And the Days Dwindle Down

By Santa Tim Connaghan – http://www.school4santas.com/

Every year Santa’s work calendar changes and the number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas change with it. This is because Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November. So the date that always changes.

One year you may have only 27 days between the two major holidays. Then each following year you add one more day until you reach 33 days. Then the calendar jumps right back and starts over at 27.

To some Santas it may look good that each year you get an extra day to work and garner more income. But then, after five or six years of adding a day, you will be shaken with the fact that those extra days are gone and you are back at 27.

These date changes strongly affect private party Santas who will find that some of their clients will not be able to meet at the same location and possibly not on the same date. They now have four weeks of parties squeezed into just three weeks.

When the shift back to 27 days occurs, Santa has lost six event days including one weekend and any parties on the lost dates will have to be rescheduled.

This means that some of your clients will need to find new dates and possibly new venues for their parties. What is worse is that you may find your client’s new day and date conflict with another party you have already booked. The result is you might lose a booking or two unless the clients can schedule to a time when you are available.

For the mall Santa the pressure is not as intense. But whether he starts the day after Thanksgiving or one or two weeks prior, his schedule will also grow by one day each year and then jump back losing those six days.

If the mall or photo company pays you the same salary as the year before, you are actually working one extra day with no additional pay. Of course there is the other side of the coin when the season shortens. The mall or photo company may want to reduce your salary as you are working one less week (six fewer days).

Here is a schedule for the next few years:

God Bless you and remember to keep the twinkle in your eye and the spirit of Christmas every day.

Santa Tim Connaghan
©2010 The Kringle Group, LLC