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A retirement gift better than the card everyone signed

The card that goes round the office is a good instinct executed badly. It gets to about half the people it should, it is signed in the four inches of space left by whoever went first, and the person receiving it gets forty signatures and eight legible sentences.

The collecting is the whole problem

Nobody struggles to think of something to say about a colleague of twenty years. They struggle to be at their desk when the card is going round, and to write it in two inches of space, in front of a queue.

One link, sent once to the team, removes all of that. People contribute from their own desk, on their own time, with as much room as they want — and the ones who are remote or on leave are included by default instead of missed.

What people send when there is room

Given space, colleagues send the specific things: the photo from the conference in 2014, the story about the client who called at midnight, thirty seconds of a team who could not all be in the same room.

These are the things a card cannot hold, and they are the reason the keepsake gets kept.

One person still has to organise it

But the job is smaller than it looks: buy the keepsake, share the link, review what comes in, and submit. You approve every contribution before it goes to production, so nothing embarrassing reaches the recipient.

It ships as a printed card in a premium mini mailer box — something to hand over at the leaving do, that opens into everything the team actually said.

Which keepsake fits

Group Keepsake

Built for exactly this. Up to ten colleagues contribute through one shared link, and one keepsake ships to the recipient.

Event Wall

Better for a large leaving party where the whole room should be able to contribute, not just ten people.

Questions

What if more than ten people want to contribute?

Use an Event Wall instead — it has no contributor limit, and guests scan a code at the leaving party rather than following a link.

Can I review contributions before it ships?

Yes. Every submission comes to you for approval before final production.

Do colleagues need an account?

No. They open the link, add their message or photo, and they are done.

How far ahead should we order?

Allow about a week. Production is typically 2–3 business days after you submit, plus transit with Canada Post — and you want a few days for people to actually contribute.

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