#email 2017

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: So here's what happened.

From: GISHWHES <[email protected]> Date: September 3, 2017 at 12:52:19 PM EDT

Greetings [Name],

As we begin to look toward the future of this crazy, fantastical journey, it’s important to take a glance back at we were able to pull off together. You’ve managed, once again, to outdo yourselves in grand gishwhes fashion: you gave oodles of time to worthy causes, raised mountains of cash for those in need, and changed the lives of more earthly creatures than ever before. Well done, you. Let’s take a gander down memory lane and see what we did this year…

You Became Proud Protectors of Pandas

As part of the premium registration package, we wanted to offer the chance to become a proud adoptive parent of your very own Porcupanda and support Pandas International, a non-profit providing awareness, research support, and habitat preservation for pandas around the world. You raised over $18,000 for the organization whose conservation work is now more vital than ever, and in so doing, saved countless lives of our fellow furry, black-and-white, bumbling and adorable bears. Right this moment, as you read this, there are pandas worldwide that are sleeping, eating, playing, or creating adorable panda poop, only because of you.

You Saved 40,000 Acres of Nepali Forest

We partnered with the Rainforest Trust on a mission to help protect and defend roughly 20,000 acres of forest in Nepal filled with endangered species and critical habitats. Through gisholarship donations, upgrades and registering for the hunt, you managed to introduce thousands of people to the wonderful and weird world of gishwhes and saved over 40,000 acres for animals and flora to enjoy forever.

You Helped Save the Dreams of Countless At-Risk Children

After raising over $225,000 last year for several Syrian families in desperate need, you exceeded expectations and managed to raise over $260,000 dollars for Dreamscape, a dance school in South Africa that is a beacon of hope in its community. Almost 12,000 donors gave hope to children who live in some of the world’s poorest conditions and granted the dying wish of an incredible teacher and mentor with a gift that will support the artistic journeys of these amazing students for years to come. We look forward to documenting their journey and sharing it with you.

Acts of Kindness By The Numbers, gishwhes 2017

You created thousands of care packages for cancer patients, thank you gifts to first responders, and donations to local shelters. You inspired hundreds of women to run for elected office, completed more than 45,000 acts of kindness during the Hunt, and inspired thousands to stand in front of decision-makers and hold up signs about issues that are important to them.

But as you know, gishwhes isn’t all about being good. In fact, you kind of shine when you’re asked to be weird, freaky and wild. You managed to launch paper airplanes in outer space, hosted hundreds of underwater board meetings, created thousands of avant-garde recycled wedding dresses, rewrote the hippy movement using storm troopers, photo documented the much-discussed Zombie versus Vampire war, became architectural geniuses with wombat poop, inspired thousands of ballet bar room brawls, summoned ghosts for ghost towns, participated in the once-every-3000-year annual Spectral Olympics, and many many many more wild, weird, beautiful and eye-popping wonders.

Your kindness, generosity and freaky joie de vivre truly knew no bounds this year and we - and the world at large - are beyond grateful for that. There’s so much more work to be done and weirdness to infiltrate the world, but we are proud of the effort and light you’ve brought into the world through gishwhes.

Ever yours,

Misha, MJL and the Gish Gnomes

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: I just made 115 jars of blackberry jam...

From: Misha <[email protected]> Date: August 12, 2017 at 5:51:49 AM EDT

My beloved,

Congratulations! You made it! The week is nearly at an end and we’ve arrived together at the end of this, the very last gishwhes-as-we-know-it.

Over the years, gishwhes has grown from a lark into something I never imagined it could be when we started, (and not to brag, but I have a pretty expansive imagination). But you—the gishwhes community— have turned this lark into something unexpected. gishwhes is the embodiment of gestalt; thanks to you, it really has become greater than the sum of its parts. Over and over you’ve proven that you could rise to the most absurd challenges. We’ve seen nuns dangling off rope swings and vinyl Castiel toys ascending into the heavens, hang-gliding stuffed animals and gravity-defying sandwiches. This week alone we’ve seen courage and crushed buses, cinematic acts of generosity, and more underwater board meetings and choirs with exposed gums than I’d ever expected to encounter in my lifetime. Over the years, we’ve also proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that there’s nothing you guys can’t do with a little hot glue, some imagination, and enough menstrual hygiene products. For that knowledge alone, I’ll always be grateful. I know it's been a rewarding and, I know, trying week at times for all of us; I just finished making 12 blackberry pies, 115 jars blackberry jam, and 20 square feet of fruit leather, and I still have more than 25 gallons of berries that I'm trying to find ways to contend with.

Not too shabby for a lark. You did well, and I’m honored to have been your cruise director on this strange little voyage.

As we head into the last day of the Hunt, a lot of you are wondering “Okay, Misha, what’s next?” I'm glad you asked. Rest assured, there issomething coming. I’ll tell you more soon, but in the interim, rest assured: you can’t get rid of such a strange and world-upending thing as gishwhes so easily. Meanwhile, we've got a lot to do still. After the Hunt there will be FEGVEP, our first-ever gishwhes volunteer extraordinare program to help with reviewing submissions, that you can take part in. There will be our judging and, of course, a winner and a winners’ trip. There will be sortiing out the future of Dancescape, Fiona Sargeant's dance school in South Africa that you've raised $150k for (and counting!)... Then, there will be the something new... but we’ll talk more about that later. I’m excited. I hope you are, too.

So thanks. Thanks for the stomach cramps I got from laughing too hard at all of your submissions. Thank you for more blackberries than any one man has a right to call his own, and above all, thank you for joining me on this weird, wild adventure time and time again.

The future is calling us, and it’s full of promise as we take things next-level. I can’t wait. Are you ready? Let's do this.

Your friend and eternal co-conspirator,

Misha

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: UPDATE: Your teams are formed!

From: GISHWHES <[email protected]> Date: August 2, 2017 at 11:11:42 AM EDT

Greetings [Name],

I have spendifigorious news! Your teams have been formed!

All you need to do is log into the website and click on “Your Team” under your username in the menu. You’ll be able to see all of your teammates and connect with them.

Reach out to them via group email, and then perhaps one of you can kindly and generously volunteer to create a Facebook group to communicate. You can also use a free chat service (there are many online), smoke signals, carrier pigeons or whatever else grooms your donkey.

So here’s what’s next…

1. Who are your teammates (i.e. new best friends)? If you don’t already know them, find out where they’re from. What do they like doing? Have they gished before? Why did they sign up for gish? What do they hope to experience from it? Above all else, be sure to ask them what side of their mouth they begin brushing their teeth with: left or right (from the vantage point of the brusher NOT the viewer). This is really important information. Find out if your team is predominantly left brushers or right brushers.

2. Do you have missing teammates? Many times you might have team members (more than one) that are silent when you first reach out to them… and sometimes stay silent throughout the duration of the Hunt. Although annoying, definitely do not worry about this (or contact support!): (1) winning teams in the past have had less than 15 members, and (2) sometimes they’re just shy so simply keep on including them on emails until they decide to come out from under the bed and play. Remember that first day of school where some of us hid behind our parent’s leg and hugged it like it was the last tree in Nepal? That. So just be nice and accommodating and maybe, just maybe, you’ll make someone’s day by giving them courage to come out and play. At the end of the day, you don’t need 15 people to have an amazing time. As a final note, PLEASE don’t contact support about this. Our gish gnomes are overworked as it is and are powerless to give your missing teammate courage to come out from under the bed (only you can do that).

3. Want to change your team name? Some of you may have noticed that your team name is changed. When the gnomes combine two (or more) partially filled teams (to get a team of 15 put together) they can’t erase a team’s name. That would be bad karma. The good news is you all can work together on a NEW team name (or choose one of your existing ones to go with). The Captain can change the team name. This will likely be the first thing you all work together on… so don’t botch up your first collaborative task! Embrace it with the same creativity, communication and collaborative spirit that you will employ during the Hunt!

4. Want to change your team Captain? There may be situations where you choose to change the Captain of your team. The Captain can do this in their My Account panel on the website. (NOTE: I’m told there may be a little pesky bug with this but gishbot is working on it, so be patient with the little dorkbot!)

Misha Collins or I will send you another email prior to the Hunt explaining next steps, but in the meantime, introduce yourself to your teammates and let them know about your brushing habits!

Yours unless I’m someone else’s but I’d still kinda be yours which is something,

Miss Jean Louis

Advisor (a.k.a “babysitter”) to Misha Collins

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Your Official 2017 Gishwhes shirt is ready!

From: Gishwhes <[email protected]> Date: June 7, 2017 at 12:50:11 PM EDT

Greetings [Name],

It's time to suit up for the the Hunt! Get the official limited edition Gishwhes 2017 T-shirt "We Are the Weird" now:

Enter this portal to get to the shirt...

If you buy this annual collector’s T-shirt now, you’ll receive a special pre-hunt discount (prices will increase after the Hunt) and you’ll receive the shirt in time for the Hunt to begin. So, you’ll save money and look splendiferous for the Hunt!

So get on it and get your shirt!

Every your Dutiful Gnome Servants,

The Gish Gnomes

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

You can find more information on previous shops here.

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: Time for some fun gishwhes Holiday CRAHP Item#

From: "Gish FEGVEP" <[email protected]> Date: December 19, 2017 at 1:38:16 AM EST

Season's Greetings, [Name]!

As 2017 comes to a close, many of you are probably on a desperate mission to finish your to-do lists, complete last-minute projects, and prepare for the onslaught of the holidays. This time of year can be stressful, intimidating, and overwhelming… and that’s just the cookie-baking.

Fortunately, gishwhes is here to help!

You’re invited to participate in gishwhes’ new exclusive, patent-pending “CRAHP”, or “Completely Relaxing Annual Holiday Procrastination” service. gishwhes CRAHP is your chance to put off wrapping presents, ignore your family members, and avoid the pressure of holiday responsibilities by enjoying & reviewing meticulously crafted Hunt items instead. The best part is, if someone says you shouldn’t be mindlessly scrolling the Internets, you can say “gishwhes made me do it”, which is a guaranteed excuse for any outrageous behavior.

Check it out:

[Item] Gnomes' Gnotes: Doing things in reverse is often a great idea. [for item 105]

We should’ve included lutefisk in this task, right? [for item 72]

Did you hear the one about the Stormtrooper motorcycle? It was the safest vehicle on the street because it never hit anything. [for item 45] [Link] Judge hard! The FEGVEP Team

Fair warning: We just put out this gishwhes CRAHP, so it’s still pretty fresh so if you run into trouble or find a pesky little gishbugs or gishflies in our system, please let us know by replying to this email with all the details and gishbot will diligently work to squash the little suckers! If you don't wish to participate in our CRAHP, simply ignore this email and you won't receive another invitation.

Please note: Your voting will not count toward the annual Gishwhes coffee table book or the Gishwhes Hall of Fame (GHOF) for 2017. This is basically just a chance to ignore the world and enjoy some incredible works of art masquerading as an elegant misuse of your time m

Yours truly,

The Gish Gnomes

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: And the Refer-A-Friend Winner is...

From: GISHWHES <[email protected]> Date: October 16, 2017 at 2:33:08 PM EDT

Greetings, [Name]!

You were diligent and made short work out of solving the mess of clues within the hallowed halls of the Shwop so we are now very proud to announce the Refer-a-Friend winner for gishwhes 2017! Without further ado...

THIS JUST IN!

Porcupanda wanted to share with you this wondiferous self-portrait they painted out of ASCII characters. It took quite some time so bask in its glory and revel in its simplicity. Quills forthcoming!

                     H||  __________H||____________ [ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . . .  ## --. # . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . . .      #    # . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . . . .         *   . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . .           -^ . . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . # #\                . . . . . . . | | | . . . . #####          /### . . . . . | | | . . . . ########\   \ (( # . . . . .| | | . . ####,       ) ) / ## . . . . . . . | | | . . #####            '#### . . . . . | | | . . #####\____/##### . . . . . . | | | . . . ######. .###### . . . . . . | | | . . . . .    """"     """"   . . . . . . . .| [ |_______________________ |                H| |_______H||                H| |________\|                H| |              H||                H| |              H||               _H| |_______H||___            H|________________|

Okay, back to the matter at hand. Let’s not delay any longer, the winner of the Refer-A-Friend giveaway joining Misha and the winning team in Hawaii will be…

BREAKING NEWS!

We are nearing the final moments of judging this year’s teams. We hope to have a winner announced VERY soon, but it’s very close this year with multiple teams neck-and-neck— which is both an amazing visual and terribly odd as a saying.

Okay, finally, with no further ado, your Referral Winner is…. JACQUELINE HAMMER of marvelous Maastricht, Limburg in the Netherlands!

Congratulations, Jacqueline. We look forward to spending time with you exploring lava flows and lady beetles. Stay tuned by following us onTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr!

Until next time, which will be sooner than later if soon is now and later is sometime in the future, weirdify your world, gishers. It’s our only hope.

Non-generic salutations,

The Gish Gnomes

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: Guess who's going to Hawaii?

From: GISHWHES <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 9, 2017 6:12 PM

Greetings [Name],

While we’d love to tell you right away who won the Refer-a-Friend drawing to join the winning team and a side dish of Misha Collins in Hawaii, that simply wouldn’t be appropriate. This is gishwhes, where nothing good ever comes easy, but everything good happens eventually, except when Jell-O is involved.

Instead, we’ll give you some hints that you can vociferously yell at. The Refer-a-Friend winner is someone who:

Lives in a country that has a flag with 3 colors

Lives somewhere 'lower rather than higher'

Has at least 2 vowels in their first name

You could say this person is "percussive"… or annoying if you’re trying to sleep (if you go by what-you-see-is-what-you-get, though to be fair we’ve never seen this person)

Have you figured it out yet, clever gishers?

Yeah... Neither have we. But those are the clues Misha gave us. We’ll give you more soon, if you haven’t solved it yet...

In the meantime, the SHWOP closes in less than 48 hours! To stoke your enthusiasm, we’re giving you a farewell shot of the cover of your beloved 2017 gishwhes coffee table book (the last ever as you've known it!). So get in there before the door slams forever closed. Do it now...

As ever yours before you were ours,

The Gish Gnomes

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.

[gishwheshistorian]

Subject: The 2017 Gishwhes winners are...

From: Misha <[email protected]> Date: October 6, 2017 at 6:42:55 PM EDT

… soon to be announced. We are in the final process of judging. We’ve narrowed it down to 10 teams and we’re now meticulously reviewing submissions. I know you’ve waited for… ever, Kaela, but we’re almost there.

While we’re all waiting (on me, of course), you need to know two critical things, in no particular order (other than the one I’ve typed below):

First, the shwop closes in just a few days. By the time you read this, there will be less than 120 hours left to get shirt-furnished, book-bound, pinned with pride, happily hydrated, beanie-beautified, and tucked into a cozy zip pouch!

Second, because I put you through such sublime hell with this year’s Hunt, I’d like to give a little back. Right now I’m knitting something. It’s really quite extraordinary if I do say so myself. I don’t quite know how to describe it other than, “if you saw it, you would not entirely be clear about what it was, but you would want it on you for sure.” If you buy an item from the shwop now (or have already purchased something) you’ll be entered to win this… this knitted splendor. I’ve also been given 10 commemorative pin sets by the gish gnomes to give away to 10 other radiant schwag shwoppers.

The Shwop closes soon… so get on it!

Sustainably and grass-fed,

Misha

The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.  

If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here,  or you can fill out one of our surveys.