The *NSYNC Pen Pal Program aims to bring back the spirit of late 90s to early 2000s fandom connections through physical letters. We hope to foster new friendships across the globe not only through our love of *NSYNC, but through love of culture, education, and people.
Why snail mail?
Think of this program as a way to disconnect from the digital landscape to get to know other fans through more intimate and sincere means. Snail mail also allows pen pals to send each other letters, artworks, bracelets, photos, and candy.Is there an option for emailing?
We will pair those who want to write through email with each other.Will participating in this program cost me money?
Signing up for this program is free. Stationery and stamps will cost money, as well as any other attachments you’d like to include in your letters. Stamp costs will vary between countries; it will cost a bit more to send letters overseas.What about language barriers?
The sign-up form will ask about the languages you are fluent or proficient in. We will pair you based on your answers. We encourage our participants to learn from each other through cultural exchanges!How long will this program last?
After a year, we will reopen sign-ups for new participants or for participating pen pals who would like to write to a new person.Participating pen pals can choose to continue writing their original pen pal outside of the program. We will also contact each pair after one year regarding these choices. We will also do a bi-monthly check-up on each pair via email.Will we change pen pals? If so, how often?
As this is our first year with the program, each person will be paired up with one other person. We will have an option during sign-ups if you’d like to have more than one pen pal, however, if there are an odd number of participants or if a participant drops out of the program. This will be more of a fill-in role.Can pen pals meet up?
Physically meeting up or sending each other gifts—what you do outside of the program is entirely up to you. However, if you’d like to talk about your experiences with pen paling after one year has passed, we can arrange a group Zoom call as part of the program.My pen pal stopped writing to me. What should I do?
Contact the program organizer by email [email protected]. Please note that shipping to certain areas—especially overseas—may take longer. Sending mail overseas may take months. Mail may also get lost.Should there be no response from your pen pal on your end or the
organizer’s, you will be paired with another pen pal.What if I don’t want to write my pen pal / don’t want to participate in the program anymore?
Contact the program organizer by email [email protected]. We will pair your pen pal with someone else. Please do not feel pressured to write anymore if you no longer have the means to.I want to get involved. How can I help?
Please spread the word around by reposting posts or talking about the program to your friends! We also invite you to share photos and stories about your pen paling experiences—they might be featured on our socials!If you’d like to help organize, please email us at [email protected].
Guidelines
1) Avoid offensive and explicit language, photos, and material.2) Avoid politics, religion, and other polarizing topics.3) Be respectful of others.4) Do not share any private information about your pen pal on social media.5) Exercise patience while waiting for responses. Pen pals may be busy with work, school, and the like. Postal services may also affect delivery times—especially pen pals who are writing overseas.6) If an appropriate amount of time has passed and you’ve received no letter from your pen pal, please communicate with the program organizer.7) If any other problems arise with you pen pal or you would like to drop out of the program, please contact the program organizer through social media or email.
How will pairing work?
Our sign-up form will prompt each participant to share their age range, interests, language proficiencies, and a short biographical introduction (1-4 sentences). It will also ask for preferences regarding whether or not you'd like to send letters overseas or write to someone around your age. Participants will also input their address; this will be kept confidential until both pen pals have confirmed their pair.We will email each potential pair with the interests, age, country, and introduction they’ve inputted into the sign-up sheet so that pen pals know the basics about one another.Once both pen pals have confirmed the match by responding to the email, the organizers will send each pen pals' address and choose one person to send the first letter.We advise those who do not want to share their address with anyone NOT to participate in snail mail pen paling. The internet allows a level of anonymity; joining this program will strip you of that anonymity as you are sending physical mail to real people. There will be an option for email-only pen pals.
THE SIGN-UP FORM IS LIVE!
Click on the photo below for the sign-up form!
Sign-ups will stay open from March 24 to April 27 @ 11:59 PM EST.Should you miss this date, please contact the program organizer via our social medias (IG/Twitter) @NSYNCPenPals or email us: [email protected]. We will allow for a three-day grace period before shutting the form down indefinitely for this program cycle.