SANTA SPAMMED ON GLOBAL INTERNET

In 1993, we started a simple Eliza-like "email Santa" service at north.pole.org, and by the next year it had grown into a web site with lots of audio and our clever idea for a "Christmas Cyberspace Charity Campaign."

Karaoke Messiah

As a result, we spent the early part of 1995 cleaning up the mess created at the end of 1994 when Santa was viciously mail-bombed by several hundred well-meaning yet highly clueless Internet users. (Although the Christmas campaign went dreadfully wrong, we were happy that our karaoke multicast of Handel's Messiah live from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was a great success).

For several years, with the Web starting to expand exponentially, IMS worked with a large number of organizations to get them on-line. Santa Claus was just one of our adoptions. Other efforts included the French Embassy, high-tone restaurants like the Red Sage, bonsai gardens, the National Press Club, and the Wilderness Society.

URL: http://north.pole.org/