Chimney Inspections Extended

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After conferring with Elf Roger Star of North Pole Flight Command we have been given permission to extend the chimney inspection deadline in Sector 5 to November 30th.

This is being done to accommodate the number of elves just now signing up to track Santa for Santa.

It’s a good idea because so much of our Sector is in northern areas where there are many chimneys.

You can access the Chimney Inspection report at this link.

We advise getting them done as soon as you can if you have not done them already. We don’t want elves out in the cold and the bad weather doing inspections! So the sooner the better.

Thanks, elves!

Reindeer Flight School in Sector 1

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Exciting news!

North Pole Flight Command has just informed me that a Reindeer Flight School is scheduled to begin in our Sector November 1st. The school will operate until December 1st and is for rookie reindeer serving in Operation Merry Christmas for the first time.

All of these reindeer already know how to fly and they all fly very well. But the Flight School is to give them some experience in different weather conditions.

Reindeer Flight School will be based out of an area fairly close to Alice Springs, Australia. While the school will be based there at a remote reindeer ranch operated by the Reindeer Operations Department it isn’t expected that the reindeer will be there much.

The school will not be associated with the test flights of Santa’s sleigh.

But, the chances of seeing flying sleighs in Sector 1 are improved over this time frame because much of the time the reindeer in flight school will be pulling sleighs (to promote realism in their training).

There will be training sessions during the month of November in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and Japan. A schedule of these training sessions and their exact dates will not be released due to security concerns.

Weekly Weather Reports

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Fellow Elves of Sector 1: it is time we begin weekly weather reports from all areas in our sector.

To send a weather report, please use this page.

If possible, we would like to get this report on Tuesdays. If you cannot find a local weather forecast on that day in your area, please send in a report on a day when you can find accurate data.

These reports are not just to help with Santa’s flight. They also help flights of other sleighs coming from the North Pole. North Pole Flight Command tells me that the flights over our sector really begin to multiple in the weeks ahead. They will be sending advance scouts, freighting a lot of stuff, and sending elves on various service missions. Weather reports help all of these teams.

If you have any questions, please comment below. Thanks!

City Captains Report!

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I asked Elf Sandy Claus of the Department of Elf Resources to post the City Captain position. Just about every Sector needs them and all the other Elf Supervisors will want more of them as well.

As City Captain you will be the local resource for all things pertaining to tracking Santa. People can ask you questions and you can recruit new elves to the cause there locally. If you are effective in this role you can easily become a Tracker Commander.

If you have served as a City Captain before you can do it again. You likewise can hold this job while holding other positions.

These jobs are claimed – meaning you just fill out the form and you automatically get the job. No interview, no waiting for answers. I believe once you accept the job there is a badge for it and Elf Max or Elf Sandy can help you with that.

Buckle up, Elves. It’s about to get exciting.

Home Tracking Center Set Up

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Friends,

We have many new elves in Sector 3, some of them joining in just the last week. We see a pattern in new elves. They read a lot of information but they don’t ask a bunch of questions. Many just start sending in tracker reports without really knowing what they are doing. That’s one way to learn, but it is inefficient and it makes our job a little more difficult here and at North Pole Flight Command.

So let’s start at the very beginning.

All elves need to prepare themselves before they begin tracking Santa for Santa. That first step, beyond going to Elf University, talking to other elves, and learning the craft of being a tracker, is to set the right tone.

An elf needs to be working in the right environment.

That means setting up a home tracking center that is appropriate. I just want to share some thoughts with you about that.

Of course, you’ve got your computer. That’s a given. But in some cases you only have a tablet and a phone. Whatever you are using does not matter but let’s be honest: a computer is best.

We work, as tracker elves, in a world of words, maps and these websites. This website should tell you all you need to know about being a tracker elf. I will send instructions from time to time about what they want us to do. Other times, like right now, I’m just trying to help you in your job as an elf.

For news about Santa and what’s going on at the North Pole, with the reindeer and the sleigh and stuff, well, that’s handled by the News Department at SantaUpdate.com.

Then there’s NorthPoleFlightCommand.com, which you will see if you’ve never been a tracker elf a couple of days before Christmas, really controls just about everything that goes on.

Getting a handle on those three websites – santatrackers.net, santaupdate.com and northpoleflightcommand.com – is why you need a computer and why you need a good space to work at home.

So make it comfy.

Have a good chair, a decent desk, and good lighting. It’s okay to have a Christmas tree, lights and other decorations. A source of eggnog, candy canes, and maybe a place to hang your stocking is also advised but not required. Playing Kringle Radio while you do your elf work is also advised.

The work of elves is the working of helping others. When I ask for a report, I’m asking you to help others. You help others by helping Santa.

So you need a good place to think through that.

That’s your home tracking center.

I’m asking elves in our sector and any sector to please post photos of your home tracking center. Give your fellow elves an idea of what it looks like for you. Share ideas. Talk about how to make it as elf like as you can.

This is where we begin. It is an important detail.

Do the best you can.

Possible Sighting of the Test Flights

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We have our first possible sighting of the test flights of Santa’s sleigh reporter from a tracker elf in Venezuela.

Elf Medina, a resident of that country and a 3-year tracker elf, reported the possible sighting and recorded some video, which he sent to us.

Whenever there is a sleigh sighting of any type there is a verification process to validate the sighting. There are three steps to the process and Elf Medina’s report has cleared the first step.

The first step is to get by the review process here at the Regional Tracking Center. We take his report and his photos or videos and process them through three different steps as well at our level. It first goes to a regional observer who matches the report to flight data. If it passes that test, it goes to our internal review board who looks at all the information and determines if it is strong enough to move forward. If they approve it, it gets sent to me to determine whether or not to pass it to North Pole Flight Command.

In the case of this report, all three of our steps at the Regional Tracking Center for Sector 4 have been met and I have indeed sent it to Flight Command, who is presently reviewing it.

Flight Command first sends the report to the Sleigh Department, which has a flight command committee that plans and reviews all sleigh flights anywhere in the world. It does not take them long to determine if a report we send in qualifies.

Once they take a look at it, it goes before the General Board at North Pole Flight Command. They review all the data and reports compiled up to that point in the process. Then they have a very important discussion to answer specific questions.

1. Is this a legitimate sighting of Santa’s sleigh?
2. If true, do we confirm it publicly?
3. If false, do we release that information publicly?
4. Who does this information serve if we do release it?

As they debate those questions we wait.

That is where we are at now in the process. From all I know, no other sighting report has gone so far this year.

Thanks to Elf Medina for his good work.

What New Elves Need to Do

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Hi Friends in Sector 5,

We are enjoying a lot of new elves in recent days. I thought I’d post some reminders of what new elves need to do:

1. Get your profile right here on SantaTrackers.net. There are instructions for this but you should be able to figure it out easily. You need “Elf” in front of your name, you need a profile picture and cover.

2. Read the entire site. Go to Elf University to see how things work and how to be a tracker elf tracking Santa for Santa.

3. Ask questions. That’s what the Elf Wall is for. Lots of elves here will be glad to help you. It’s a great group.

4. Set up your home tracking center. You spend a lot of time there. Get comfy. Have Christmas stuff around you – a tree, a mug of nog, music, whatever works for you.

5. I’ll be sending out requests now and then for certain reports. If you haven’t done a tracker report yet you can learn the process by sending in these reports from your location as soon as you possibly can: – A roof report, a chimney inspection report, and a weather report. The weather report we will ask for more than any other report between now and when Santa launches. So doing these reports will teach you how to do them. Again, they are very easy.

6. Get familiar with the Santa Tracker Map. We’re in the tracking test flight phase of things right now.

Finally, be sure to check in several times a week. If you sign up, then wait to show up a few days before launch, you’re doing it wrong.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Defending Elf Trixie

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My friends in the news business who do not live and work at the North Pole often tell me I am lucky.

And they are probably right about that.

What they are talking about is the fact that sometimes being a newsperson of any kind can be hard. People get mad at us a lot.

Since we get to report mostly good news here at the North Pole the assumption is that people hardly ever get upset with us.

Well, that’s not true. It happens all the time.

In fact, in the last month we have received some nasty-grams aplenty. Especially Elf Frank Myrrh. And a few for Elf Crash. And just this week, a bunch for Elf Trixie.

People write in and blame the newspeople for the news. Often, as is the recent case with Elf Frank, a flippant or humorous response gets taken way too seriously. But in the case this week of Elf Trixie, people have said she is lying, or was fooled by someone, or otherwise posting stuff that just can’t be true.

I feel a need to defend Elf Trixie a little bit. Not because I don’t think she can’t take it. No, that is not it at all. She’s a pro and she knows this comes with the territory. In fact, I’m not even sure if she is aware of the storm her story this week has stirred up.

No, Elf Trixie doesn’t need defending. But I’m going to defend her anyway.

She did her job right. She heard something, she asked questions, and she submitted a story. I read it and I called her to talk about it. I’m her editor. That’s my job. She answered all my questions just fine. I had no problem with her story being put out there.

Well, since Tuesday it has received a lot of attention. Elf Hugo at the North Pole Post Office said the mail started coming in within a few minutes of it being posted at SantaUpdate.com.

People are in disbelief. Some are really worried. Others are completely besides themselves. Many do not believe what Trixie wrote.

To all of this hubbub I only have one thing to say to those who are triggered by Trixie’s reporting in any way: can’t you read?

Trixie said there’s a problem with Santa’s sleigh but that she didn’t know exactly what it was. But then she explained that what she learned was based on a report submitted by a very capable test pilot and his report was so troubling the high command of test flights had a big old meeting.

That’s what she said in a nutshell. Now, why that would “trigger” anything is beyond me. Trixie said she didn’t know exactly what was wrong but she observed that something was wrong enough to get the elves she met in North Pole Flight Command talking. In other words, she broke the story that something is wrong with the sleigh and that she was on it – trying to figure out what it is and report on it again.

That’s coming. You can expect to hear from her in the next few days. She is keeping me updated and I’m telling you – as both an elf and her editor – she’s on to something here. It’s a thing. Believe her.

Now, I have some word of advice for you as a friend and as a fellow believer in Santa Claus:

Relax.

We’ve seen stories like this before that have come and gone. Sometimes they are a big deal and something they are nothing.

In a way, the response to this most recent scoop from Elf Trixie reminds me in a small way of the story about the Big Building of No Name, which was something that happened a few years back.

It was a huge story that resulted in a lot of mail. Most of it was just mail of concern and worry because all the news about that building seemed to break in the weeks before Christmas.

Elf Ernest was the reporter on that story and I can remember talking to him about it at the time. He was getting letters and notes from parents, teachers, doctors and others who were concerned that Elf Ernest was stressing kids out to the point that they didn’t think Santa was going to come that year.

Of course, he was doing nothing of the sort. He was just doing his job, which was reporting the news. He felt guilty about it. I had to tell him to pull up his big boy panties and continue to do his job. It was not his job to control the news, just to report it. Sometimes that makes you unpopular.

This story from Elf Trixie is a lot like that. And I’m asking you to please just let Elf Trixie do her job. If she gets something wrong, she’ll admit it. If some elf in North Pole Flight Command is leading her astray, she’ll admit it. If any detail that she reports gets proven wrong, she’ll say so.

In the meantime, just roll with it, okay? Let her work.

I would also remind you that it’s the first week of October. We’ve seen problems with Santa’s sleigh in the past a lot later than right now. Things always work out. Santa’s sitting on a museum full of sleighs and a whole sleigh barn full of different models of sleighs that he could select from to go around the world. There’s no way Santa is NOT coming this year.

Don’t think the worst when you read the news. Just let our reporters tell the story as it unfolds. Then you can decide if you choose to believe it.

Trust me, too. We are constantly working on how to report things correctly. I’m an old school news guy. I drill these elves on this stuff and we talk about the position we are put in by having to report the news. We find ourselves “stuck” a lot – having to report things we know will get a response.

Do we hold back?

Do we water down the news?

Do we buffer the truth? Do we embellish it?

No. Here at the North Pole we operate from standards. Who, what, when, where and why. That’s it.

Those answers, depending upon the story, will always vary. Sometime the answers will be uncomfortable or unwelcome.

That’s just the business of news.

Test Flights Coming Our Way

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Greetings, Elves!

I have been officially notified from North Pole Flight Command that the test flights of Santa’s sleigh are heading to Sector 4.

Given their last known position near Iceland it is difficult to know it that means they will head north and west towards Greenland or south and west towards South America.

I asked. They wouldn’t tell me.

So I guess we will need to be ready for anything.

We STILL do not have an elf on record this year who has spotted any of the test flights of Santa’s sleigh. I find that to be unbelievable. Wouldn’t it be cool if a Sector 4 elf scored the first sleigh in the skies?

If you see something, say something!

I don’t know how long we’ll have the test flights here. So let’s make the best of it.

Pipeline to Santa

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Deep at high command at North Pole Flight Command is where a special desk is located. Elves there call it the “hot seat”.

The elf sitting in that chair has one job and one job only: to talk to Santa when he flies.

North Pole Flight Command has a very difficult job. It has to take in all the information around the world that might affect Santa’s flight – and then they have to communicate what is most important and most timely for Santa to know.

One person has that job and it is the elf occupying the hot seat.

That is why what I’m about to share with you is so important for you to understand. If you use this new report you MUST understand how it works and use it responsibly. If you do not you could be immediately banned.

We have long had elves request an ability to reach out to Santa individually and privately. We now have a way to do it. We call this the “pipeline to Santa” because it bypasses all other messaging protocols and it goes right through the elf in the hot seat at North Pole Flight Command. When you use this tracker report you need to weight whether this is so urgent and worthwhile and important that the elf in the hot seat will see it the same way that you do.

If that elf, who bears a great responsibility, looks at your message as false, frivolous or a waste of time he’s just going to instantly ban you. He’s got that kind of power.

So THINK before you use this report.

This report is ONLY for North Pole tracker elves tracking Santa for Santa. Yes, it can be used for personal messages. And, of course, it is absolutely appropriate for elves to use it for timely, emergency situations that Santa will be flying into locally.

We have been testing this capability for two years. The next step in our test is now here. We open it up to you. We will see how this goes between now and the end of January 2025. If it tests well, we might keep it as a permanent feature. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

With this report you can tell Santa anything. And you can upload a file like a photo. What you send it goes straight to the elf in the hot seat. He will see it, he will read it, and he will review it. Then he will decide if it goes to Santa. If he (or she) so decides, it goes through immediately to wherever Santa is.

Click here to go to the Pipeline for Santa. It is listed under emergency reports on the tracker reports page.

Like all reports, this is a one-way communication. Your message gets to Santa but Santa cannot reply to it. This is by design. Please remember that.

Hopefully we can all follow the rules on this one.

Santa and I have spent a lot of time discussing this and he has concerns. Especially when he flies. But he trusts your judgment. He knows you all want to be good elves and will take these directions to heart.

Thanks and good luck.

Sector 5 Elf Activity Jumps

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Elf activity in Sector 5 has jumped 20 percent in just a week.

Elf Crash Murphy asked me to submit a report to the elf supervisors summarizing new elf sign-ups and other data for each sector. I completed that assignment a day or two ago.

By far, the most striking number from that report is what’s going on in Sector 5. Not only are new elves signing up – and Sector 5 usually leads in this category – but they are getting down to work. “Elf Activity” is a metric that measures not only sign-ups but also reports.

The Regional Tracking Center in St. Nicholas, Minnesota in the USA has to be very, very busy at this time.

I did reach out to Elf Pinky to get her side of this story. She has not yet had time to respond. However, I hear through the grapevine that she plans to update her sector this weekend some time to specifically address new elves and what they can be doing right now.

While Sector 5 clearly led the way it should be noted that EVERY sector is showing large gains in elf activity. Elf Crash tells me this is to be expected for each week going forward.

Are each of the sectors fully staffed with enough elves tracking Santa for Santa this year?

That is the question I have been asked to answer. I am meeting with Elves Roger Star, Crash Murphy and each each supervisor weekly to discuss that very question.

As if right now, the answer is “no”. We simply need more elves. I believe Elf Crash Murphy is going to speak to that sometime very soon.

Roof Reports Due Soon

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Hi Elves!

Just a reminder that our roof reports in Sector 1 are due soon. As we told you earlier in September, North Pole Flight Command has asked we complete these by the end of the month.

Now remember, just because we’re calling from them now and we’re saying we’re getting them done this month that doesn’t mean that North Pole Flight Command – or Santa for that matter – won’t call for this same report again before Santa flies. It just depends on the conditions.

Nevertheless, let’s stay ahead of it. Our sector will be in really good shape if we can close this out by the end of the month.

Thank you, Elves!