It could be worth a million (Unusual Gift Ideas)

Member Name: mikeb

Product:	Unusual Gift Ideas
Date:	03/12/00 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Different, not expensive and a bit of fun

Disadvantages: Not popular with lottery haters

Just a quick idea for all those people, like myself, who are buying for other people who you work with and struggle to think of anything to give them.

It's not easy buying for fellow workers because some you get to know really well and can think of loads of things they would be delighted to get as a present and for others you haven't got a clue about their out of work interests. In my office we tend to go in for smallish gifts which usually remain in the office such as a fancy drinks mug or a strange cuddly toy or something like that. Whist there's nothing particularly wrong with doing it like this it does get a bit boring after a couple of years.

One idea I have tried to to make this a bit more unpredictable is to give something with your present that doesn't cost alot but could be worth something in the long run. My idea may not go down well with everyone as some people are against the National Lottery but in our place, where we have operated a syndicate since day one, this went down well. What I did was search around for the usual small present but along with it I gave everone three scratchcards and a couple of lucky dip lottery tickets for the next lottery draw. Not only did we get a few small winners on the cards, a tenner was also won on the draw. With it being Christmas and New Year everyone usually heads off to the pub so all the winnings went towards some drinks anyway.

There's no reason why your "bonus" present has to be based on the lottery either. Any draw tickets, which are usually in plentiful supply at this time, could be used or possibly a betting slip for a future event involving a local team in the FA Cup for example is another idea. I'm sure this suggestion wont be suitable for alot of places but in a workplace of mainly young people it was definately a success and for a relatively small outlay somebody could hit the jackpot.

Summary: