Venue Participation
Participating as a venue is pretty simple. You have a couple of options.
First, you can be a 'stop' on the route. The Santas generally move together as a large group, going from stop to stop. Depending on available capacity, a stop may actually be a couple of venues at once.
Second. you can just be a 'friendly location' - not a stop, but open to having Santas show up.
Third, of course, is a non-participant. Tell us in advance, and we'll flag you on our map. And you shouldn't get any Santas at all. This is perfectly fine, and there's no hard feelings. We're a big group, and don't want to overwhelm you.
What does being a stop entail?
Basically, we've got a group of 300-400 Santas looking for a couple drinks. We're going to come through for about an hour and a half or so. You just need to be prepared for a big rush. Hopefully, we'll fill your space pretty full, put a dent in your stocks, and fill some tip jars. And then we'll be off to the next spot.
We sell food/beverages, but not alcohol. Can we participate?
Hell yeah. Santa has a weakness for snacks. Shout and we'll talk
We're a hotel!
We get a lot of out-of-town people who come in for Santacon. If you want to offer a special or room block, shout. We, the santacon org, aren't in a position to organize anything, but we'll be happy to share info to the group. e.g. call XXX-XXXX to ask about booking for santacon.
We're another type of retail shop. Can I do something?
Maybe? Give us a shout, and we'll talk. We're really looking for places for folks to mingle, which isn't something you can do real well in a retail shop. But we're interested in hearing any pitch.
We're generally open to sharing pretty much any discount for Santas, but we're not really interested in any advertising past that.
Where do I sign up?
You can start by emailing Santa or through the contact form. Or you can talk to us through Facebook. If you want to talk to Santa on the phone, email first. We can schedule a call or even a site visit. Especially for venues that are new to us, we love to stop in and get a look at the place. Not to make this a bigger deal than it is, but Santa is sick of calls about his extended sled warranty. Once you're on the nice list, talking via calls or text is fine.
Letting us know your limits/capacity will be helpful. In the past, we've had 500+ santas all out at once. We don't want to crush your and your staff. But we do want you to be full. Therefore, we try to have multiple venues for each stop.
Some other info:
We generally try to do outreach in October. And our venue list and route gets sorted out in November. Feel free to contact at us any time about particating.
Even if you're not on the official route, you can hang a "Santas Welcome" sign, even on the day of. Attach some food or drink specials, and we'll definitely share it. There's always overflow, and Santas looking to try somewhere new.
We can limit (to a degree) the hours that Santas are heading to you. If you want them earlier evening or late night, we can accomdate.
Alternatively, if you don't want Santas, you may want to hang a "No Santas" sign. We'll respect any such requests.
Make sure you're checking IDs appropriately. There's no way for us to guarantee that an underage person has snuck into the group. Treat us as regular clientele (albeit ones in funny suits).
We don't do drink tickets. Santa will pay for drinks with regular American currency.