by Leanna Jantzi, Staff Reporter, Langley Times

Children from around the world can get up close and interactive with Santa himself, and can talk to family serving overseas in the military

Forget the letters, throw out the wish lists, don't bother standing in line to sit on his lap.

A direct line to Santa Claus has been established by a Langley man and his company.

Children from around the world have an instant connection to the Jolly Old Elf, thanks to technology developed by Hugh Dobbie's Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc. (INSINC).

Since Dec. 8, INSINC has been connecting children with Santa via its studio in Burnaby.

Mr. Claus is reached at his home in the North Pole at www.ChatWithSanta.com which features a live and interactive webcast of Santa.

Those who register on the site can send their Christmas requests directly to Santa's desktop, using a variation of instant messaging, and watch as he reads them out over the World Wide Web.

A special toll free number has also been set up so callers can talk to Santa.

Some of the messages kids set to Santa, "literally brings tears to your eyes," Dobbie said.

"Christmas is a time of year when people reflect on what's important," he added.

In the spirit of Christmas, INSINC has made the technology available to Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Through special arrangements with the Canadian military, ChatWithSanta.com is linking families together with their loved ones overseas. Troops and their children are able to speak to each other in the special calls hosted by Santa Claus. The calls are simulcast on the Internet on Santa's daily "Chat With Santa" webcast.

The first call connecting a Canadian soldier with his family was made on Friday, Dec. 19.

Santa united Master Corporal Russell Storring, deployed in Operation Athena in Afghanistan, with his wife and two boys in Petawawa, Ontario.

Connecting Storring with his family gives the whole project a deeper meaning for Dobbie and his staff because of the work Storring does in Afghanistan.

The father of two founded Mercury Hope, an effort to gather clothes, school supplies and shoes for an orphanage in Kabul that houses 1,200 children.

"It makes you want to do more," Dobbie said. "It's been an eye opening experience."

Dobbie, a graduate of R.E. Mountain Secondary who now lives with his family in Walnut Grove, said the success of the website and the concept is beyond anyone's expectations. As of last Friday, close to 4,000 people had registered on the site. Dobbie estimates that Santa has so far spoken or chatted online directly to 1,000 kids. People from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Germany, Lebanon, Indonesia, Philippines, France, Netherlands, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates are logging onto the site.

The website has recorded 504,000 page views, and the average visit time on the site – 27.5 minutes – is beating industry standards.

Statistics show the site is taking off "virally," Dobbie said. That means the popularity of the website is growing with the lightening speed of a virus, as people forward the site's address to their contact, and other websites are adding links to ChatWithSanta.com.

What makes the story even more of a success is that accessing the site and talking with Santa is free.

INSINC is covering the complete costs of the long distance calls, bandwidth, site development, video production, and more.

"It's costing me a small fortune," laughed Dobbie.

But, he added, it's worth it. "The purpose of this site is to celebrate Christmas and family, and we feel this is a great way to bring loved ones together," he said.

The idea started as a small project for staff to work on during the traditional down time in their industry. It all came together at the eleventh hour, Dobbie said, and now all at INSINC, along with BCIT students, are working on the project and having fun.

And Dobbie isn't the only Langley connection to the website – head developer David Phinney and producer Grant Christian are also Mountain graduates.

Santa himself is putting in the extra hours and is, Dobbie admits, a little tired. Since the website's launch, he spends usually four hours a day live and in person, speaking with kids around the world. (Santa is a close friend of INSINC employee Bob Mackin, and many have commented on the similarity of their appearances.)

INSINC is currently in negotiations with Santa to see if he can fit one more chat early Christmas Eve before he embarks on his round-the-world journey.

Check out www.ChatWithSanta.com for Santa's schedule and copies of his webcasts.