Santa Tracking Starts This Week — Are you ready?

Santa likes to call what happens here at the North Pole Operation Merry Christmas. It is a complex event that requires precision planning and timing to pull off. Santa can’t do it all alone so he has thousands of elves and reindeer around the world to help him pull it off.

Our job for the last 20 years here at the North Pole newsroom is to keep you updated on the story that is Operation Merry Christmas — and that fun starts THIS WEEK for Operation Merry Christmas 2011. Just as we have every year for the past 20 years we will try to give you the news, answer your questions and help you get ready for Christmas.

We like to take you behind the scenes into the workshop, the wrapping department, the weather and tracking department, the stables, the North Pole post office, the sleigh department, and of course, right here in the newsroom.

We get quotes straight from the elves, Mrs. Claus, and even Santa. We issue press releases throughout the year as events warrant and then we go to daily updates from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.

Once Santa takes off on Christmas Eve we issue updates every 15 minutes until he returns home on Christmas morning.

We will have updates on Santa’s location, bedtime warnings, the behind the scenes from here at the North Pole, and updates on any problems that may pop on the way.

So if you want up to the minute news straight from the North Pole newsroom bookmark santaupdate.com and check back regularly during the holiday season.

— Elf Ernest