Sector 4 Regional HQ Announced

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Sector 4 is the first to announce the official location of our Regional HQ. Our tracking center in Sector 4 will be located in Milagro, Ecuador, as just announced by North Pole Flight Command.

The word “Milagro” means miracle. It is a miracle, at least to me that this has happened. We have a huge opportunity now that this decision has been made and the location is known.

Milagro, Ecuador

Elves from the legal department and from engineering are in Ecuador this week finalizing details. It is my understanding that the facility we’re to use will require very little in the way of remodeling for our use. In fact, sleighs are being loaded today with desks, computers and other equipment to be shipped to Ecuador this week.

If all goes well, I’m told I could be there right after the Elf Supervisor meetings in Costa Rica. We could be fully operational there by Christmas in July.

That could, in essence, move up the schedule on a lot of different projects. For example, test flights could be moved up earlier if we’re operational by July. If that does happen, you could see an earlier return of reindeer to the North Pole.

What does that mean for our trackers in Sector 4? Perhaps some live training exercises.

I will most definitely discuss all the possibilities with Elf Roger and with Santa when I see them next week.

Exciting!

Points for Giving to Santa’s Sleigh

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We are pleased to announced a new association with Santa’s Sleigh, a charitable effort anchored in several Christmas communities online including the Merry Forums of MyMerryChristmas.com. You can add Elf points to your account for your participation.

This is an entirely optional activity and not required of any elf. Elves who are underage must have parental guidance in order to participate. 

In addition to the Elf points gained from your donation, you will also be generously rewarded with extra Santa points and awarded with this new badge:

Santa Sleigh Badge

Santa’s Sleigh is funded by hundreds of small donations – usually from $5 to $20. Someone benefitting from Santa’s Sleigh is sponsored by a licensed charity, a church, a school or community service group.

Santa’s sleigh works with these entities to meet critical needs such as food, medicine and funds to pay utility and medical bills. Santa’s sleigh also provides Christmas trees, Christmas meals and modest gifts. In additional, Santa’s Sleigh organizes service projects – everything from shoveling snow to sending Christmas cards to the shut in.

We are grateful for this new association and will provide news updates of our collective efforts to support Santa’s Sleigh.

You can learn more about Santa’s Sleigh at their website by clicking on the banner below:

Santa's Sleigh

Focus Groups and Costa Rican Tacos

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Santa Trackers Podcast
Santa Tracker Podcast
Focus Groups and Costa Rican Tacos
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Focus groups and Costa Rican Tacos are talked about in this wide ranging new episode of the Santa Trackers Podcast. Elf Frank and Elf Crash try to get down to Santa’s strategy for this year. But Crash is especially feeling in the dark.

Santa and Elf Roger have led an effort to completely redesign the SantaTrackers.net website and to purge the Elf Community of “deadbeat” elves. But Elf Crash suspects the big changes are still ahead and it begins with this first-ever Elf Supervisor gathering in Costa Rica coming up soon.

Elf Crash was just assigned to help train that group but he has no idea what to say to them. In this episode elves Frank & Crash explore what they do know and what it can all mean for the months ahead.

Crash also shares some insights into Elf Max, who he met in person just a few months ago. He tells a great fishing story as well as the story of Elf Max’s elf journey.

 

Introducing Bonus Codes

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Bonus codes are a new feature that will allow you to earn extra points. This new feature is now active.

We encourage you to visit the Bonus Codes page in Elf University and to there receive a special code that will both train you on how to do it and that will reward you for trying it out.

You will get a tiny little point reward and a nifty new Bonus Freak badge at the same time.

You will always want to be on the lookout for new bonus codes.

You might read about them in a news article, receive them via private message after completing something (like an elf job application, or see them attached to special activities or even tracker reports.

There is a new group at SantaTrackers.net dedicated to this purpose. It is called The Points Group. If you go there, you will see a bonus point extra posted by me. Hint: you get points for joining groups.

An elf who keeps a sharp eye out for bonus codes can really increase their points totals and their badge collection.

Elf Trixie

New Points System Now Active

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A new points system has been engaged, triggering a new era in tracking Santa for Santa.

The new system, as announced weeks ago, features three total points types. You can access them via the new Points Summary gateway.

Elf Points are points as you have always known them. Points are awarded for your activity as an elf on SantaTrackers.net, especially in terms of your elf profile and how you present yourself as an elf online. This overall points pool gives you a ranking as an elf that features a star-theme. The higher your points the higher rank you achieve.

Tracker Points are a new points category that focuses on your core job as a tracker elf – tracking Santa for Santa. Tracker reports are at the center of your tracker rank, as are activities and duties most closely associated with tracking Santa. Your Elf Supervisor contributes to your ranking through a review process that evaluates your reports to flight command for their quality and usefulness.

Santa points are a less sharply defined category. These points are mostly acquired through Santa himself, who monitors your online behavior and rewards you for your kindness, creativity, initiative and charitable actions.

In all, all three point types are listed via their own links above. While this system overhaul has taken extensive hours of work we recognize that it is possible that errors have occurred.

If you feel that is the case you can request a Point & Badge Audit. It might take a few days to sort out but we are confident any errors can be rectified.

Over the course of the next several hours and days a lot of news will come out to help explain new processes, features and actions that can be taken to improve your point standings and ranks.

Ten Possible Locations for Sector 4 Tracking Center

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I have heard back from the Locating Committee at Flight Command on our ten finalist locations for this year’s regional tracking center here in Sector 4. Last year’s location was in Natal, Brazil.

Here are the finalists:

  1. Milagro, Ecuador
  2. Kuummit, Greenland
  3. Somerset Village, Bermuda
  4. Saint Martins, Barbados
  5. Mary, Grenada
  6. Sucre, Bolivia
  7. Los Angeles, Chile
  8. Santa Fe, Argentina
  9. Grytviken, South Sandwich Islands
  10. Punta Arenas, Chile

As other sectors have been told, we might learn the final decision on this year’s location during Christmas in July. Stay tuned.

Elf PIN Can Now Be Set

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An Elf Personal Identification Number can now be set for every account at SantaTrackers.net.

The Elf PIN is designed as a safety and security feature. Using an Elf PIN will be an added means of us knowing a submission actually comes from you. It will be added to job applications, tracker reports and other submission forms soon.

Fraud in the elf world is rare. But this added feature will ensure the North Pole gets the information that you intend. Going forward, new accounts, both for Freelance Elves and for North Pole Elves, will register with an Elf PIN.

Please set your Elf PIN. You can change your Elf Pin at any time.

For existing accounts, please see this page or fill out the form below.

Thank you and have a nice day.

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Changes in the Elf World

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Santa Trackers Podcast
Santa Tracker Podcast
Changes in the Elf World
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Changes in the Elf World are afoot due to a report submitted to Santa by Elf Roger Star.

The report showed that very few of the 200 million registered elves the program has gathered in the past five years are actually sending in tracker reports to help track Santa for Santa. The topic has been a big part of the conversation between Santa and Elf Roger and it has already led to many changes. The website changeover is indicative of the changes yet to be announced and rumors in North Pole media have started to make some elves nervous.

In this episode Elf Frank Myrrh grills Elf Crash Murphy about what he knows and what he can say about the changes to come. Elf Crash explains that after 5 years Santa remains committed to the program but that changes are inevitable.

Take a listen to this episode at the all-new podcast page.

Come Chat About Changes to Points

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We just added two chat events covering the same topic: Changes to the Points System at SantaTrackers.net.

The first chat even will be held in Elf Chat on Saturday, March 26th at 7pm EDT. That should be morning in Sector 2, as well as a good time for Sectors 4 and 5.

A second chat on the same topic is scheduled in Elf Chat for Sunday, March 27th at 5pm EDT.

Why two chats on the same topic?

Because the changes in the points system is going to affect every single tracker elf and those changes will be many.

Both chats will be archived. If another chat needs to be scheduled to address questions that come up it will be scheduled.

These changes are a giant leap forward for how the Elf Community works. We hope you can come.

Top Elves Now Featured

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As part of our ongoing site upgrades we are pleased to announce a new addition we are calling Top Elves.

In the left hand column this page shows an expanded leaderboard for elves in the community – a top 100 in points.

The middle column has great information, too – it gives a comprehensive listing of top elves by rank.

The page also features some customization too. In the right hand column you can see your current elf rank, the badges you have acquired and the total number of points you have gained so far for the year. We felt this was necessary so you could gauge the level of your activity since last Christmas.

This new page also gives a listing of the staff here at SantaTrackers.net, which includes our growing group of Senior Elves.

With the implementation of this page we have eliminated the leaderboard on the Elf Wall. Further changes to the sidebar of the Elf Wall page are ongoing.

Please feel free to ask any questions you might have or suggestions for improvement to this new page in the comments below.

 

Introducing Elf Community Standards

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After review from Santa’s Council we announce new Elf Community Standards. This effort is a result of difficult activity experienced over the past year as more new elves have joined. We hope all elves will review these.

Community Standards are rules and policies related to how the Elf Community here on SantaTrackers.net is managed. They are designed to guide elf behavior and aid in keeping SantaTrackers.net a safe place.

While these policies and rules are now clearly stated you should not expect to see a big change in how the site is operated. We have always operated by the standards. We issue them now to be clear about how we work and what expectations are of you.

We also want to be certain to communicate that this list can and likely will change over time. We welcome your feedback and suggestions as we further work to maintain the community.

Solving Login Issues

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We have been receiving word that some elves are having issues logging in to SantaTrackers.net.

We are investigating why this might be the case. We suspect it may have something to do with some temporary changes we have recently made to registration settings. Early this week, the site fell under attack from hackers in Russia, which caused us to lock down registrations. This may have changed “cookie” settings for site users.

“Cookies” are small files placed on your computer that help SantaTrackers.net remember you. If those files become corrupt, logging in could suddenly become a problem. The way around it is to clear your cookies. If you do not know how to do this, we have set up this page that explains what is happening and how to resolve it. It includes a link to resources that will help you with any particular kind of browser or device.

If this continues to be an issue, please contact me via the site support link in the footer of every page.