New Regional Tracking Center Location Announced

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Hola, amigos! Today the North Pole Flight Command Center has announced that our new regional tracking center will be headquartered in Natal, Brazil. This is a location we are familiar with and we are thrilled to be back.

I know many of you are not like to read about this until months from now. Santa has chosen to “get into” the business here in Sector 4 earlier this year. We’re not exactly sure why or what it means but we will be doing all we can to keep you informed and to get us all ready for a great tracking season ahead.

We remind you to be here for Christmas in July, especially if this is your first season as an elf. During Christmas in July there will be a radio replay of last year’s Tracking Santa show from Kringle Radio. We may even put up a simulated map so you can see exactly how we did it last year when we tracked Santa.

That’s why this special page has been created – so you have a place to check the news for Sector 4 when you need our news all in one place.

Welcome – and let’s make it a great tracking season for Sector 4!

 

Sector 3 HQ Announced

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North Pole Flight Command has announced today that the regional headquarters for Sector 3 in Europe and Africa will be located in the Belgium city of Sint-Niklaas.

We are, of course, very excited by this news. It means the work of tracking Santa in Sector 3 can now begin.

What does that mean?

It means the elves from the Projects Department from the North Pole will begin working to remodel a selected building leased in Belgium. We expect to occupy that space to begin setting up our computer workstations, monitors, maps and other associated equipment in tracking Santa. Once that is operational we will test the systems by monitoring test flights of Santa’s sleigh.

For you, the tracker elf living in Sector 3, there is work to be done too. Not only will you want to build your own home tracking center you will want to engage in the work of recruiting other tracker elves for Europe and Africa.

I will be posting news and direction in the Sector 3 tracker group. You can login and join that group at any time now.

It’s going to be exciting!

Sector 2 Regional HQ Announced

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We are pleased and excited by the announcement from North Pole Flight Command today that the ancient city of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey will serve as the location for our regional tracking center in Sector 2.

In case you don’t know, Demre is the home of the legend of Santa Claus. It is where he was born. Not many people realize this.

I have not been there yet. This is a total surprise to me. I was part of the committee that scouted locations for this year’s tracking center in Sector 2. We went to China, India, Israel, Oman, and even into parts of Russia on our scouting trips. We saw many locations that would be excellent for a tracking center.

Rumor has it that Santa himself made this site selection. He was there about a month ago, talking with local authorities about potential locations.

Regardless, we now have a home. I am awaiting instructions from Flight Command about construction and possible dates for opening the tracking center. I will keep you informed as that happens.

Like most elf supervisors, I am waiting to learn why this is beginning so early this year and specifically what it means for the Santa tracking effort.

For those elves in Sector 2, please keep an eye open on the new group I set up last night. I will be posting news about our sector there.

Thanks!

Heads up! News Coming Soon

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I know it’s fairly late in the day here but I wanted to give you a heads up. There will be some breaking news this week by sector.

I was in a meeting and it was discussed. I will not steal the thunder of NorthPoleFlightCommand.com but I’m certain you will be interested in what they will be announcing. I fully expect this to get the attention of every elf supervisor.

That’s all I will say for now.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Oops

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I owe everyone an apology. Especially Elf Max.

Last month when we had to re-schedule Santa’s chat we knew we had to re-schedule the chat for May. That’s because Santa called for an extended season of Basic Elf Training — or, as we like to call it, BET.

Most elves love BET. Except for new elves. For a newer elf it can be a pretty tough thing.

Well, elves like Max and Trixie and Beanz – they are new at basic training. It takes a lot of out them. They have to take classes and tests. They have to study a lot.

Santa himself told me to move Max’s chat. And I didn’t do it. I forgot. Pure and simple, it’s totally my mistake. We knew it wouldn’t happen on May 2nd and I just forgot to change the website at SantaUpdate.com.

Well, it’s changed now. Max’s chat will happen on May 16th at 4pm EST.

Max would be here to talk about all this, I’m sure, but he’s still in BET. I’m pretty sure he won’t be happy when he gets back and he sees how I blew it. I’M SORRY MAX!!!!

And I am sorry to you, too. I know a lot of you showed up for the chat the other day and nobody was there. Totally my fault.

Elf Ernest

Santa’s Chat Re-Scheduled

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Did you guys see the announcement about Santa’s chat over at SantaUpdate.com? My gosh, how awful is that?

Of course, we all understand. We can wait another week to chat with Santa. And we can certainly say our prayers for Daisy.

I’ve changed the calendar here to reflect the new time for Santa’s chat.

I hope you all have had a chance to read about it.

Elf Podcasts

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We are pleased to announce another new feature for Santa Trackers: Elf Podcasts. This new feature will launch with the debut of our own Podcast, the Santa Trackers Podcast, on May 29th, 2021.

What is it? It’s your own elf podcast hosted right here.

There are some rules to it. But they are not hard.

Your elf podcast will be given a page, a group, and a spot on the calendar system here. Your elf podcast will be included in our Elf Podcast Directory, which will be built as podcasters come on board.

Your podcast will be produced by the sound engineering staff at Kringle Radio, which means it will have it’s own music, it’s own logo, and it’s own feed.

We will announce each episode and broadcast it out to the Christmas community online via SantaUpdate.com, ChristmasPodcasts.com, and MyMerryChristmas.com. In addition, it will automatically be fed to the overall podcast communities online in places such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Stitch and other major platforms.

All of it is free.

We are committed to sharing quality Santa tracker content. As such, there are some hoops we have to jump through to make this happen correctly.  Here are some new rules, effective immediately:

  1. Links to podcasts NOT hosted by us will no longer be allowed.
  2. Tracker elves posting external links publicly via the Elf Wall will be warned and then banned.
  3. Links in signatures, groups or profiles to external websites or social media will be reviewed for content safety.
  4. Elf management reserves the right to refuse any user links and may ask you to take them down after review.

These guidelines are necessary to adhere our privacy policies, terms of service as well as our community standards for all elves.

We know Elf Podcasts are an important thing. We are offering this service for free to keep things safe, legal and entertaining for all who chose to participate.

Do not hesitate to ask questions on this one, elves. We don’t want any hurt feelings or misunderstandings. As we continue to grow we will run into situations that will require us to adapt to greater legal requirements in terms of how our website works and who we link to. We want to make sure we are clear on these matters.

Tracker Elf Podcasts

New Feature: Calendars

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Hi Elves!

We’re pleased to announce the availability of elf calendars. These are calendars that show you all that is planned with the Santa Tracking effort as well as events held at the North Pole and online in the run up to Christmas.

The “master” calendar, which is called the Santa Tracker Calendar, shows events for all calendars combined. This main calendar is where all events come together. If you want a good idea of how it coordinates everything, just take a look at the month of July. The calendar is shown in a weekly format and you can easily navigate from month to month using the arrows in the head of the calendar.

But if you’re looking to see things on a more specific level, you can see individual calendars for Tracker Groups, the Department of Elf Resources, Flight Command and the North Pole.

These are great tools for seeing the tracker year ahead of us and all that goes into the planning of Santa’s flight.

The calendars are available via the Elf Basics menu up above.

Try Out the All New Elf Chat

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Santa Trackers is pleased to announce the new feature we call Elf Chat. This is a simple, live chat room where members of the Elf Community can talk in real time, either in a public facing room or in a private chat.

Try it out by clicking here.

Our Santa Tracker Elf Chat is a little different than the North Pole Chat at SantaUpdate.com. Our chat is open 24-hours-a-day, 365 days a year. This has been a long requested feature and one we feel safe in offering behind the closed walls of our Elf Community.

Santa does warn that our primary tenet in our terms of service is to BE NICE. Chat has the potential if elves don’t behave themselves. That’s why everything done in our chat rooms is recorded and reviewed. Those found in violation of Santa’s terms of service will see their elf career end instantly. Violators will be banned without notice or explanation.

Please review our privacy policy. We also ask that parents monitor their children when using chat or any other features of our site.

Chat will expand in use as the community adapts to it. It will be a very useful feature for Elf community groups and tracker groups out there who want a place to discuss their elf business.

We welcome your feedback on this feature and look forward to developing it further with your input.

First Altair Elf Named

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As the Elf Community grows we would like to celebrate those who contribute the most. The first level of recognition for an outstanding contribution to the community and overall elf excellence is what we call the Altair Award.

What does Altair mean? It’s a name for one of the brightest stars in the sky. We think it is an appropriate designation for those who bring so much to the elf community.

The level we set for this achievement is 5000 points. The first to reach this level is Elf Lil Cream. If you are active at all in the Elf Community you, of course, know who Elf Lil Cream is. She is an outstanding elf who participates regularly, has served as a City Captain, she hosts her own tracker podcast, and she is a friend to all she encounters online. She was recently hired as a Certified Podcaster and is working with Elf Frank Myrrh on the all-new Santa Trackers Podcast. She is also under consideration for other elf positions.

As our first Altair elf, she receives a heart 1000-point bonus. As with all ranks, she will be able to grow within the Altair tier in gaining up to five additional red stars. Those levels are not disclosed publicly and they are pretty steep. We have no doubt she will continue to soar to new heights.

And an Altair Elf you will see, if you visit her profile, a special designation under her profile picture as well as a new badge in her badge library that looks like this:

Elf Excellence - Altair

We are excited for this badge and look forward to awarding more of them soon. We have several other elves on the leader board who are knocking on the door of this achievement.

News About the News

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Yesterday’s post from Elf Harold Star about the new news portal known as the Santa Trackers Herald Star has brought a number of questions. My post today is to introduce this new feature to you even though it will not be visible to you for at least a couple of months.

The Santa Trackers Herald Star is a newspaper-like publication for members of our Elf Community. It is NOT for freelance elves or the eyes of the general public. It will be headed up by Elf Harold Star, who will be editor-in-chief. He will have several copy editors and we hope a full staff of at least 25 reporters.

In fact, the Department of Elf Resources today posted for the open positions of Santa Tracker News Reporters.

These jobs will be filled by a mix of veteran and rookie news reporters. Elf Harold wants to make sure the news of Santa Trackers – YOU – comes first. He wants everyone to know that the elf community will be a prominent fixture in this new publication.

It is anticipated that the Herald Star will be available online sometime in May.

Why so long?

Because none of the reporters have actually been hired yet. In order to print news, they need news stories. To get news stories, they need reporters. That’s why the Department of Elf Resources has put out the urgent hiring notice today.

In the next few days the first hires of the news staff will be announced. There will also be formation of a private group in the Elf Community just for news reporters, where ideas and suggestions can be shared among those charged with finding and reporting the news.

We’re very excited about this development and look forward to getting new news published via the Herald Star very soon.

 

Update on New Elf Jobs

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I think it is time we update you on the new elf jobs that are coming. Many of you are very anxious to apply and start in those jobs.

First of all, we have time. We have talked about them a little bit on the jobs page and on the Department of Elf Resources Job Board. But many of them are not quite yet ready to fill.

You see, we’re adding some new staff to Santa Trackers. Gosh, remember when there was just me here to keep things going? Now we have a whole team of elves. Check it out at this link.

Now, I know you’re asking, who are these elves? After all, some of these guys haven’t even logged on here yet.

You’ll get a chance to meet them all.

But they haven’t logged on because these are new jobs for them. They are getting some training right now. New desks. New computers. Lectures from all the elf hot shots. You know how it goes.

In any event, they will be introduced in time. Once they are trained, introduced to the community and have spent a little time here THEN you’ll start to see some of these new positions posted. (Especially for the News Department elves).

I know it seems like a long time in coming. But some of these new jobs are paired with new features we will have on the site. And we’re still working on those. We have a newspaper to publish, a teacher’s portal to build and a couple of other big surprises in the works.

So all these pieces need to come together. And they will.

We just need to be patient.

Thanks for the questions. Keep them coming. Just please understand we’re working as fast as we can.