Strollerderby : saint nick

Vonage Offers Free Calls To Santa

Brett Singer — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Voice Over IP company (for the uninitiated, that's "phone calls through your Internet connection") Vonage is offering free phone calls to Santa, as long as you call St. Nick from one of their lines.

Vonage is bringing Santa to life for its customers once again with its annual 1-700-CALLSANTA program. Moms and Dads can help their children call and leave a message for Santa, and the recorded message will be sent to their e-mail address so they know exactly what their child asked Jolly Old St. Nick to bring them. Additionally, for ten randomly selected children, Vonage will grant their special Christmas wish, delivering a toy from their list in Santa’s name.

So I guess the idea is that your kids tell "Santa" what they want and then you buy it for them. Plus a few lucky tots will get one of their wishes for free. (Actually, that sounds more like a gift for the parents in this economy.)

But wait! There's more! If you call after 5pm on December 24th, "your children will hear Santa share the tales of his journey as he delivers toys around the world." So Vonage will help parents shop for their children, and also aid them in perpetuating the illusion that an obese but jolly man flies around every year in a reindeer-powered sleigh to deliver toys to boys and girls worldwide – provided they behave themselves. (I kid. And for the record, I actually believed in Santa for a while despite being Jewish. But it's fun to be Grinchy sometimes.)

Full disclosure: I'm a Vonage customer; I like the service a lot, and recommend it to anyone who asks. There are some little quirks here and there but the price and feature-set more than make up for that. And it's not like my landline phone is perfect.

Back to the point: I think I would have preferred if Vonage had offered to buy something for children in need instead of making it a contest, or donated a dollar for every call made to "Santa" to Unicef or some other worthy organization.

I also wonder if a phone is better than writing a letter to Santa. Don't kids have enough incentives to use electronic means to communicate? If I were raising Santa-believers (I'm not) I think I would prefer that they communicate their heart's desires/greedy toy wishes to Chris Cringle using the good old United States Postal Service.

Of course, as sins of the season go, this one is far lower on the list than matching outfits on the family Holiday card. And probably even lower than sending a Chanukah card with a big ol' fir tree on the front. So if you've got a kid, and Vonage service, give Santa a call. You might even get one of their gifts for free.

Source: Vonage

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Santa Shortage Strikes Germany

JeanneSager — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:31:00 GMT

It's no surprise the requirements to be hired on as Santa Claus in Germany are exacting. In Teutonic tradition, the engineering of a German Santa takes stock of the tenor of the voice, the quality of the accent, the background in carols. Are they asking too much?

Apparently, yes. As the European economy falters, there's one employer still searching high and wide for good candidates. Yes, Virginia, in Germany there is a shortage of Santa Clauses.

According to a report in London's Sunday Times, recruitment is off by German Santa placement agencies (yes, they exist) this year in ever section of the country. Compounding the problem is a record number of private parties being thrown by families trying to offset the grim economy with a little holiday cheer. They're trying to book a Santa, and the jolly old man can't make it.

If it sounds silly, check out the paycheck. These Santas - who work the malls as well as the family party circuit, make as much as sixty euros an hour. Using the latest exchange rate, that's about $76 an hour. To smile a lot and be nice to some kids? Sign me up for that gig. Of course, therein lies the paradox. They're good-paying jobs, but they're not handing them out to just anyone. One Berlin-based recruiter told the Times at least ten percent of applicants are turned away because they don't fit the bill.

What does it really take to be a good Santa? They want a low tenor of voice, an extensive repertoire of Christmas songs and poetry, a jollity and spontaneity and a love of children. To top it off, they can't be "too young." Considering some of the mall Santas I've seen here in the states (who'd put the drunk Saint Nick from the parade scene in Miracle on 34th Street to shame), it might behoove American Santa recruiters to take a page out of the German book.

Of course, we might then be struck by the Santa shortage. But wouldn't you rather have too few good Santas than an overabundance of Billy Bobs?

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Santa Claus Can Call Them For You

JeanneSager — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:56:00 GMT

There's nothing like standing on that long line for the mall Santa, finally getting there, and having your kid reel off his entire list to the big man while a tantrum toddler's screams drown the whole thing out.

The trouble with that unshakeable belief in Santa? They don't need to tell Mom and Dad what they want - "Don't worry Ma, Santa said he'd get it for me." Instead of trying to drag it out of them, a new site lets you order up a Santa call right to your house. Even better? They let you go back in and listen to the whole clip online.

I Am Saint Nick comes from the brains of a dad who was laid off from his job in the tech industry. Matt Steckler opted to harness the new Twilio telephoney technology to have a voice recording of Santa Claus call phone numbers plugged into the site. If the call connects, the recording asks people what they want for Christmas (note to parents: you might want to warn your kids that Santa is a little forgetful . . . and a very busy guy who won't be able to answer questions, the drawback to a machine making the call). After the call ends, the recording is linked to the phone number on the site, allowing anyone who knows your phone number to plug it in and pull up the message.

For parents who are uneasy, the site promises to abide by the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which allows you to listen to your child's message and ask for the recording to be taken down if you feel they divulged too much personal information, Simply send an e-mail their way.

Kids tend to be a little more forthcoming with Santa Claus than they do with Mom and Dad - or even Grandma and Granda, so this could be your best shot at finding out their true heart's desire. And who doesn't like to hear it coming from their sweet little mouths? So set up your call, then send the whole family online to take a listen.

Image: I Am Saint Nick.com

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