A New Era of Tracking Santa Begins

A new era of tracking Santa has begun.

Starting in the next few days your Elf Supervisor is going to ask you to file a new report – and this one counts. This is the time we have been talking about all year. This is when you really need to be paying attention.

Today was posted a new report, titled Elf Status. This new report will tell Flight Command and your Elf Supervisor whether or not you are on the job.

Traditionally, we have done in the past something we called the Elf Check-in, which was a way to indicate your readiness before Santa took flight. That old way of doing things is now gone. Tracking Santa is now different in every way and it begins with this new report.

This next week, all Elf Supervisors in each sector will call for your Elf Status report.

It is important that you respond by filing that report when the Elf Supervisor asks for it. It does not matter what your Elf Status report says at this point. But the fact that you respond to YOUR elf supervisor within the window of time called for matters a great deal. This will be one of those reports that applies to your elf evaluation score later next year.

If you file that report that you are on the job it will lead to other very important reports that will count between now and Christmas. This is definitely the time to start paying attention to what is happening.

Also, today and over the next few days – changes have been implemented to our elf registration process. For all new elves coming aboard, as previously announced, a 90-day working period as a FREELANCE ELF is now required BEFORE a new elf will be allowed to become a part of the Elf Community here at SantaTrackers.net and classified as a NORTH POLE ELF.

A freelance elf works by contract for one full season. You can read the contract at this link. All new elves will need to abide by the contract, do their jobs as elves and gain the endorsement of their elf supervisor. This is another way in which tracking Santa is different. No more can an individual sign up as an elf and do no work. They have to actually be an elf tracking Santa for Santa.

A freelance elf still files reports. In fact, the reports are even MORE critical to a freelance elf because a review of their reports over their first 90-days is key to them becoming a North Pole elf.

Regardless of your class as an elf, reporting is now active and it all counts. We are attempting to get 1 billion tracker reports this year. Starting today, those reports count.

But they only count if you file the reports needed when your elf supervisor asks for them. Please do not just send in reports willy-nilly.

In fact, if your reports are not applicable, on-time, and comprehensive they will not help you at all. The point behind all of this is to do a better job of reporting the right information at the right time when Santa needs it.

Right now, Santa’s sleigh is in the test flight period. Your reports during this period matter because we are testing all systems, including the reporting system, as part of the test flights. If your reports show snow where there is really dry heat, it hurts the effort and could count against you.

We also remind you that many reports have changed and some new reports are yet to come out. Please pay attention.

Thanks and happy tracking, elves!

About this Elf: Elf Roger Star

Roger is an experienced sleigh pilot, designer and flight engineer who has worked the past 42 years as a flight supervisor in the Tracking Department at the North Pole. Previous to that Roger served as a designer in the Research and Development Department during the crucial years of 1947-1974, an era known for breakout designs in Santa’s sleigh that broke long standing speed records. Roger was the lead designer of Santa’s 1968 sleigh, famous for surviving a brutal blizzard in Bavaria. Elf Roger led the tracker elf as International Director of Santa Trackers from its inception as a pilot program in 2016 until 2023. He is now director of North Pole Flight Command.