Guidelines for Hosting an Exchange
for The Pine Needle Group

There is no schedule for exchanges...whenever the next one comes up, that's when it is. Most of the time, we take a break during summer...many people go on vacation, garden, etc, and computer use (and basket making) is down. The winter "holiday season" is also usually bare of exchanges. Fall and Spring are generally active.

To be an exchange host, you must be a member of the Pine Needle Group Mailing list in good standing, not eliminated from exchange status by the Standing Rule, or under censure. You must have been a member for at least 6 months, and have participated in at least one successful exchange already.

Steps to hosting an exchange,
1. contact the Exchanges Coordinator,Lynn Hoyt with your intent to host an exchange.
2. make up the rules, and type them out in an email.
   Some things to consider:
   • a theme for instance
     1. specific holiday
     2. book or topic
     3. "go the the five and dime an incorporate an item costing less than a dollar"
     4. sculptures
     5. teneriffe
     6. a gourd exchange with more than 50% coiled
     7. bright colors
     8. nutslice baskets
     9. ornaments
   • NAME your exchange with a unique name that reflects the theme.
   • Exchange rules MUST contain at least 50% coiling. Other techniques are not eliminated, but this is a coiling group, and that is our focus.
   • Include signup information, and a limited (specified) signup period - participants must include a valid address and phone number, which will be kept PRIVATE by the exchange host.
   • shipping deadline...please do not set a deadline for RECEIPT. You do not have control over the carriers, only the shippers.
   • specific dates and details of the drawing & distribution of names. A "normal" exchange is double-blind - that is, each person's name is placed 2 times in a hat. Then they are drawn, the first name being the giver and the second the recipient. Each person receives a notification of who they will ship TO, but does not know from whom they will receive a basket. You need to specify if this is the way you will do it, or if you are modifying the method.
   • try to anticipate questions the participants might have, once the rules are posted, they are not changed, just interpreted.
3. send the rules to the Exchanges Coordinator,Lynn Hoyt , who posts them on the rules page.
4. announce the rules, and the exchange, to the Mailing list via email.
5. receive the signups, according to the rules you wrote
6. We have had some problems with packages not being received Internationally. International mail can be slow and unreliable, as well as expensive. If there is international participation in an exchange, the exchange host will need to ask the US participants if they would like to be included in the group willing to ship by US Postal Service Global Air Mail Parcel Post to another country. Air mail may have a chance of arriving more quickly and reliably, but there is no guarantee. Those who say yes will have the chance to possibly receive something from a participant in another country. Please realize that the high cost of shipping works both ways. Approximate shipping charges may be determined by using the International rate calculator .
7. assign the partners, according to your rules
8. distribute the information to the partners, according to your rules
9. re-read the rules you wrote when people have questions, and interpret what they say ( not what you meant to say)...this is an interesting part of hosting
10. sit back and wait for it to happen
11. keep track of who has sent, and who has not, and when everything is delivered.
12. send reminders to the list, or the participants. Picture posting, etc, is optional.
13. follow up on undelivered baskets. Each exchange participant is required to receive a basket upon completion of the exchange. This means, if someone in your exchange does not follow through an deliver a basket, you need to arrange to have one delivered. You may do this by many different means, making one yourself, asking for a volunteer to prepare one, designating someone to make the "emergency" basket from the beginning.