Changes to the Tracker Elf Conference

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The Tracker Elf Conference is designed to help good elves become better trackers. It’s about training and communicating needs for everyone – for you, the tracker elf, but also for North Pole Flight Command, your Elf Supervisors and, ultimately, for Santa.

In years past we have done this as a long event over one or two weekend days.

Your response to the Tracker Elf Conference Survey told us that this didn’t work out well for you – mostly because December is packed with so many other events. Most seemed to feel that access to the information as soon as possible through news and posts was better than the chat-heavy events of the past.

So we’re going to do that.

But we’re also going to do some chat events too. That has already been announced by Elf Winslow earlier.

We are going to focus on two major changes going forward-

  1. Weekly updates from your elf supervisor. This has already been announced and it begins this Monday.
  2. Your questions answered: We got a lot of great questions from the survey. We’re going to hold roundtable discussions with Santa and key elves and then provide you with an transcript of those discussions for your review. The questions and answers will specifically address:
    • Operation Merry Christmas
    • Santa-specific Stuff
    • How Santa Tracking Works
    • How to Answer Tough Questions from Skeptics
    • Questions About Reindeer
    • Christmas Eve

We believe these broad topics cover the majority of the questions submitted via the survey. We invite you, however, to continue asking questions through that survey. If you think of something new, just submit it via that form even if you have done that before.

We will be using your questions verbatim in holding these discussions.

Thank you for your attention. It’s going to be a great Tracker Elf Conference this year!

Saturdays in Elf Chat

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Saturdays in Elf Chat is a new feature for this tracking season that come as a result of your participation in the Tracker Elf Conference Survey.

The surveys were split on the topic of the Tracker Elf Conference. In the past the Tracker Elf Conference was held on one or two days and chat was where it was held. For many however, especially since we all live in different time zones, it wasn’t a convenient way to get information.

But for those who COULD attend those live chats the information was very helpful.

So the decision has been made to tackle the format of the Tracker Elf Conference in several new ways – by still using chat but also by posting articles about important topics.

So, we will be holding live chats featuring key elves you have asked to chat with. Specific times of these chats will be posted as we get closer to these dates:

  • Saturday, December 3rd – Elf Victor, Head of Reindeer Operations at the North Pole
  • Saturday, December 10th – Elf Frank Myrrh of North Pole Radio News
  • Saturday, December 17th – Elf Crash Murphy, Santa’s Eye-in-the-Sky Reporter
  • Saturday, December 24th – Elf Roger Star, International Director of Santa Trackers

A couple of additional notes for you:

  • We are trying to find a time for a chat with Santa. That might not happen on a Saturday as those are really busy times for Santa. We’ll keep you posted on this.
  • The chat on Christmas Eve could be interesting because we’ve never tried that before. It’s a very busy time, of course. Elf Roger is being very generous in giving us some of his time for that day.

The topics for these chats are not set in stone. Between this and other features we are offering this year we believe we can get to all the questions our tracker elves have. If you have a question that you haven’t thought of to ask before just submit it via the Tracker Elf Survey (even if you’ve already filled out that before). We’re taking all questions.

Thanks!

 

Elf Supervisors to Report to YOU

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Elf Supervisors have been meeting with the leadership team at Flight Command this week in response to the Tracker Elf Conference Surveys you have all been submitting. Some decisions have been made and over the next several days a number of announcements will be made.

The first announcement is that each Elf Supervisor will be posting up a report each week of activity in the sector. This report will not only show you what is happening but will also include a list of things you will need to do that week as a tracker elf. Included also will be a brief statement from Santa about anything he might want from you in your particular sector.

The reports will follow a pattern for each week leading up to Santa’s launch:

Mondays – Sector 1
Tuesday – Sector 2
Wednesday – Sector 3
Thursday – Sector 4
Friday – Sector 5

I will also be posting a report every Sunday that recaps our seasonal effort tracking Santa for Santa along with any news and information you might be needing.

We are hoping this spreads out the work of tracking Santa so that when Santa launches you will be more available to watch the skies and report the weather and news from your location.

This is an all new format for us this year. We are all learning how to track Santa different. Please be aware that we are following Santa’s plan and that these many changes were designed by him because he’s the guy driving the sleigh.

His goals, as you help him with the reports you submit and by sharing what’s going on in your neighborhood, are met when you meet your goals.

Let’s give Santa some good support this year.

Stay tuned for a lot more announcements. You should be checking in to SantaTrackers.net everyday if you can.

Thanks!

Tracker Elf Conference Survey

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A tracker elf conference is held every December. This has been the tradition of the past five years. Key elves from Flight Command and even Santa himself take the time to discuss tracking Santa for Santa and what is needed in that particular year.

The Elf Supervisors are thinking of doing the Tracker Elf Conference a little differently this year. They are asking, in advance of scheduling this event, for your questions, comments and needs BEFORE the Conference.

How and when the Tracker Elf Conference will be held is yet to be announced. But we can proceed in getting your input right away.

We are asking all elves to provide the following information so we can make the Tracker Elf Conference more useful for you. You can fill this form out as many times as you like so that all of your questions can be considered:

Elf Supervisors are considering a new format for the Tracker Elf Conference this year. Your feedback on this question is very important

New Chats Posted for Santa Update

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North Pole Chat at SantaUpdate.com this month will feature two very special events.

The first, occurring this Sunday, November 13th at 7pm EST in North Pole Chat features Elf Crash Murphy:

Chat with Elf Crash

Crash will be taking questions about the Thanksgiving Day Elf Parade. Tracker Elves might want to attend this chat with Elf Crash because they are, like last year, invited to participate in the Elf Parade. Crash will talk about how to do that.

Then, in a very special event that we’re sure will be very well attended, Santa Claus will chat on November 27th:

Chat with Santa

The chat with Santa in North Pole Chat will be popular. We strongly encourage submitting your questions in advance. More details of this event will be provided as we get closer to that date.

We hope you can join us for these events at SantaUpdate.com.

We will soon be posting chats exclusive to tracker elves here in Elf Chat at SantaTrackers.net.

Elf Winslow

Sleigh Boys Doubtful of Santa’s Sleigh

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Ok, I’ve delayed this post long enough. The test pilots of Santa’s sleigh held a group lunch during the Halloween weekend break. I was there. I heard a lot about Santa’s sleigh.

I was asked by several to not share what I learned.

But I cannot stay silent any longer. This is not only news it is at the very heart of Operation Merry Christmas.

At the luncheon the test pilots were placing bets and all of them – every single one of them – bet against the new sleigh being used this year by Santa. They are so convincing their arguments that a crew from the sleigh shop is secretly preparing Santa’s sleigh used last year for service on Christmas Eve.

When North Pole Flight Command announced that version 7 of the sleigh would be tested in Sector 1 there was some kind of meeting between pilots and designers. The overwhelming feedback from the test pilots was that Version 7 of Santa’s Sleigh was “10,000 times worse” than Version 6.

I just learned today that Version 8, currently being flown in Sector 3, now has bigger problems than Version 7.

One brave elf – who I will not name – told me by phone today from Sector 3 “these sleighs are getting worse, not better – and I have never seen that in more than 40 years of test flight experience”.

Santa’s sleigh is in trouble, kids.

I have gone through all North Pole news reports from previous seasons. I can find no reports of test flights ever being in trouble.

I tried to get into Flight Command to examine flight logs of previous test flights. Of course, I was denied access to that information.

But, I have friends at North Pole Flight Command. And they have told me that if I were to get access to the logs I would not find anything – EVER – in the history of test flights that compares to what is going on this year with Santa’s sleigh.

So — I took all this to Santa.

After all, Agent X was calling my cell phone after I tried to go to Flight Command. I got a nervous call from Elf Roger Star and then I got one from my editor, Elf Harold Star (no, they aren’t related, Star is a big family name in the history of the North Pole but apparently these two aren’t even distant cousins. Go figger).

Anyways.

Santa, who is leaving the North Pole tomorrow and won’t really be back until Thanksgiving, told me to relax.

Santa says he trusts those who plan, design, build and test the sleigh.

He says he will not intervene in their process until he needs to. And he told me in his regular meetings with the Research and Development team of designers and test pilots who report to him that they have been forth-coming about the challenges with this year’s sleigh.

Santa, as is his way, says he has absolutely no concerns.

But every elf I talk to about this sleigh thing says the same thing:

This thing will never fly for Santa.

Will the sleigh designers keep churning out new versions in an effort to improve the sleigh or will they just scrap it?

Will Santa accept an inferior sleigh to fly on Christmas Eve? Can an old sleigh be pressed in to service? Has that ever been done before?

What, if anything, does this mean for tracking Santa this year?

Stay tuned.

Elf Trixie

Santa Updates by TEXT

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North Pole Flight Command is just about to announce the availability of this year’s TRACK SANTA by TEXT phone number.

Tracker elves may want to be some of the first to enroll.

Just text the word SANTA to 844-399-7929 to sign up. Text updates will be sent when major news breaks on any of the Official North Pole websites – SantaUpdate.com, NorthPoleFlightCommand.com, SantaTrackers.net and ElfHQ.com.

This service is expected to be especially busy on December 23rd and December 24th after Santa launches from the North Pole.

We believe this service should be working now in Canada and the United States. It is being tested right now in other countries but that availability is NOT yet confirmed. We will update you when this becomes available in other parts of the world. They are working on service in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and countries of the Pacific Rim, including the Philippines and Japan.

As always, North Pole news will be broadcast on Kringle Radio, as well as posted at the sites mentioned above.

 

Where Santa is Now

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Hi.

I’m Joel. I’m an elf. I live at the North Pole.

This is the first entry of my new column – an exclusive here at SantaTrackers.net.

Honestly, I’m not sure I want to do this. You see, I’m what they call a reluctant elf.

My Dad is an elf. My grandparents are elves. My great-grandpa was an elf. And his father was an elf.

But I’m not sure I want to be an elf.

You understand, right?

Well, maybe you don’t. Most of you were not born at the North Pole. Most of you have not lived day-in and day-out all the days of your life in the world of elves.

Sometimes I just want to be a regular person.

But enough about me. Let’s get down to why I’m here.

My elf job is one so many elves want – except me. I don’t hate my job. Honestly I don’t. I just don’t think I deserve this job.

My official elf job is to work on Santa’s office staff. My role there is to track Santa. Hahaha, that’s a joke. I track Santa in the sense that I keep his calendar. So, it’s my job to tell Santa where to go all the time.

Some think that is funny when I say that. But the truth is that Santa is a very, very busy man. He needs elves like me.

Santa actually has a very large office staff. Most really important people do. In Santa’s case, his staff is necessary to keep him moving to all the places he needs to go, to meet the right people he needs to be with and to keep him on track with all the stuff he wants to do.

My job just happens to be his calendar.

Some people – even other elves – think this is a privileged position, like working in Santa’s workshop. They think that because I see Santa almost every day (I travel with him a great deal) and that I know almost everything he is doing at any given that I’m important and that my entire days must be filled with candy canes and sugar plums.

But believe me. It’s not at all a big deal. It’s work. A job.

What I do is important. But it’s not important like being a doctor, or a teacher or one of those jobs where you get to help a lot of people.

The job I do helps one guy. That guy happens to be Santa Claus.

I know it is a privileged thing I do. After all, how many elves can say their direct supervisor is Santa himself?

But from where I’m coming from it isn’t all that special.

I grew up here at the North Pole. My Dad worked in Santa’s workshop for many years. He was the lead woodworker. He worked side-by-side with Santa for decades on a billion kagillion projects.

As a kid, Santa came to my house. He ate BBQ with us. He pooped in our bathroom.

Yeah, not your ordinary Santa experience.

You see, living at the North Pole, at least in the eyes of people who have never been here, is like living in a snow globe. They think it is all Christmas all the time. They think eggnog flows in the rivers, that candy canes grow on trees and that Rudolph actually talks to people.

He doesn’t, by the way. He’s actually a very shy and private guy. He glows that red nose at people who approach him in public as a way to say “STOP!”. They never do though. Rudolph can’t catch a break when people are around. He just wants to be left alone most of the time.

I get him.

Living at the North Pole is not the picnic you think it is.

And neither is being Santa’s calendar guy.

Some days I think I am the only guy in the world that still uses a pencil. Santa’s calendar is filled with eraser marks because his schedule always changes. I use a lot of pencils and it’s usually the rubber end.

All this is my way of saying things aren’t always holly berries and Christmas trees at the North Pole and in the life of a working elf.

That’s all. I still want everyone to have a Merry Christmas.

But at the same time I envy those who can just hang their stockings and wait for Santa to come one night every year.

That does not mean I hate my elf life.

It just means sometimes I want to be just Joel – normal guy. Boring dude. Mr. Ordinary.

So what is Santa doing now?

Well, he’s packing his bags.

And so am I.

Every November, right after Halloween, Santa hits the road. He is intent on meeting with people, especially children all over the world.

Between now and Christmas Eve Santa will be “out there” – well, except for a few times he comes back to the North Pole, like Thanksgiving. He’ll be here for all the traditional stuff we do on Thanksgiving.

And I will be with him. The calendar guy has two jobs with Santa on the road – I get to keep the calendar and I get to, um, help the reindeer find a place to do business. Hey, someone’s got to do it and when Santa is on the road he doesn’t have his whole staff with him. Just those he needs. So we double up on duties.

My job here in writing this column, ironically, is to share with you what it is like to live at the North Pole.

Of course, between now and Christmas I’ll be writing this on the road.

News departments are dumb like this.

You see, and maybe I have already blown it with that statement, but I’ve applied for a different elf job. I want to be a news guy. I like the idea of writing. I may even ask to give that radio or podcast thing a shot.

Anything that doesn’t require a pencil.

But, like most elves, I have to earn it. That means waiting a long time. Taking opportunities as they come. Showing I can do other things while I’m still doing the same old thing.

That’s just how it rolls for elves who want to do different elf things.

I’m sure some of you can understand. I’m sure some of you want to do something more or different than being a tracker elf.

Do any of you want to be the calendar elf for Santa?

Hahaha. I’m just kidding.

I love my job.

Elf Joel at the Pole

Night Time Flights in Sector 3

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Hello fellow Trackers of Sector 3!

I just received word from Flight Command that the test flights of Santa’s sleigh are headed back to our sector. I’m am also told the schedule will include a special emphasis on night flights (after all, Santa flies almost exclusively in the dark).

The track record of seeing sleighs in flight is always better at night. We have about 10 reports from night flights for every 1 report we get during the day. I think the sun makes a flying sleigh really hard to see.

As of right now, I have no reporting assignments for you.

However, as the test flights get closer I might. So pay attention to the map.

Thanks.

Sector 5 Elves Needed to Report

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Happy November, Elves!

With Santa’s Sleigh taking a test flight dip into Sector 5 I was expecting to get a report request. Well, I got one but it wasn’t for anything to have to do with Santa’s Sleigh.

Flight Command has told me they want to see a Public Observance Report from Sector 5 now that Halloween is over. Please click on this link to access the report.

Freelance elves can use this link to report.

I’m not expecting Santa’s sleigh to be in our sector very long. I would expect them to keep mostly to Canada this time around but it appears to me they are on their way to somewhere else. I haven’t heard anything from Flight Command about this current round of test flights.

You’re doing a great job, elves! Thank you for your ongoing efforts.

 

Elf Chat Scheduled

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Elf Chat this week welcomes Elf Crash Murphy on Saturday, November 5th at 6pm EST on SantaTrackers.net.

Elf Crash Murphy serves as Santa’s eye-in-the-sky reporter. For more than a decade he has followed Santa on Christmas Eve and reported his activities during the Tracking Santa Around the World Show on Kringle Radio. Elf Crash has been instrumental in the development of the Santa Tracker program at the North Pole and works year round in the Elf Community at SantaTrackers.net. He is co-host of the Santa Tracker Podcast as well as the North Pole Podcast with Elf Frank Myrrh.

The chat this week will focus on Santa tracker elf questions for the upcoming tracker season.

If you cannot make the chat we encourage posting your questions for Crash below and we will make sure he answers them during the chat.

Elf Chat

Improvements Seen in Elf Reports

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I have reviewed the progress so far in each Sector. I have met with each Elf Supervisor. I am pleased to report that thanks to change initiated by Santa after last Christmas that we find ourselves way ahead of last year in terms of information we have and the preparations we are making for Santa’s flight around the world.

We are doing this with fewer elves but with greater reporting.

So far, freelance elves outnumber North Pole elves by a factor of 12 to 1. That is why we have seen such a rapid increase in reports in the past four weeks. Freelance elves, which are the only new elves we are allowing this year, have started joining us, as they do every year, in massive numbers in every sector.

Even though most of them are new and relying on Elf University for their training the quality of reports coming from freelancers is vastly improved over a year ago. We are seeing very good results in every sector so far. On the whole, freelance elves have sent in 84% more reports with an average quality score of 5 (on a scale of 10). The number of reports per elf so far received from the freelance ranks is about 3.1.

But the real progress is being shown among experienced North Pole elves. Those elves have sent in a whopping 231% more reports and their quality score is over 8 (on the same scale of 10). The average number of reports from our North Pole elves is 7.3.

I can tell you now, based on these early reports, it has to be a big goal after this Christmas to turn more freelance elves into North Pole elves.

Each Sector Elf Supervisor reports they are working with many candidates. None of them will make it before Christmas, but several have the opportunity to be invited into the Elf Community in the New Year if they keep up the work they are doing now.

Quality remains our watchword. If you put forth good information in your reports you WILL advance in your elf career. It’s as simple as that.

We are only in the tens of millions of reports Santa says that he wants. The target this year is 1 billion reports. We are just getting started.

But for where we are at right now, as we near the end of October, things are going very, very well.

What will November and early December look like for trackers?

Just follow the lead of your Elf Supervisor.

All of this is happening just as Santa said it would.

Thank you for your efforts.

Elf Roger Star