North Pole Flight Command today held a meeting to discuss the next few weeks of test flights for Santa’s sleigh. The test flights are transitioning to a new field of action and are in the process of heading east.

We also expect an announcement about a transition for the North Pole Navy. The fleet has been stationed in the Pacific for about 8 weeks.

It is an interesting time for the test flights. There is a lot of conflict going on in various war zones around the globe and North Pole Flight Command is trying to avoid them.

So far the tests have been uneventful and results are still good, at least as far as we have been told. The sleigh, which is based on last year’s record-breaking model, has yet to see a new version introduced.

With the early return of the reindeer some have speculated that the test flights of Santa’s sleigh might use teams from the general reindeer pool at the North Pole. Elf Victor, head of Reindeer Operations, squashed that rumor today and said that none of the reindeer at the North Pole are expected to be assigned test flight duty and they all will be pursuing customary training schedules as they do each year.

As we approach the 100-day countdown milestone to Santa’s launch it appears Santa’s new sleigh is right on track.

We will keep you posted.

Yesterday I shared with you some very big numbers. Today, sadly, I’m going to share something just the opposite – a very small number.

One of the things we measure is something we call Elf Engagement. It is a number that estimates how many of our active elves – both North Pole elves and Freelance elves – who engage with the official North Pole websites (such as this one).

Right now, that number is super low.

And it makes sense that it would be. More than 125 days remains until Santa launches, it’s summer in some places, winter in others, and people are busy doing regular life stuff.

But, as you would expect, with the calendar soon to turn to September, you’d think elf engagement would rise.

After all, the News Department at the North Pole is busy publishing news on SantaUpdate.com, SantaTrackers.net, and NorthPoleFlightCommand.com.

All of these sites have now been around for years. And do you know what the Elf Engagement number is? Look at these numbers:

August – 0.034%
September – 5.2%
October – 13.2%
November – 21.1%
December 1-15th – 56.3%
December 16th-24th – 98.4%

Shocking isn’t it?

On the other hand, isn’t elf life just grand? What other kind of job out there lets you check out for most of the year and not get fired?

Yeah, Santa’s not going to fire you.

But I think Elf Engagement is something Santa will be talking about a little bit this weekend.

Again, this is just my opinion, but I think that number can really improve. In fact, I think it needs to. But that’s me, your little bean counter elf. It’s in my nature to always want to see a better number.

Is it bad that engagement among elves on official North Pole websites is so low until the last few days before Santa’s flight?

I will let Santa answer that question.

In the meantime, I think it is good if you ask a question of yourself:

Am I a good elf? Am I a year round elf? If Santa needed my help at any time other than the last few days before Christmas, would I be ready to help him?

That’s all for today, elves. Don’t answer those questions out loud. Just ask them of yourself, okay?

Hello Fellow Elves!

Santa, Elf Crash Murphy and Elf Roger Star met with the Accounting Department last week to discuss a report I sent them some time ago. Based on our discussions in that meeting, I have been charged with sharing with you via SantaTrackers.net some important numbers.

Numbers are a very important part of Operation Merry Christmas, or any other important enterprise. Numbers measure success. They point to action that has to be taken to improve. Nobody goes to watch a sport anywhere without numbers because numbers are how we know who wins. We have all kinds of numbers we follow at the North Pole and we watch them religiously.

Santa wants you to be aware of these statistics BEFORE his chat with you later this month.

Both he and Elf Crash Murphy believe that if you know this data, and understand it, you will be better prepared to do your job as a tracker elf this season.

I’m going to need a few days to put this all together. But what will follow from me will be information about elves, tracker elves, reindeer, sleighs, time, North Pole Flight Command and the North Pole (and by extension, Santa) that may be interesting to you.

I realize some of you, especially younger elves who are new to tracking Santa in this way, may struggle to know what to do with this information. That is why I’m giving you a heads up that this information is coming. We are a community. As you read things that are posted by elves like me it is okay to share that you don’t understand it or that you have questions. Other elves here can help and your Elf Supervisors will also be available to answer your questions and to share what they think the numbers mean.

All of this is designed to help your chat with Santa which is later on this month. (And what hasn’t that been officially posted yet?)

Anyway, my name is Elf Flip Beanz and I’m your number elf. It’s my job to gather and keep this data. I usually send my reports to Santa and other elves like Crash and Roger. But for whatever reason, for the next couple of weeks, they want me to focus on you.

So please know this stuff is coming and that’s it is okay to ask questions about it.

Thank you.