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Well folks, if you have never gone to a large gathering of Santas, writing about
it just does not begin to cover all that happens. It was sort of like "Animal
House goes to the North Pole" with all the different personalities coming into
play and the different agendas that needed to be addressed. I will try to
mention some of the highlights.
Vendors:
There were all kinds of vendors with belt buckles and leather goods next to
jewelry for Mrs. Claus and Bling for Santa, across from Suit makers from
Hollywood. Then there were Glitter body art artists showing off the latest
stencils for Christmas themed artwork, across from them was a fellow that had
brought watches (Bought one, Thanks Tom!) and specialty hats and T-shirts, more
clothing and shirt makers, Photo representatives from Sepia interviewing
prospective new hires, and my table as well. Sold about 7 of the "Rising
Peppermint Sticks" and about 6 of the balloon/magic books. Sold out of the white
mascara and almost ran out of the Opal Ice glitter for beards. It was a lot of
fun introducing Santa to a Thumb Tip that actually fit him and then show him
what it can do besides light up! I sold more "Squeakers" than I usually do in a
year! Popular item!
Activities:
There was PLENTY of "Meet & Greet" going on everywhere you looked. The lobby,
the pool with the swim suit competition, the Vendor floor,every meal served, no
matter where you went you saw Santas and Mrs Clauses sitting or standing around
chatting. The best part about this was you walked up to any of the groups
engaged in conversation and just joined right in! Most times you would hear
someone calling you over to chat as you were walking to get to your room or go
to lunch or just sitting out on the grounds of the hotel enjoying the great
weather. The highlight for me was the "Santa Flash Mob" that descended upon "In
& Out" burger! We FILLED the restaurant to overflowing! Folks in line or eating
there all looked about in wonder and amusement at all the white bearded men
singing carols and eating french fries and burgers. The children were totally
delighted but kept trying to figure out which one of us was the "Real" Santa.
Meals:
The meals provided at this event were buffet style and quite good! The only
problem came when the Hotel first laid out the first luncheon line. They had
never seen Santas gather to sit and eat! BOTH lines were emptied before half of
the Santas and Mrs Clauses had been fed! They refilled the lines and it was
emptied again! To the credit of the Marriott kitchen staff, that was never a
problem again for the rest of the event! There were fresh baked cookies in the
Santa lounge along with plentiful cartons of milk, both chocolate and regular.
Oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, smoores, and an array of others that were unique
and wonderful. The "Cookie Man" (from Virginia) was there as well and he brought
with him a variety of treats he shared with all of us! No one went hungry while
they were having fun!
Workshops:
There were workshops from the first day of the event! On Thursday it was all fun
types of activity like:
Animal Balloons, Face Painting, Paper folding, Basketry, Ukulele playing and a
class on Strolling Minstrel. But then it got serious and down to the nuts and
bolts of what we do. There were 10 workshops scheduled on Friday along with a
"Christmas Film Festival" being screened continually in Salon 1 all day.
On Saturday there were 12 more scheduled workshops along with the Film
screenings.
What was not listed on the schedule were the "pop up" workshops given by
speakers that were asked to talk about what they do for Santas. Gina Bacon was
asked to give a talk on what she does to book Santa through her business "Nation
Wide Santa", Kris Peters gave a discussion on Suit design and materials use.
Amuse Matte not only took the pictures for our identification dangles, they took
the pictures for the photo book AND arranged to take a FREE photo of any Santa
that went on the USS Midway tour as well. That meant Amuse Matte had set up
photo operations catering to us in 3 separate locations and trained several of
our Santas and Mrs Clauses to operate and use the equipment at the Marriott. I
spoke with Michael Bordeleau a couple of times that Thursday. Wonderful fellow
to talk to and always looking for new talent. I also had multiple opportunities
to speak with Nedra Grice of Sepia Photo at the table Sepia had set up. Very
nice lady to talk with as well.
Each morning before the day began, Harold Deem lead a morning walk along the
grounds and walking trails. Everyone that got up early for those walks told me
how much they enjoyed them! I slept in.
Meet & Greet:
Over the course of the event I spoke with many people. I talked to Santa Steve
from Denver about the organization he belongs to, the "Society of Santa" and it
is one that I had not heard of before but after talking with Steve about it, I
expect many will be hearing about them soon! Great bunch of guys and gals!
I had the opportunity to speak several times with Santa Fred from Norway! He has
been a Santa for over 50 years! It was really easy to find Fred in the crowd!
All you had to do was look his very tall red pointed hat sticking above the
crowd! Fred wears the traditional garb of a Norway Santa and that hat was fun to
watch for. Only thing is, Fred had to be careful about ducking his head before
going through doors to clear his hat!
One fellow I had the great pleasure to talk to was "The Real Black Santa" Santa
Dee! Now Santa Dee looks to be a great football player but he shared not only an
interest in Santa with me but also an interest in magic. I liked him from the
first and he kept asking me how I was making him "Squeak" when ever we talked.
When he finally came to my vending table and I showed him the gimmick, called a
squeaker, he exclaimed "I have a dozen of those at home!!!" Seems his puppy
chews them out of the toys he buy for his pet. I shared with Dee "As Marshall
Brodean always said, It is easy once you know the secret!" Dee bought a squeaker
just to get the page of instructions with 31 ways to use a squeaker! I hope to
talk and chat with Santa Dee for many more years to come!
I spoke to Santas from I.O.S. and a couple that belonged to AORBS as well.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time and they certainly enjoyed the food!
To wrap this up, If you have never been to a large event/convention/gathering of
Santas with the opportunity to interact and learn on a "one on one" basis of how
they work as well as sit in on some of the most advanced classes on topics given
by leaders in their field AND participated in a "Flash Mob" of Santas descending
upon an unsuspecting fast food restaurant, all I can say is you are missing a
real fun learning opportunity.
Local chapters and groups of even up to 60 or more are great to be part of and
you can learn a lot at meetings held by them BUT, a convention group of 300 or
more people that work in a fun field such as the Santa industry, there is a
synergy that takes place and it takes on a life of its own. Truly nothing like
it anywhere else. I strongly urge any and all to attend at least one very large
gathering one time soon! It will change the way you do business and open your
eyes to a wider field of view.
Yours,
Santa Gordon
No one special
it just does not begin to cover all that happens. It was sort of like "Animal
House goes to the North Pole" with all the different personalities coming into
play and the different agendas that needed to be addressed. I will try to
mention some of the highlights.
Vendors:
There were all kinds of vendors with belt buckles and leather goods next to
jewelry for Mrs. Claus and Bling for Santa, across from Suit makers from
Hollywood. Then there were Glitter body art artists showing off the latest
stencils for Christmas themed artwork, across from them was a fellow that had
brought watches (Bought one, Thanks Tom!) and specialty hats and T-shirts, more
clothing and shirt makers, Photo representatives from Sepia interviewing
prospective new hires, and my table as well. Sold about 7 of the "Rising
Peppermint Sticks" and about 6 of the balloon/magic books. Sold out of the white
mascara and almost ran out of the Opal Ice glitter for beards. It was a lot of
fun introducing Santa to a Thumb Tip that actually fit him and then show him
what it can do besides light up! I sold more "Squeakers" than I usually do in a
year! Popular item!
Activities:
There was PLENTY of "Meet & Greet" going on everywhere you looked. The lobby,
the pool with the swim suit competition, the Vendor floor,every meal served, no
matter where you went you saw Santas and Mrs Clauses sitting or standing around
chatting. The best part about this was you walked up to any of the groups
engaged in conversation and just joined right in! Most times you would hear
someone calling you over to chat as you were walking to get to your room or go
to lunch or just sitting out on the grounds of the hotel enjoying the great
weather. The highlight for me was the "Santa Flash Mob" that descended upon "In
& Out" burger! We FILLED the restaurant to overflowing! Folks in line or eating
there all looked about in wonder and amusement at all the white bearded men
singing carols and eating french fries and burgers. The children were totally
delighted but kept trying to figure out which one of us was the "Real" Santa.
Meals:
The meals provided at this event were buffet style and quite good! The only
problem came when the Hotel first laid out the first luncheon line. They had
never seen Santas gather to sit and eat! BOTH lines were emptied before half of
the Santas and Mrs Clauses had been fed! They refilled the lines and it was
emptied again! To the credit of the Marriott kitchen staff, that was never a
problem again for the rest of the event! There were fresh baked cookies in the
Santa lounge along with plentiful cartons of milk, both chocolate and regular.
Oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, smoores, and an array of others that were unique
and wonderful. The "Cookie Man" (from Virginia) was there as well and he brought
with him a variety of treats he shared with all of us! No one went hungry while
they were having fun!
Workshops:
There were workshops from the first day of the event! On Thursday it was all fun
types of activity like:
Animal Balloons, Face Painting, Paper folding, Basketry, Ukulele playing and a
class on Strolling Minstrel. But then it got serious and down to the nuts and
bolts of what we do. There were 10 workshops scheduled on Friday along with a
"Christmas Film Festival" being screened continually in Salon 1 all day.
On Saturday there were 12 more scheduled workshops along with the Film
screenings.
What was not listed on the schedule were the "pop up" workshops given by
speakers that were asked to talk about what they do for Santas. Gina Bacon was
asked to give a talk on what she does to book Santa through her business "Nation
Wide Santa", Kris Peters gave a discussion on Suit design and materials use.
Amuse Matte not only took the pictures for our identification dangles, they took
the pictures for the photo book AND arranged to take a FREE photo of any Santa
that went on the USS Midway tour as well. That meant Amuse Matte had set up
photo operations catering to us in 3 separate locations and trained several of
our Santas and Mrs Clauses to operate and use the equipment at the Marriott. I
spoke with Michael Bordeleau a couple of times that Thursday. Wonderful fellow
to talk to and always looking for new talent. I also had multiple opportunities
to speak with Nedra Grice of Sepia Photo at the table Sepia had set up. Very
nice lady to talk with as well.
Each morning before the day began, Harold Deem lead a morning walk along the
grounds and walking trails. Everyone that got up early for those walks told me
how much they enjoyed them! I slept in.
Meet & Greet:
Over the course of the event I spoke with many people. I talked to Santa Steve
from Denver about the organization he belongs to, the "Society of Santa" and it
is one that I had not heard of before but after talking with Steve about it, I
expect many will be hearing about them soon! Great bunch of guys and gals!
I had the opportunity to speak several times with Santa Fred from Norway! He has
been a Santa for over 50 years! It was really easy to find Fred in the crowd!
All you had to do was look his very tall red pointed hat sticking above the
crowd! Fred wears the traditional garb of a Norway Santa and that hat was fun to
watch for. Only thing is, Fred had to be careful about ducking his head before
going through doors to clear his hat!
One fellow I had the great pleasure to talk to was "The Real Black Santa" Santa
Dee! Now Santa Dee looks to be a great football player but he shared not only an
interest in Santa with me but also an interest in magic. I liked him from the
first and he kept asking me how I was making him "Squeak" when ever we talked.
When he finally came to my vending table and I showed him the gimmick, called a
squeaker, he exclaimed "I have a dozen of those at home!!!" Seems his puppy
chews them out of the toys he buy for his pet. I shared with Dee "As Marshall
Brodean always said, It is easy once you know the secret!" Dee bought a squeaker
just to get the page of instructions with 31 ways to use a squeaker! I hope to
talk and chat with Santa Dee for many more years to come!
I spoke to Santas from I.O.S. and a couple that belonged to AORBS as well.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time and they certainly enjoyed the food!
To wrap this up, If you have never been to a large event/convention/gathering of
Santas with the opportunity to interact and learn on a "one on one" basis of how
they work as well as sit in on some of the most advanced classes on topics given
by leaders in their field AND participated in a "Flash Mob" of Santas descending
upon an unsuspecting fast food restaurant, all I can say is you are missing a
real fun learning opportunity.
Local chapters and groups of even up to 60 or more are great to be part of and
you can learn a lot at meetings held by them BUT, a convention group of 300 or
more people that work in a fun field such as the Santa industry, there is a
synergy that takes place and it takes on a life of its own. Truly nothing like
it anywhere else. I strongly urge any and all to attend at least one very large
gathering one time soon! It will change the way you do business and open your
eyes to a wider field of view.
Yours,
Santa Gordon
No one special
