About Us
The Christmas Letter Swap is the result of some friends sitting around over beers on a cold Chicago night in December of 2012 and wondering "What if you could get a few of those holiday family newsletters that you actually wanted to read?"
The first swap took place in 2013, and was considered a huge success in that 40+ people participated, while only 3 deadbeats shirked their commitment to the project. The letters were wildly inventive: often hilarious, sometimes weird and dark, and, once in awhile, touching.
The second swap took place in 2015, and was a bit of a mess. We grew to include participants from six continents, and were not prepared for the explosion in numbers. Many people neglected to send letters, some people received none, and no creations ever got posted online. I was the sole entry into the Hall of Shame for my organizational screw up.
In 2019, we had a new system in place, and had a cash prize drawing to encourage full participation. From what we know, most people got the majority of their letters.
In 2020, we had 50 letters, and full participation from everyone who signed up!
This project is a labor of love, and no money is earned by the organizer. The goal is to create something fun and free.
The swap is brought to you by Scott Whitehair, the producer behind This Much Is True, Story Lab, and Do Not Submit, a few of Chicago's longest running storytelling series. Scott oversees the whole mess, and does his best to keep people from accidentally mailing to themselves.
The first swap took place in 2013, and was considered a huge success in that 40+ people participated, while only 3 deadbeats shirked their commitment to the project. The letters were wildly inventive: often hilarious, sometimes weird and dark, and, once in awhile, touching.
The second swap took place in 2015, and was a bit of a mess. We grew to include participants from six continents, and were not prepared for the explosion in numbers. Many people neglected to send letters, some people received none, and no creations ever got posted online. I was the sole entry into the Hall of Shame for my organizational screw up.
In 2019, we had a new system in place, and had a cash prize drawing to encourage full participation. From what we know, most people got the majority of their letters.
In 2020, we had 50 letters, and full participation from everyone who signed up!
This project is a labor of love, and no money is earned by the organizer. The goal is to create something fun and free.
The swap is brought to you by Scott Whitehair, the producer behind This Much Is True, Story Lab, and Do Not Submit, a few of Chicago's longest running storytelling series. Scott oversees the whole mess, and does his best to keep people from accidentally mailing to themselves.