Zombie Walk Discussion

[RJ Productions]

I agree with Shane's position on another thread, the Forum's been boring lately!
We need a little more discussion! (nobody's even argueing about anything!!!!)

There have been several posts concerning Zombie Walks. From what I see it could be a fun event that could be utilized as a promotion for your Haunt. For those of us that do not have one and would be interested in putting on one, how about some input from those of you that have.

Do you operate one or just participate in one? (I’d be interested in opinions from both sides of the “grave”)

OPERATORS:
Who has one?
When do you operate it?
What do you do?
Is it promoted, word of mouth, underground movement?
Is it purposed? (does it sponsor an event or a charity)
What makes yours unique?
What would you do differently?
What have your experiences been operating them?

PARTICPANTS:
Which ones have you attended?
What are some of your fun experiences?
What do you like/dislike?
Recommendations for improvements?

This looks like an event that if we are not involved with, we should be.
Either sponsoring it or getting Haunts in your area to sponsor it.
Can we compile a list of Haunt sponsored Zombie Walks?

Discussions?

Rich
(just looking for a little thought provoking discussion)

[Badger]

I run the Zombie Walk in Charlotte and will be holding the next one on October 11th. I've used mine as a way to kind of kick off the Halloween season and to get everyone in the haunting spirit. Last year I held a Red Cross blood drive and was very pleased with the results. I usually hold a mini-zombie walk in the spring at ConCarolinas.

This year I'm planning on holding a blood drive and food drive. The papers and news outlets usually send someone down to cover it and we get some good publicity out of it. I invite all the local haunts to send their actors and bring any coupons and/or flyers they want to hand out to participants. So far, there's been no incidents or negative publicity and I hope to have at least 300 undead show up this year.

I set up a Myspace page to promote it and get new friend requests nearly every day. It's a cheap and effective way to advertise. Feel free to check out the pictures and videos of our past walks...

http://www.myspace.com/charlottezombiewalk

[Haunted Illinois]

Rich,

Lately, Zombie events have become extremely popular in the Chicagoland area. The zombie popularity seemed to start in 2008. And there are not just zombie walks, but other zombie events, as well. There has been a zombie prom, tiki zombie party, zombie disco and next week is Zombie-con. Another funny thing is that it isn’t just one group planning these things. A few different organizations have been putting these together. In fact, earlier this year, two different groups planned zombie events the same weekend, so Chicagoland folks had four or five different zombie activities to choose from in the same weekend!

The funny thing is, these events aren’t being used to promote a specific attraction. While one of the organizers is a haunt acting troupe, they aren’t using the events to plug their haunts. These are really just social events where zombie enthusiasts gather to have fun. I’m sure they could be used to promote a haunted attraction, as well, but that’s not the way they are being used around here.

Now to your specific list of questions:

OPERATORS: <<< While I haven’t run one of these, I can still answer some of these questions

Who has one?
To my knowledge, three different groups have been hosting zombie events in the Chicagoland area…

http://www.zombiearmyproductions.com/ <<< Haunt acting group / production company

http://www.weirdchicago.com/ <<< Site promoting weird stuff in Chicago

http::/whatisph.com/ <<< Chicagoland theatrical group

When do you operate it?
They are being operated year-round. We even had zombie ice skating last year.

What do you do?
Is it promoted, word of mouth, underground movement?
Well, I have personally promoted these events in a number of ways: on my website, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, Rotting Flesh Radio & various Halloween-related message boards. The actual organizers promote the events on their websites and have found huge success plugging them on Facebook. They have become so popular that a website has been created to advertise Chicago zombie events: http://chicagozombie.com/

Is it purposed? (does it sponsor an event or a charity)
What makes yours unique?
What would you do differently?
What have your experiences been operating them?

PARTICPANTS:
Which ones have you attended?
Here are links to a few that I have attended during the past two years…
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2008chicagozombiepubcrawl.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2008zombiemarchchicago.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2008zombiesonice.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2009verybloodyvalentinesday.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2009zombiepubcrawl.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2009zombiearmyprom.php
http://www.hauntedillinois.com/2009chicagozombiemarch.php

What are some of your fun experiences?
People really seem to love these things.. those participating in them, as well as people on the street, watching a pack of zombies go by.

What do you like/dislike?
Recommendations for improvements?

[graystone]

Hummm well .......

Looks like its all things Zombie! So when is the Zombie porn gonna come out? I heard the new DVD " A Cold Lay" was due out soon LMAO!!! Shane and its just having some fun with the thread! Shane this time.

[actiondeath]

LOL, Shane

Here ya go, Shane: Zombie Strippers

I organize ZombieWalk Columbus. It's an annual thing and I have always planned it in the spring because awesome weather makes it easier to get people outside. Participants as well as innocent bystanders. Plus, it's a great half-way to Halloween horror fix for a lot of people.

While I don't have any kind of haunt affiliation, there is one that I try to plug regularly during the Halloween season. I totally agree that it would be a great idea for a haunt to try to organize something like this. ANYTHING you can do in the off season to remind people that you're still around is a good idea. Haunting and zombie walks go together like porn and Jergens (hahaha, shane). A zombie walk, or even a non-descriminatory all-hands-on-deck 'monster walk' would be a decent way to estimate public interest, hand out literature directing people to your site, and/or find new actors (and find them EARLY). I think the only obstacle a haunt would have to overcome would be the approach. Haunt advertising tends to focus on the scary, and it should. However, for an event like this, at least if it's done in the off-season, I think comedic, ironic, fun, and even family friendly is the way to go. People aren't thinking about fear for fun yet. They're thinking cookouts on the patio, family functions, and being social. If you can develop an approach that works for you, I think it would work out great.

GAH! I could write PAGES on the questions you have, but I've got some stuff to do this morning. If ya wanna shoot me an e-mail sometime I'd be obliged to have my brain picked (brain pickin' is what zombies do best).

[Badger]

I wonder if there should be some sort of International Association of Zombie Walks?

[Jonathan]

Badger....
LOVE THAT IDEA!!! Totally makes sense and could def. be a fun group.


MMMMMMM we may have to talk and get everyone here on board with that.

[Badger]

Drop me a line...we'll talk.

[mikeq91]

Did anyone see the show "Cake Boss" last night on TLC? They made a cake for a zombie walk in Hyde Park, New Jersey. They had some cool shots of the group of zombies and the cake was awesome. I guess thats one way to promote it...

[RJ Productions]

Thanks for the links guys, I'll check out the pics.

So has anyone ran into any difficulties?
Any bad press or bad response from media??

It seems the more I learn about it the more it seems like a good idea for a haunt to be involved in.

As Adam stated in the Chicagoland hey seem to just do them for fun, which is a good thing, they need to be fun to attract enough participants to make it worthwhile.

I'm thinking that all the events mentioned are sponsored/organized by someone or some group. So maybe this is something haunts should look into sponsoring and promoting. Possibly so it's not an individual "promotion" you could get a couple of the haunts in your area to each participate. They could have actors from their haunts march so individual haunts get pubicity but haunts in general get publicity or a friendly reminder that our season approachs.

So my main concern is that they receive negative media which makes it difficult to tie into.

Anyone else have any input??

[actiondeath]

Hahaha... You can put almost ANY word in front of "press" and it's still "good press". A very wise and badass haunt owner once told me this. Damage control goes with the territory.

[Haunted Illinois]

In the case of Chicagoland events, I'm not aware of any negative press. Actually, they have gotten positive exposure in local newspapers, Time Out Chicago, Chicago Metromix and even on a number of local TV news programs, including WTTW Channel 11.

The only thing even remotely negative that I have seen happen was in a recent zombie march, where hundreds of zombies walked to Navy Pier. Navy Pier security didn't really want us there, considering the family atmosphere they were trying to maintain. One of the organizers of the march talked to security calmly and rationally, let them know who we were and that we meant no harm, and then we all just moved on without any sort of incident.

In my opinion, one of the main reasons these things have gone so well is that guidelines and rules have been put into place and everyone is made aware of them. Simple rules are posted on any advertisements and they are also re-stated when the group gets together. Here is an example of rules posted on a Facebook advertisement for a recent zombie march...

Remember: haunted house rules apply! No touching strangers; mind your own business. Just use your common sense -- every zombie-style event this city's seen has gone well, and the police have noticed -- let's keep up the good rapport!

I think the fact that the rules are stated ahead of time and that participants are made to understand that misbehaving will not be tolerated... that is a HUGE contributor to their overall success.

[RJ Productions]

Good point Adam, just as some haunts can receive a "bad rap" prepardedness is the key word here!

I think this is definately something to persue.

I see haunts that participant in local parades, fairs etc. to help keep the "Haunt Mesage" alive.
If done correctly I think Zombie Marches, Walks, can be an effective and fun event.

[MidnightEvil]

Hey Rich

Here's a link that might some of you wanting to
start a zombie walk.

http://www.socalzombiewalk.com/rules.html

they do about 3 to 4 zombie walks a year

http://www.myspace.com/socalzombiewalk