help me pick the right present for a friend I have never actually met.

October 14, 2007 9:05 PM

help me pick the right present for a friend I have never actually met.

my headhunter has gotten me a new job and I want to send her a thank you-note and a present. I've worked with this lady before and we have exchanged hundreds of emails and talked countless times over the phone. I consider her a friend, yet we have never met. (hey, this is a creative industry, people are bound to be a little off sometimes.)

I know she's british, I know she's in her forties, I know she's artistic, I know she's married to a very wealthy guy who happens to be at one of the very top spot in my industry. I also know she's a near enigma to almost anyone I know. very few people have ever met her but everyone I know knows her, everyone has a story. she's the ghost of new york city. it took me a month to get a mailing address for her.

I want her to get a present but feel like being a bit more creative than flowers or chocolate. I am thinking $100-300 for my budget and I am looking for ideas.

your suggestions, please.

posted by krautland to Human Relations (9 answers total)

If you know enough about her basic taste, get her a framed print or photograph, maybe representing something she has mentioned a fondness for. (Her city?) Make it small enough that it doesn't have to dominate a room; a 5x7 or 8x10 in an 11x14 frame is big enough to look like it means something, but small enough that it can be hung in a hallway or corner where it doesn't have to match the rest of the room or office.

Even better, if you are a photographer or artist, give her something of your own.
posted by The Deej at 9:11 PM on October 14, 2007

What about a vase made from crystal or art glass (with or without the flowers)?
posted by metahawk at 9:12 PM on October 14, 2007

New York and you kinda know her and she sounds like she has everything she could possibly want because of her rich husband?

Gift basket from Zabar's.
posted by spec80 at 9:23 PM on October 14, 2007

I have been wanting to try Clear Creek Distillery's eaux de vie since reading about them in the NYT a couple months back. I think any sane person feels the same. Well, any sane person who drinks alcohol, I guess. A really nice bottle of wine might be good too, although that's a bit more obvious.
posted by crinklebat at 9:27 PM on October 14, 2007

A handwritten note expressing your feelings about your relationship with her and favorite book of yours that you know she will love along with an explanation of why you like the book and think she will also. If you can find a first edition of the book signed by the author great!
posted by snowjoe at 9:37 PM on October 14, 2007

Her secretary may be able to tell you any particular likes/dislikes.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:20 PM on October 14, 2007

How about a nice long handwritten letter about how much you appreciate her help in finding you a place to work?
posted by softlord at 6:18 AM on October 15, 2007

one of my candidates sent me beautiful flowers and chocolates the other day in thanks, and it MADE MY DAY, she could not have had any idea how perfect the timing was especially, but I found it overall to be a very sweet and kind gesture. I had told her before that I loved spring and summer since my hobby is photography and i especially like taking macro photos of flowers -- even sitting at my desk and doing it during my lunch break!
Other recruiters in my office have received gift certificates (to Amazon.com or other places like that) and memorably a HUGE beautiful art book. The memorable gifts have come from a caniddate learning something about the likes/dislikes of a recruiter or their passions and hobbies and then making a judgment from there. other gifts have been an italian cookbook for an italian aficianado recruiter; a book about travel in china from a chinese immigrant for whom a recruiter helped obtain a visa.
Also once a candidate sent me a nice thank you email and CC'd my boss, whose info she found on her own, so that my boss saw the praise she had for me, without me having to toot my own horn!
posted by Soulbee at 11:36 AM on October 15, 2007

Don't give her anything permanent -- she'll have to figure out what to do with an expensive nice object you give her (hi re-gifting). Definitely do not give her artwork. If she's artistic, then she likely has very specific preferences that you won't be able to figure out easily.

Something edible or something that can be used up (fruit basket, gourmet coffee, fancy bath supplies) is nice and ephemeral and shows you care.
posted by bumpybear at 9:00 PM on October 15, 2007