What if we did a virtual Santa experience?’” At the time, no one knew how long the pandemic would last or how it would affect the Christmas traditions cherished around the world. Then,“in March, our lives changed,” Geer says. 2020 was going to be the year Santa’s Fantastical, one of its themed experiences, was going to blow up big in a planned expansion to more places. Geer and Blackman founded Fantastica Labs 13 years ago. “We looked for opportunities to present Santa the way a family wants.” “The church is very important to families who wanted a faith-based option,” Geer says. Nicholas, who was admired for his piety and kindness. Research into what families want in Santa experiences revealed something else: Christmas is a Christian holiday for many Americans, and they want Santa to be less secular than the typical retail Santa and more like the third century monk St. We aren’t able to practice our craft.’ This is giving opportunities to performers and their families.” “They say, ‘You don’t understand the devastation in the greater community. Claus performers on some of our calls,” Geer says. “We do these meetings with our Claus performers, and there have literally been 100 to 150 Mrs. Dozens of women, many of them idled Disney performers and community theater actors, leapt at the chance to become one of JingleRing’s Mrs. economy, but for out-of-work actors who’ve lost not only their income but also their creative outlets, it’s been especially hard. The pandemic is hitting every sector of the U.S. Claus to be a central figure in their children’s holiday memories. Its focus groups showed that “a lot of people” want Mrs. That bit of insight came from Chicago-based Brookfield Properties, which owns and manages about 170 malls and shopping centers across the country. Claus - who, like women around the globe, surely keeps the trains running on time - got equal billing, Blackman muses. The #MeToo movement has come to the North Pole, too. Geer and Blackman are also behind Santa’s Fantastical, a whimsical indoor, all-ages holiday experience in Atlanta, and PictureU, which is behind the images for events at professional sports arenas and stadiums, concert tours, fairs, festivals, rodeos, pro golf tournaments and, of course, Santa experiences at the mall. But for virtual Santa to be magical to children, he had to be authentic. JingleRing offers virtual chats with Santa, guided by an elf who takes kids through all the essential stops - among them, the mailroom where their letters are received and sorted, the reindeer stable and, of course, the toy factory. With the kinds of Santa experiences they’ve provided to malls and sporting goods stores suddenly altered in the pandemic reality, they brought Santa into the 21st century - and not just by leveraging some of the best tools on the internet to make children feel like they’ve just stepped into Santa’s world at the North Pole. Geer and Blackman aren’t new to the Santa business, thrown into the path of a juggernaut by the coronavirus. But mall Santas have mostly been white, say Walt Geer and Sarah Blackman, an Alpharetta, Georgia, couple whose virtual Santa business, JingleRing, is exploding in the coronavirus pandemic. Claus to fully join America’s national conversation about race and equality.īlack Santas, Spanish-speaking Santas and Santas fluent in American Sign Language have always been around for people who know where to look. ALPHARETTA, GA - It took a pandemic for Santa and Mrs.
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