white friday Archives - The Houstory® Hearth

By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Sales and Marketing Guy

Okay, we admit it. We really like the REI campaign #OptOutside.

For the past three years, as an alternative to #BlackFriday, REI has encouraged its customers to get outside and into nature instead of spending time and money buying junk at the mall. Take a hike and skip the lines, they say. Hmmm…a company that doesn’t particularly appreciate the pointlessness of hand-to-hand combat over a motorized, app-controlled vacuum cleaner? (Although the below video, I’m afraid to admit as a new father of a wonderful little girl, makes me VERY SLIGHTLY second guess my cynicism.)

What are the #NoMoreStuff and #WhiteFriday campaigns? It’s our effort to encourage people to re-think the relationship they have with the objects and things that surround them before they head out holiday shopping for things they may not really need or even truly want.

To our supporters, this refrain probably sounds familiar.

That’s because our #NoMoreStuff campaign—which started in 2012—also encourages people to skip the chaos of consumerism and instead invest in experiences during the entire holiday season. As the creator of The Heirloom Registry, we really hope this means taking time to document family history while the family is together. Family history certainly beats politics, wouldn’t you say?

Two years ago, as part of the #NoMoreStuff effort, we launched our #WhiteFriday campaign as a direct response to #BlackFriday. What is #WhiteFriday? It’s easy, that’s what. Three steps, and you, too, can be a #WhiteFriday participant this year. Drumroll, please…

(1) Sleep in;

(2) Have a delicious breakfast;

(3) Gather family and a few family heirlooms from around the house, talk about them, write down their histories, and perhaps even do some estate planning.

To help you along, please use our free Heirloom Registry Registration Sheet. If you want to save these stories permanently online and label each object with a unique Heirloom Registry ID number (and even take a picture of the people sitting at the table that you can attach with the online entry), purchase these at www.houstory.com.

All this anti-#BlackFriday stuff got me thinking: why limit yourself to one kind of non-shopping experience? Why can’t you mix #NoMoreStuff/#WhiteFriday with #OptOutside? For example, in the morning you talk about the old grandfather clock, and in the afternoon you go for a hike? You’ll get EXTRA CREDIT for talking family history while you run/walk/ski.

For EXTRA, EXTRA CREDIT: take pictures of doing #NoMoreStuff-y like things and post them online using the #NoMoreStuff and #WhiteFriday hashtags. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, too. We also encourage you to take the pledge (provided by one of my favorite nonprofits, The Story of Stuff Project) not to buy more stuff on Black Friday.

Now go have fun and stay sane.

By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Sales and Marketing Guy

Well, it’s that time of year again: Our 2016 #NoMoreStuff Campaign kickoff! What is the #NoMoreStuff Campaign, you ask?

Simple: Our effort to encourage people to re-think the relationship they have with the objects and things that surround them before they head out holiday shopping for things they may not really need or even truly want. Things like, I dunno, family heirlooms.

no more stuff, #nomorestuff

Last year, our official kickoff was #WhiteFriday (the day after Thanksgiving). This was our direct response to #BlackFriday. As part of our message, we encouraged people to stay home with family and chat about family history (with actual family!) instead of getting in hand-to-hand combat over “Little Live Pets ‘Snuggles My Dream Puppy’ Playsets.”

So, let’s fast forward to 2016.

This year, it’s safe to say Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. will be pretty interesting for many families. Lots of important conversations to be had.

And quite honestly, I hope you all have deep, challenging interactions with friends and family because we absolutely need meaningful, authentic conversation that include lots of listening and throughful dialogue—now more than ever.

However, it can’t all be serious stuff, right? If you want or need a break—if even for a few minutes—we have a possible nonpartisan solution: focus on family history.

Here’s how you do it:

Eat.
Clear the table.
Place five (5) family heirlooms in the center of the table.
Share all the information you can about each heirloom. Go around the table and join forces in this effort.
Then, document these stories using our free Heirloom Registry Registration Sheet. If you want to save these stories permanently online and label each object with a unique Heirloom Registry ID number (and even take a picture of the people sitting at the table that you can attach with the online entry), purchase these at www.houstory.com.

For extra credit: take pictures of doing #NoMoreStuff-y like things and post them online using the #NoMoreStuff and #WhiteFriday hashtags. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, too.

And remember: one thing that will always bring families together, regardless of differing beliefs, values and vision is…family.

Maybe.

At least it’s worth a shot, right?

If you want to learn more about the origins of our #NoMoreStuff campaign, I invite you to check out our post from December 2012. Thanks!