Christmas in the Park is easily San Jose’s most beloved holiday event, a fact nobody had to tell Ted Lopez, the nonprofit’s recently announced executive director.
The fourth-generation San Josean says one of his family’s annual holiday traditions is to take a photo under the massive tree at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. And he definitely grasps that his new job is to make sure that tree is around for future generations of families to explore.
“I need to save Christmas. That’s the way I look at it,” Lopez said. The 44-year-old is taking the reins of Santa’s sleigh from Debbie Degutis, who announced her desire to step away from the lead role earlier this year. She led the nonprofit through a couple of challenging years, especially when it came to fundraising and sponsorship during inflationary years.
Lopez says he hopes to meet those challenges by relying on his experience working in sales for several sports teams including the San Francisco Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars and, most recently, the Oakland Roots, where he was vice president of ticketing.
“I’m coming in with a new approach. To me, Christmas in the Park is an amusement park that’s open for 35 days,” Lopez said. His job is to keep the 800,000 people who walk through Plaza de Cesar Chavez for the display each year, or who visit the illuminated drive-thru event, coming back and forming a deeper connection.
He’s starting with branding, bringing back Christmas in the Park’s reindeer mascot, Blinky, and promoting the launch of a new online merchandise store at christmasinthepark.myshopify.com. Every time someone buys a Blinky-branded dog bandanna or a Christmas in the Park hoodie dress, the nonprofit makes a little money and the meter measuring holiday spirit goes up a notch.
Lopez has other ideas, like changing up the music at Blinky’s Drive-Thru for specific theme nights, the way sports teams do with events celebrating Mexican heritage or Star Wars. He’d also like to get more Silicon Valley companies involved, possibly through sponsoring positions at Christmas in the Park where students or interns can get hands-on experience in programming and robotics, improving the animatronic displays while training for careers.
But he also believes keeping Christmas in the Park’s roster of community partners involved is just as important — from the community organizations and businesses that sponsor the decorated trees in the park every year to vendors who sell hot chocolate and snacks.
“I think we can be a great vehicle for small business,” Lopez said. “I’m personally really excited about the opportunities.”
Though Lopez has just started his new role, he’s already got his eye on the calendar, with a big circle around Nov. 28 — the opening date for both Blinky’s Drive-Thru and Christmas in the Park.
ART AND ABOUT: Silicon Valley Creates has announced this year’s Contest Emerging Artist award recipients. They will be honored Thursday at a pick-up party for Content magazine’s latest issue at CURA Contemporary gallery in Morgan Hill.
This year’s honorees are Gilroy-based ceramics artist Abiam Alvarez, dancer Alice Hur and visual artist Hana Lock. The creative trio, who were selected from among 56 applicants, will receive a $5,000 cash award and a profile in Content magazine. You can find out more about the artists, as well as register for the the 6:30 p.m. pick-up party, at svcreates.org.
KIRK’S-EYE VIEW OF SAN JOSE: William Shatner is a science-fiction icon, but the 94-year-old “Star Trek” actor is also deeply interested in real science, too. During a 45-minute presentation at GalaxyCon in San Jose last weekend, he shared a story about arguing with Neil deGrasse Tyson about the nature of the speed of light on a trip to the South Pole.
And while some convention guests may have a “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” attitude toward the cities they visit, Shatner was very aware he was speaking to a San Jose audience.
“This city, the possibilities are so enormous in the next two years for example – between AI and all the other advances in medicine and technological things that are happening,” Shatner told the rapt crowd at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
“In this city alone – as you all know more than I – change is happening,” he said. “People are making billions or going out of business. People are losing their jobs or gaining that new job. It’s a time, a kind of fervent, that we haven’t seen maybe in history.”