Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 07, 2008 at 11:42:43:
In Reply to: WLUP has Santa on staff posted by chicagomedia.org on October 23, 2008 at 07:29:42:
Beat the crowds with a virtual Santa visit
By David Sharos | Special to the Tribune
December 7, 2008
Visiting Santa at your favorite department store or shopping mall usually assures youngsters that their Christmas morning will be bright. But during the holidays with parents pressed for time, a 1- to 2-hour vigil for a 90-second chat seems a bit out of balance.
Imagine accomplishing the same thing in the comfort of your home, using only some basic computer technology and just a few minutes of your time. That's the idea behind visitsanta online.com, a site launched recently by WebCamCo Inc. that allows families to have personal visits with Santa—live from the North Pole.
Mike Noonan, a WLUP disc jockey and Naperville resident, came up with the idea after a 90-minute wait to see Santa last year with his 5-year-old daughter.
"It was a chaotic experience, with parents anguished and children going nuts," Noonan said. "My 2-year-old daughter refused to see Santa at all, and my 5-year-old began having second thoughts halfway through the line. I thought, there has to be a better way for children and families to enjoy visiting with Santa. I was shocked I wasn't able to find such a service, and decided to make it a reality this Christmas."
But will the online Santa be a hit with the kids?
We sat with 5-year old twins Samantha and Thomas of Carol Stream while they visited with Santa from afar.
We fired up a wireless laptop computer and clipped on our Web camera. Next, we entered visitsantaonline.com, and found a flashing "Click here to visit" message.
You establish an account by creating a child's nickname, a password and a parent's e-mail address (to confirm the registration). A short series of questions came next, where kids can tell Santa everything from the name of their pet to a favorite teacher or toy. You can skip the questions by hitting "Click here to skip this part," but Noonan had advised us that kids tend to light up when Santa starts talking specifics or "remembers" what someone got for Christmas last year.
A payment page pops up before Santa enters the picture. It's $9.99 for a two-minute chat, and credit cards and PayPal are accepted.
Business cleared, a message appeared telling us Santa was standing by, and suddenly there was a split screen—the twins and their eyes popping on one side, and Santa in a virtual chat room in the other. (If you don't have a Web camera, you can also "talk" to Santa in real time using a cell phone and text messaging. He'll answer live on your screen.)
A few tips:
There was about a five-second delay between questions and answers. As Santa explained, the North Pole is far away, and it takes time for messages to arrive.
The two minutes goes by fast. We got extra time as Santa wasn't very busy yet, but kids should have their wish lists ready.
Create an account so you can use the service next year or if Santa is busy in the chat room and you have to log in later.
Noonan assured us that the site was secure for kids. The fee discourages prank use, and all "Santas," as well as Noonan, have been cleared with background checks.