff, which is a big relief, as I'm sure you can imagine.

I'd be happy to send something (small) to the person at the top of the list to help kick things off.
posted by SeedStitch at 8:44 AM on December 8, 2011


Note to everyone: if this comes my way, there is a 90% chance you're getting a book. I am surrounded by 4 walls of groaning bookshelves.
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 AM on December 8, 2011


Made a rough google spreadsheet with the interest as I see it so far.

Please go in and modify the columns next to your name or let me know if you want to be added. I've made things as clear as I can with dopdowns that you select from to allow for clarity where possible.

Please feel free to modify things if you see a way to improve things but be sure not to mess with anyone else's row.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:18 PM on December 8, 2011


* I set access rules as no google account needed so anyone with that link can go in and change anything, I'm not a super power user of google docs, if someone knows of a safer/better way to track things I'm all ears.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:20 PM on December 8, 2011


I'm tentatively in, actually. (I finally made up my mind.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:30 PM on December 8, 2011


Empress could you be the guinea pig for the spreadsheet and see if you have any problems adding yourself and setting your interest level/confirmation?
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:32 PM on December 8, 2011


Looks like 9 or so slots left before we set all engines to Ahead Full (assuming I'm reading most people's intentions right).
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:35 PM on December 8, 2011


Empress could you be the guinea pig for the spreadsheet

When I get home from work. (It's blocked here.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:36 PM on December 8, 2011


Oy, 10-4, thanks.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:37 PM on December 8, 2011


I said yes, but the last column didn't change.
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:19 PM on December 8, 2011


Yea, something wrong with my logic in that column. I fixed the other cells for counting. Working on it now....

Got it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:25 PM on December 8, 2011


Re: Cats
posted by mccarty.tim at 3:41 PM on December 8, 2011 [3 favorites]


Empress did you mean to leave interest level as "tentative"? It's fine if you did of course, just making sure you or google docs didn't miss a step somewhere.

Bring on the signups, we're at 7 that are Definite and Confirmed, the more the merrier.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:55 PM on December 8, 2011


Yeah, I'm still thinking about it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:21 PM on December 8, 2011


Ok, I marked myself as definite and confirmed. Let's do this thing.
posted by owtytrof at 7:15 PM on December 8, 2011


Sounds like fun! I've done this before on a bath/beauty products forum - count me in!
posted by SisterHavana at 8:48 PM on December 8, 2011


I'm tentative because I travel a lot and there is a very real chance it could end up sitting in the mail room for a month.
posted by The Whelk at 8:58 PM on December 8, 2011


Whelk, that's the point of the notification check that's been mentioned above. Default behavior for the box is to skip those that aren't ready. So it shouldn't be a problem.

SisterHavana, I've added your name to the list on the spreadsheet, please view it and confirm when you get a second.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:05 PM on December 8, 2011


First, you cut a hole in the box.

No, seriously, I added myself. And I am valid, though if someone else needs to validate me, I'm cool with that too.
posted by bendy at 1:17 AM on December 9, 2011


You must meet at least one of the following criteria: 3 posts to the blue or a total of 30 comments or answers from anywhere else.
You must have been active on the site within 4 days of the person ahead of you on the list shipping to you or you will be bypassed with the option to be added in at the bottom.


Not very Metafilter-y, may I say.
posted by thinkpiece at 7:09 AM on December 9, 2011


*shrug*, I think trusting other complete strangers and do good things for no reason other than it's cool and good is really, really Metafilter-y.

Like I've been saying all along, the minimum requirements are up for discussion. It's worth mentioning that I just went through the participants in this thread clicking on profiles and glancing at activity (for the first time, I haven't cared to even look until you spoke up, and might not have even when the list was finalized, honor system and all that) and it appeared that 100% of the profiles I saw beat that requirement, often by several orders of magnitude. So I just don't see how putting a disclaimer on saying that if you just signed up and/or don't post at all we are a bit hesitant to send a package of things we value.

I'm really surprised the activity thing is such a talking point, I really figured this was simple common sense/courtesy to help ensure that the box doesn't get bogged down or lost. Maybe you didn't see where activity was clarified a bit above? I'm not saying spam the site with *raise hand* comments. Just drop the person in front of you a line saying that you're still in tune with things related to the box.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:08 AM on December 9, 2011


I think this sounds very nifty and I signed up. The potential for awesome in such a box is truly astounding...
posted by lriG rorriM at 9:20 AM on December 9, 2011


Thanks to the mods for putting the link to the spreadsheet in the original post. I'm pretty ashamed of my excel coding skills being made public, man that one IF statement is Ugggggglllllllllllly but I think it outputs valid results and that's all I ever care about.

Support your local post office, Signup for the Mystery Box now!
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:39 AM on December 9, 2011


Oh and sometime this weekend I'll probably drop the people who haven't confirmed their interest in the spreadsheet, but did express solid interest here in the thread, a memail asking for them to confirm or deny their involvement. If you are one of those people and want to head me off at the pass just let me know somehow where you stand.

We're now at 10 people who are interested and confirmed. I'd say we're looking more and more like we're going to do this every day. Get pumped, think about jumpstart items and/or any other guidelines/feature requests beyond those mentioned above as well as how we want to handle the journal, disposable camera, and inventory/explanation sheet.

Woopie!
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:44 AM on December 9, 2011


Well, my wife(RubyDoom) kind of wanted to sign up, at a later point in the pecking order than me, but she comes nowhere near the "3 posts to the blue/30 comments site-wide" suggested minimum all-time participation threshold. She has posted 5 AskMe questions, reads the site frequently, and has participated in a cd swap. Of course, the latter two of these are not measurable and the first doesn't fit in to the currently suggested parameters.

I know there are characteristics to a mystery box that could make participants wary of accepting less "established" members. For example, since there is only one box going around, one person dropping the ball ends it for everyone, as opposed to Secret Quonsar or the cd swaps where the member who bails makes it suck for some participants but doesn't kill the entire thing. Members who have more visible site involvement are less likely to decide on a whim after receiving the box that it's too much trouble to keep it going(or that they just want to keep everything, or whatever). Finding a balance is important, but that bar, while I agree is relatively low, still sets up a lot of members who have paid their $5 to be excluded despite their level of interest.

I don't have a suggestion to remedy the situation, but, from where I sit, that may be why there are a lot of eyebrows being raised about the "minimum activity" guidelines.
posted by owtytrof at 10:00 AM on December 9, 2011


*snore* I just went with what was suggested by another participant, I'd be glad to have her participate but that means either removing the requirement or adding on one for allowing for time as a member since I notice she's been here for several years, not exactly indicative of a hit and run box miscreant.

Lets take it as if there's been a motion to modify or throw out the activity minimums. Anyone want to second it?
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:14 PM on December 9, 2011


Well this certainly came to an abrupt halt. Let me go on record as saying I'm okay with an activity minimum, or not. I kinda think anyone who's made it this far, and//or has paid their $5 to join, is probably not much of a flight risk. But if someone does drop the ball, it's not like we've handed over our credit card numbers. The only risk is the value of the items in the box. It wouldn't be cool for someone to stop the box, but it wouldn't have any long term effects on anyone.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:52 AM on December 13, 2011


Yea, activity kinda dropped off, I'm just hesitant to start pinging people in memail and being a bother. According to the spreadsheet we're looking at ~10 people and I just don't know if that's enough to create a cool box with enough variety.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:55 AM on December 13, 2011


I don't think I have your 30 comments, but you said that might not be a big deal, so I just signed up. I think the simplest way to confirm the next person on the list is ready to receive the box is this: when it's time for you to send the box on, memail the next person. If they're around and ready, they give you their address. If they don't respond in a few days, you move on to the next person on the list. (I didn't sign up before because of the criteria you stated above, but maybe more people would be interested if they knew they could participate.)
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:51 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Glad to have ya onboard!

As of this moment your 18 comments + 4 comments + 15 answers puts you well into the, perhaps disappearing, range.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:07 PM on December 13, 2011


Regarding contacting the next person on the list, that's pretty much exactly how I envisioned things going as well. It's just safer to know that the person is ready and waiting instead of called away to some godforsaken region to head off a elk-horn-mold epidemic or something.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:09 PM on December 13, 2011


called away to some godforsaken region to head off a elk-horn-mold epidemic

Speaking of which, I am in Canada...how comfortable are we with cross-border shipping?
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:24 PM on December 13, 2011


I don't know, it'd be the burden of the person before you on the list to deal with whatever extra cost/requirements that shipping to Canada would entail. And also on you when you ship back to someone who possibly could be in Florida/So.Cal. wherever.

Any insight there, perhaps you could fill us in? I figured any serious international shipping to our brethren in Europe or elsewhere would be prohibitive, but Canada might be alright, I'm just ignorant of the ramifications.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:23 AM on December 14, 2011


I just crunched some numbers on the Canada post website:

I assumed a package that was a foot by a foot by a foot and weighed about 10 pounds (let me know if these assumptions are out of line). 5 Business day shipping (the cheapest option) to Florida (about as far from me in the continental US as you can get I think) comes in at about $37Cdn, which I would be ok with in terms of my participation...but others may feel differently.
posted by never used baby shoes at 10:54 AM on December 14, 2011


Yea, and my guess of Florida was just random, worst case scenario picking on my side. Any idea how that transfers to what someone in the states is going to have to pay out to ship to you? I assumed the vast majority of the shipping costs would be accounted for via USPS flat rate boxes, which would be somewhere between $5 and $15 USD depending upon size, not weight.

I'm not necessarily against it for any reason other than cost for the shipper, so you might have to sweet talk the person ahead of you unless someone is willing to take up the slack and step up.
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:07 AM on December 14, 2011


Isn't there also the issue of Customs between America and Canada? Not that I expect anyone to send contraband, but Customs can seriously delay things, I've heard.
posted by mccarty.tim at 12:05 PM on December 14, 2011


Yea, and it would stink to have the package returned for some unexpected reason, especially if the person having it returned to them wasn't ready for it to show back up on their doorstep.

Looks like we're all the way to 11 people....
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:08 PM on December 14, 2011


Cross border shipping would be an issue for me, unfortunately.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:08 PM on December 14, 2011


Perhaps we could arrange the list so that it crosses the border a minimal number of times, and only "at" participants who don't mind the added cost? So if we had, say, 3 Canadian participants we could make sure they were in order, and that the person in front of them was OK with shipping to Canada, and that the last Canadian person was OK sending to the US.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:14 PM on December 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


That's definitely possible IF everyone is ok with disclosing their address to some sort of decision maker(s). The benefit of the other method, where you only contact the person ahead of you with shipping information, is a bit more privacy. I prefer the former, aka Rock Steady's, idea but again it's not a cost factor, or even a huge time factor, if we're using USPS flat rate boxes where possible.

Once international comes into play... well, we'll need to be smart about it. So any other Canadians want to jump on the bandwagon? Looks like it might be heading up there while it's doing its rounds....
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:46 PM on December 14, 2011


I definitely like the idea of not giving out your address until contacted by the person before you on the list. That's not because I don't trust people with my address, rather that we will be moving sometime in the next few months. There will be some overlap time between the two residences, but it will be nice to specify the address I prefer at the time of shipment. Also, RubyDoom should be signing up soon, I believe, so the total comes up to 12?

On international shipping - I would prefer not, but am willing to ship to Canada in the interest and spirit of inclusion. I am located in Texas, though, so a heavy-ish package shipped between here and Canada could be pricey.
posted by owtytrof at 7:59 AM on December 15, 2011


If I'm the only Canuck, it probably doesn't make sense to extend this idea north of the border. I'll just sit and suck an icicle in envy :)
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:13 AM on December 15, 2011


If I'm the only Canuck, it probably doesn't make sense to extend this idea north of the border.

Bummer. I was really hoping someone would put "a single-payer health care system" into the box. :(
posted by Rock Steady at 9:02 AM on December 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Bummer. I was really hoping someone would put "a single-payer health care system" into the box. :(

See, I was thinking of that as my contribution. But there are some problems with it:

-I think we only have one, and I'm afraid if I put it in the box, the current government wouldn't be able to (want to) figure out a replacement copy;
-US Customs might deny it on the grounds of it being "Traitorous material and material igniting agitation";
-It's a complex gift that isn't easy to understand, and I'm afraid if I send it south, the next time I see it, it'll either have been left out next to the trash or it'll have made some of the wrong friends (lobbyists) and will be hanging out at the bar, almost unrecognizable;

Would you settle for some nice maple syrup and hockey pucks?
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:00 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


See, I was thinking of that as my contribution. But there are some problems with it:

All fair points. To be honest, I'm not sure we'd know what to do with one anyway, and we probably wouldn't take very good care of it. It's one of those gifts that sounds nice, like a puppy for Christmas or a bunny on Easter, but really demands a little more advanced forethought and planning. It's the thought that counts, though, so thanks!
posted by Rock Steady at 8:13 AM on December 16, 2011


Update, we're still shy of the 15 I'd like to see to get this going but maybe we can strike up some interest with a potential re-gifting surge post holiday season....
posted by RolandOfEld at 4:32 PM on December 19, 2011


I just counted 17 definites. Although my counting skills aren't at peak efficiency at the moment. (Well, it is New Year's Eve.)
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:54 PM on December 31, 2011


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