Web Santa
Live Web Chat with Santa Claus!!

The idea of a web Santa chat is long overdue - especially since my grand-daughters don't like to stand in line! Its fun, its easy, its convenient - AND - you get to listen in as well as watch!!

Visiting Santa on the web also makes knowing what little Jen or Joe asked him for a lot easier than expecting a "mall Santa" to remember and tell you before you get whisked off to the check-out counter.

I "met" Mike at a Christmas group on the web a couple years ago, and I've been waiting - impatiently, I might add - for the chance to pass the word around about one of his latest projects - a service I affectionately have dubbed "Web Santa":

From the site:

NORTH POLE- Santa Claus has announced a cutting-edge, green initiative aimed at helping families still struggling during trying economic times. This year Santa says he will be traveling less to local malls, saving incalculable amounts of resources, and, instead intends to spend more time in the North Pole interacting with families live online via an interactive website called VisitSantaOnline.com. From Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, the site allows families to see and hear Santa, Mrs. Claus, and even the elves live from Santa’s Village via webcam. “If webcams are good enough for Oprah, they’re good enough for Santa to use to talk to families! Ho Ho Ho!” Santa exclaimed. “Plus, this experience is not only cooler, more modern, and more comfortable than the mall, but it’s also one-thousandth the hassle, one-hundredth the time commitment, and one-tenth the cost!” Santa said.

In order to use the site, a family merely needs a PC or MAC and cable or DSL internet. If a family wants to talk directly with Santa, they’ll need a webcam as well. Families can try the site for free for 2 minutes, and then are asked to make a donation of as little as $4.99 by major credit card or Paypal in order to log-in and chat with Santa whenever they want, as well as to use their webcam and visit with him personally. A portion of the proceeds goes to charity, as well as to several dozen of Santa’s “helpers” working from their homes around the world.

The cutting-edge concept is the brainchild of a Chicago-area mother of three named Jill Noonan. She says the idea came to them while standing in line with their 5-year-old daughter for 90 minutes to see Santa at the mall. “It was a chaotic and costly experience. Parents were anguished and children were going nuts! My 2-year-old daughter refused to see Santa at all, and the 5-year-old began to have second thoughts half-way through the line. I thought: There has to be a more comfortable, relaxed, personal, safe, and even more affordable way for children and families to enjoy visiting with Santa. I was shocked when I wasn’t able to find such a service, and decided to make it a reality for children of every age to enjoy at Christmas.”

Noonan hopes this site will be embraced by some very specific types of families in addition to those with what she terms Mall-Santa fatigue: Families with children who are hospitalized, children with special needs, and older children who are doubting Santa’s existence. “For the second year in a row we’re using proceeds from the site to provide for free chats for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The wonderful volunteers there said children had a blast chatting with Santa from their bedside last fall! We are so happy to be able to do that for those special youngsters!”

“We attended the Autism Society of America convention [in St. Charles, IL] this past summer because we heard from many parents that this site is a Godsend for children with anxiety, communicative, and perception issues. We heard from many families with children with special needs last year that this site is so much better than seeing Santa in some crowded room or mall. We also loved getting letters from families with skeptical 8 year-olds who believed in Santa again after visiting him live online through our site. Those experiences made the expense and hard work of creating this site more than worth it!”

“VisitSantaOnline.com is all about restoring the magic of Santa and Christmas in the lives of thousands of children of every size and age,” says Noonan. “Our goal is to bring Santa and The Season directly to children from the comfort of their own home, eliminate headaches for parents, and do it all affordably during these tough economic times. Nothing says Christmas more than that!”

Web Santa

UPDATE!!

See him in the workshop:

Saturday from 6-10 p.m. EST
Sunday from 7-10 p.m. EST
Monday from 8-10 p.m. EST
and Wed and Thurs. from 7-10 p.m. EST!

See Santa in his office from 7-9 p.m. EST Monday night!

Things tend to pop up in Santa's Village this time of year, so please check the schedule to be sure! There's always a chance he'll log on when time permits too!All times and days are subject to availability.

If you haven't visited with Santa or Mrs. Claus online yet, it's easy as 1-2-3!

1. Go to Visit Santa Online and learn more (there's a video there too!) Your family will see and hear Santa speaking to you, and you can type to him! You don't need a webcam, though if you, it's twice as fun!

2. Click through to the mainpage of the site! You can create a screen-name and password if you haven't already, and visit Santa for a moment or two for free!

3. Once you're sure your family likes it, please use your Credit Card or Paypal account to purchase some time which you can use whenever you like to Visit Santa Online! As little as $4.99 will get your family about 10 minutes typing with Santa in the Multi-Family Room, or 5 minutes visiting in the VIP Family Room so you can give him your wish list personally, and even use your webcam to speak with him directly if you like! You can stock up on as much time as you like, and even create an account for a loved one and give it as a gift!

A portion of the proceeds goes to pay for the free visits we've donated to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, so thanks in advance for your help!

Please help us spread the word to anyone and everyone in your address book, and if you have a website, or even want to include us in your email signature, Twitter, Myspace, or Facebook posts and pages, please enroll in our free affiliate program and make a little extra spending cash this holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Morton J. Elfmeister
Director of Santa Communications
North Pole

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