Alanti-
First, thank you so much for your kind words. I just finished my "Christmas in July" work for the night and was scanning the forums and came across your post.
I'm sure you know (or I hope you do) that I don't do these events seeking personal recognition. As you stated, I'm just the guy putting it all together. It's the players that jump in to play Santa that are the real people that deserve the credit.
We all know that there are lots of players out there that send gifts to other players all the time, they just like to do it behind the scenes. I just put together these events in an effort to reach a broader audience and maybe to put the idea of gifting in someones head.
While putting this event together I was happy to hear from someone that was a recipient of a gift from lasts years event and he graciously stepped forward to play Santa this time around. In my mind, that's what it's all about.
As far as WGT is concerned-
Would it have been nice to see something in the "News" section on the login page? Sure it would have, it might have made more players aware of what was going on, but it didn't happen so lets move on. Maybe the next time around I'll reach out to them and maybe we can make that happen.
It should be noted that WGT did start a post in this very section of the forums back on the 10th, problem was....it got buried very quickly. See it here-
http://www.wgt.com/forums/t/184278.aspx
Lastly, during the last event there was a lot of talk about why wasn't WGT joining us. Well, that's not the case this time. WGT contacted me this year and said they'd like to join in the fun and I couldn't be more pleased. I think that as I build a relationship with WGT through having events like this, it can only help us work out the kinks so that future events will be more successful and reach an even broader audience.
Also, I don't know what they're planning for the final "Special Day" but I can't wait to see.
In closing, Alan,,,,Thanks again for the kind words and to all the other players that posted in this thread....thank you all as well.
The Santas