Santa Claus… Little Touches of Perfection!

Santa Claus… Little Touches of Perfection!

by Susen Mesco, Master Santa Claus Trainer, 
Professional Santa Claus School Conference, Denver, CO 
September 22, 2010 at 9:19pm

Santa Claus… Every Santa Claus is intrinsically unique… so why do 80% of them all wear the same exact outfit?

There are ways that you can add touches, to your $100 -$2500 outfit / costume / Santa suit, to make it look unique. Back in 1983, I started helping Santas create individual looks that mesmerized the children with dozens of special, unique and creative touches that were easy and inexpensive.

Special little touch on the fur of your hat… Gloves other than white… Brocade ribbon on your cuff or bottom above your fur. The golden sleeves of a long sleeved turtleneck showing at cuffs,  where there usually is furry bare skin… How about a more comfortable sash belt in gold, bronze or chocolate brown rather than a vinyl belt? Some Santas put jingle bells on their boot tops. This can be great for parades but be distracting when trying to do visits with the children or taping a video. (All these ideas are under $30 to customize your Santa look!)

Don't overdo it with the mustache wax or styling your mustache. Focus will be on your mustache rather than your interaction with the child if you over curl or have your mustache looking like a crazy cowboy or "Snidely Whiplash." 

Send us YOUR ideas of how YOU customized your Santa look!

What kinds of props do YOU use? Props are fun and can add to your Santa portrayal as well as appearance. Add more props into your Santa toy bag for more fun as Santa and more fun for your audience.

The very best drawings & photos have one little touch that no Santas seem to think of… It is Santa’s cherry red lips peeking through under his mustache and above his snowy white beard!

Too often Santas will rosey out their cheeks (and look a bit too “tipsy”). Pinch your cheeks a few times every now & then for a natural look but forget using too much rouge!

Are your eyes sunken or have dark circles underneath... Concealer in one shade lighter will make you look much better and photos will come out great! Be sure to blend well with sponge applicator.

Powder lightly to "set" (keep make-up in place during long days.) 

Go for lips that show through your beard & mustache for a look that is storybook!

The darker your lips are, the whiter your beard and teeth will look!

Try a nice light rose or dark pink matte lip polish of some fashion (no shine or pearl/glitter effect) for your lips. There are marvelous new lip “stains” that last for hours available. For under $10, you can have lips that complete the look of Santa and balance the rosy cheeks. Lipstain is not at all like lipstick. It’s dry not greasy. It lasts for 8 hours and looks and feels great! Ask your wife or teenage granddaughter for their favorites!

Lips like cherries… Better than the nose looking like you’ve had too much sherry!

More soon on Santa’s pretty mouth! 

 Don't forget to whiten your teeth to eliminate stains or yellowing.  If your teeth are yellow and your beard and fur are white, the yellow of your teeth will be more apparent. If you elect to follow your Santa Claus career to new heights, having dental work to straightened or correct your teeth, are well worth your investment to get the higher paying or profile events / gigs.

Susen Mesco

Master Santa Claus Trainer since 1983!

31st Annual ProfessionalSanta Claus School Conference 2013

Santa Claus Magic... Fairy Dust? Or Real Answers to Impossible Questions

Santa Claus and The LAST of the Modern MAGIC

by Susen Mesco, Master Santa Claus Trainer 
at Professional Santa Claus School Conference, Denver, CO 
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 8:58pm

Santa Claus & “the fairy dust” 

Just what makes Santa Claus “MAGIC?”

After 28 years of training Santa Claus’, I have heard an awful lot of Santas squirming out of tough questions with the old “fairy dust” routine. My reindeer fly… I make it around the world…. I fit all the gifts into the sleigh… and some Santas even carry a little bag of glitter to toss about to prove they use “fairy dust.”

Today’s children NEED MAGIC in their lives! Children see violence on TV, hear way too much about sex, divorce, war, terrorists, school shootings, politics, the economy and kidnappings. We MUST REMEMBER that children today are exposed to all “reality” this without having the maturity of a “point of reference” to process it all properly. 5 year olds are running computers and needing cell phones- like we needed marbles, bikes and balls. Our world was our neighborhood. The world of children today is electronic, instant and global. They live in a very huge, very REAL world. 

Santa Claus is the last of the modern magic. The magic we present to these children needs to match their sophistication. Not that we should have them growing up any faster than they already are but… Santa HAS to be even more believable than back in the 40’s and 50’s. 

The idea of “fairy dust” may be cute but it is 100% a cop out. Just wait until they ask you to use it in front of them to do something fantastic and poof, all there is, is a big mess of glitter on the carpet. “Santa! Use your fairy dust to make ME fly!” Then what? Oops!

As you consider the many questions children have, will and may ask you, coming up with a magical, believable, perhaps relatively short but eccentrically complicated answer is so much more “Santa-like” from a 1310 year old, bearded, hero than sprinkling around some dime store glitter!

Creating a quality 3-D character of Santa Claus is so much more solid than relying on “fairy dust.”

It takes a LOT of forethought. You can do it! And You CAN do it better without the “fairy dust!” 

Enjoy being the very best Santa you can and being confident in answering those questions!

We teach a whole 2 hour segment and provide you with a FORMULA to answer ANY tough or impossible question (without the Fairy Dust!)

Spend a LOT of time thinking about possible questions and plausible answers until you have a formula of your own or acquire ours! YOU CAN DO IT!

Susen Mesco

Master Santa Claus Trainer since 1983!

31st Annual ProfessionalSanta Claus School Conference 2013

Professional Santas Doing FREEBIES / CHARITY EVENTS

Professional Santas Doing FREEBIES / CHARITY EVENTS

Those of you who are on Facebook with us, know, and may even have participated in the discussions and commentaries about the lady, who called our offices, late one evening, requesting 26 Santas in full dress reds… for FREE! (FREE?)… Yes! F R E E… She wasn’t with a non-profit or a children’s organization, she ran a business and needed Santas for a Christmas In July event. She was asking for an outrageous number of Santas, (and for 30 only minutes). Dry cleaning of 26 suits at $20 each… $520….

Stunned & shocked, I needed FB therapy, AFTER she came unglued, called me names & rudely hung up on me. It was too late to call anyone with my “situation”. Santa is always around on Facebook! (Therapy went well. We had some great comments! Needless to say, she is now OFF Santa’s List!) But that’s not the point. So let’s talk about FREEBIES…

American Events has been training and booking out Professional Santas for events for 29 years… We’ve heard it all - from paintball Santa to roller coaster Santa, cookie/baking contest judge Santa, magazine cover Santa, sleigh ride Santa and even “stripper” Santa (which we do NOT ever provide!) But 26 Santas? Mid-July? For only 30 minutes? For FREE? For a business event? We love giving back! We love doing Santa Claus visit FREEBIES! We plan ahead for holiday FREEBIE events for many folks (on the “NICE LIST.”)

Let’s talk about Santa Claus doing “FREE” events…

There are many times when Santa Claus, doing a “freebie” for a charity or non-profit event… is a GOOD thing! I highly recommend doing some FREEBIE GIGS for Santas!

• Doing FREEBIE events is great for NEW Santas

1. Do as many as you can!

2. To get some experience… hone their performances without the stress

3. To make some contacts to build a new Santa Claus business

4. To pass out some business cards for this or next year’s events

5. To figure out what kinds of events you, a new Santa Claus, like to do best.

• Doing FREEBIE events is great for VETERAN Santas!

1. Do 1-2 a year

2. It puts you into different circles to make new contacts

3. Allows you to try new aspects of your performances, BEFORE you add them into events, with paying clients

4. It is fun and good for the soul & keeps Santa humble

5. It is always nice to give back!

Doing FREEBIES should not, ideally, interfere with your “prime” income days and hours. Nothing like performing free at a charity event on Saturday morning, knowing you elected to pass up a really high paying gig, to be there.

• The Boy/Girl Scouts can surely reschedule their meeting for a Monday night instead of Saturday to have a FREE Santa Claus.

• That photo fund raiser can move to a Sunday afternoon “hole” in your schedule.

• The children’s ward, at the local hospital, can have their gathering on a Tuesday morning.

• All Day Cares have flexible schedules… aside from their “snack” or “lunchtime” routines.

Santa Claus usually only works 4-5 weeks of the year, so maximizing your income is critical.

(Does the plumber, the one with the big heart, come out last minute on a Saturday night, just because your water heater broke? Maybe he does, but on your bill, there’s a line that says, “Emergency Service Fee”… the big “ouch!”)

Last time any doctor made a “house call,” was back in the 1950’s! Emergency room visits now run into the thousands! Ugh!

And NO! It is NOT, absolutely NOT about “the money!”

The children, the spirit of the holiday, the tradition, the love should ALL come first… the money will follow. Santa Claus, as an “industry” has truly grown and evolved over the past 25 years. It is serious business now! Realistically, most Santas are retired / semi-retired and “play Santa” for a little (or a lot of) extra income. All of the guys who attend our school have huge hearts, but they also want to be reimbursed on some level for their efforts, talents, time and newly learned career.

There are business expenses, even in this seasonal career-

Your suit & accessories, travel, insurance, even the cost of printing your business cards… Do not undercut yourself, others in the Santa industry or cheapen the experience. We KNOW you have a good heart! Let’s all keep working to spiral the Santa industry as a respected, necessary & valuable profession!

Price yourself according to your skill, education level, experience and what you will provide as performance for the client. (Parades are the highest profile, most fun, easiest work… but the pay is usually minimal for local parades… Oh well! They are a hoot!)

• Select a few worthy non-profits; charities, organizations, church or school - dear to your heart

• Schedule a Santa Claus event with them, EARLY in the year, (March or April)

• For an “off-peak” time / day that works best, around your schedule.

Naughty to Nice List-ers: Last-minute charities or non-profits that call Thursday evening for a Saturday morning event… (your Saturdays are all booked up!) Pass along / “network” this referral to a NEW Santa Claus in your area, so he can get the experience. Hopefully, he may be available. If not, they will end up renting a Santa costume, throw an uncle into it and somebody will quickly recognize the real value of a Santa. They WILL plan ahead for next year. Put them on your “Nice List” to call them early or encourage the new Santa to pick this up as one of his lesser paying “gigs” for next season.

By all means…. Do some FREEBIES!

Enjoy doing them!

Plan ahead to be able to give generously, from the heart.

Treat your business seriously, as much fun as it is, and your clients will then respect and appreciate your business, too!

Susen Mesco

Master Santa Claus Trainer since 1983!

31st Annual ProfessionalSanta Claus School Conference 2013