Why was I even worried?
I was scared witless over being assigned to the Regional Tracking Committee because it totally put me out of my elf comfort zone. I vowed to show up with a paper bag over my head.
I could have shown up with lit sparklers in my ears for all it mattered. Nobody knew I was even there.
That’s partly because this committee is huge. Dozens and dozens of elves like me were assigned to this group and most of the elves there were just like me: entirely clueless.
I could not believe the first order of business. The Committee was charged with “whittling the list down to” just 2500 prospective locations.
Yes, they wanted it down to “just” 500 candidate per sector.
Somehow, they came up with more than 4000 altogether.
It’s amazing. I went to one meeting, sat in a big room with lots of other elves, I did absolutely nothing, and they already had 4000 candidate locations.
Within about two weeks of looking over these 4000 ideas, the executive level committee – I’m guessing that’s Santa, Elf Ernest, Elf Roger Star and other hot shot elves – called another meeting and told us that they had eliminated 3000 of those suggestions and asked for more.
That’s when they decided to get your ideas.
And our tracker elves responded, bless their hearts.
We had elves like little Timmy Halstrom, of Knickerbocker, Texas, home of the Sweetwater Ranch. Timmy is 11 and a four-year veteran of tracking Santa for Santa.
Timmy’s idea was to put the Sector 5 Regional Tracking Center at the Sweetwater Ranch. “We have an 85-inch big screen TV and I’m pretty sure my Dad would let you guys use it on Christmas Eve.”
Honestly, 85-inches is kind of small for a Regional Tracking Center but someone at Flight Command liked Timmy’s idea and actually contacted his father, Jared, to see if the offer was serious. Jared knew nothing about it and protested. “You can’t have my big screen on Christmas Eve! That’s when we watch Elf!”
Well, now.
Timmy’s suggestion isn’t quite off the table yet. He’s still on the list of potential sites. But there are details yet to work out.
But I’ve learned a lot from those of you who are giving this some thought.
Some of you have suggested the same location. For example, many of you think Rudolph, Wisconsin should host a regional tracking center.
I’m guessing that’s because of the name, Rudolph. It’s still on the list too.
But here’s the deal: Santa, in helping to cull the names down to just 1000, said that we need at least another 1500 new recommendations.
So keep those ideas coming in. They are ALL getting looked at.
As for me, well, I’m no longer nervous about all this. They haven’t asked me a thing and I don’t think they are going to.
A lot is supposed to happen over the next month or so. They’ve got to get this list down to the top ten in each sector (so, 50 names altogether) by Leon Day. That’s June 24th.
That means a lot more names need to be recommended, a lot more scouts need to be sent out, a lot more photos and videos need to be taken, etc etc etc.
By Leon Day we should have ten recommendations in each sector and a good idea of what’s going to happen before announcements are made for Christmas in July.
Maybe by then someone will ask me what I think.
And maybe by then I’ll actually have an opinion.
I still have no idea what I’m doing or even why this is important.
But it’s a big deal. So many elves are working on this.
Thank you, Elf Ed Zachary! I understand your situation. Because I was suddenly told to change my work yesterday and my manager issued it to all the staff in the office after a few minutes. In my case, the work is uncomfortable, and I’m so confused and awkward about what happened. I hope you are getting used to being there. I pray for you to go well. I submitted the location, Rudolph, Wisconsin, because of my friend’s state. Okay, I’ll try to choose other locations! It’s fun to think about, and I appreciate that we can join it! XD