Evite had limitations Not everyone used it, you'd have to have the correct email for everyone you invite, it was kind of exclusive in a way. I wanted a big turnout. If we were going to form a serious mob, I'd have to broadcast my intentions on a grander scale. So one evening, I started working the web.
My first stop was Twitter. I didn't know much about the mechanics, but I figured, if it's good enough for the kids, then I guess I'd better get on board. I figured I'd be able to relay up to the minute information to my mob and answer any questions they'd have through tweets.
With my new Twitter account squared away, it was time to tell people where to find me. I started a forum post on zombiewalk.com that gave only the time, date, location of the walk, the previously mentioned twitter address, and a link to the Evite. It was bare bones, but I figured as long as the particulars were in the post, then I could focus my efforts on @SubwayZombie to fill in the gaps.
I suppose a couple years ago I hadn't seen many Facebook event pages. Evite seemed to be the way you got people to go to stuff back then. But the goal was to get more than just my circle of friends on board, so I figured I'd experiment with creating one. I found it was a lot like Evite, so I just copy and pasted the info from one to the other, invited the same friends that I had invited on the Evite, and left it at that.
It was a month before the walk, and I felt my internet presence was good, but maybe I needed more advertisement. I designed a flyer with some crappy Photoshopping and got a couple hundred printed out at Kinko's.
The Zombieland Zombie Walk was my first time dressing up and lurching with a group of strangers. It was an odd experience. The idea was simple: Get a bunch of people to dress up, walk around Hollywood, and they get to see the movie for free. Zombies were collected in the courtyard of the Chinese Theatre, and when there wasn't enough zombies to fill the studio's quota, the organizers started pulling people in off the street, painting them up, and putting them in the mob.
I schmoozed my way through the courtyard, passing out flyers to those that I had profiled as true zombie walkers. In my head I thought, they'll tell 10 friends, who will tell 10 friends, etc. etc. until we hit some sort of critical mass.
When the lurch started, I played my part, and got a feel for how a zombie walk works. I also got a feel for how one could fail. This walk contained undesirable elements. Rogue zombies that used the anonymity of a zombie pack to behave badly. Some would invade businesses, another would overturn the public trash cans, another would block traffic in the street and get into arguments with the drivers. This was probably the effect of pulling people in off of Hollywood Blvd to be in the walk. Luckily, there were good zombies too. Zombies who would put the trashcan back after that last jerk turned it over. Zombies that never broke character, and were just fun to lurch with. It was a learning experience.
Now that I had actually participated in a zombie walk, I could better lead one. The month went on, and I didn't really see the numbers jumping that high on either Evite or Facebook. I didn't have many followers on Twitter either. I didn't worry about it. I had cast a wide net across the interwebs. I figured that people who were going to attend may not have replied to the invites. Maybe the listeners of the Pretty Good Podcast had heard Randy and Gina talk about the walk. Maybe readers of the Examiner were planning on coming. I had to trust that word had gotten out and that the numbers would be there. My biggest concern at the time was that there would be more people there to photograph the event than there were zombies.
October 17th, 2009 - 2 days before my birthday... a Saturday. Me and the wife got all made up in our finest zombie apparel and drove to the staging area for the walk, The North Hollywood Metro Station. I remember seeing a father and his kids getting made up in the parking lot, and thinking how cool that was. Here was a family of zombies that I had never met, ready to walk with a group of people they'd never met. It gave me good vibes.
I made sure that we got there early so we could greet our guests. I stood in a high profile location near the gaping entrance to the subway system. Friends and strangers alike started stumbling in, and our group became a mob. There wasn't even a hundred people with us that year, but the group that we got together was great at being undead.
The subway ride was the best. The zombies "sang" happy birthday to me during the ride to Hollywood and Highland. The brain puns were already flying. People were in character and were having a good time.
It was a nice day for a walk. Our timing was perfect. My course kept us in the shade for the most part, and we hit the Chinese Theatre just as the sun was setting so no one had to cook in the sun. At stop lights we'd pause to "feast" on a volunteer from our own ranks. I'd chase cyclists, and yell for brains from the bowels of my lungs. We'd stare at the tourists, try and give them the creeps. This was a much better experience that the Zombieland walk.
When the walk was over and the zombie's were kinda of directionless. I posed for a few photos with my new zombie friends, shook hands, and started talking about what to do next. To this day, I've never figured out a good way to break up a zombie walk. I had so much fun, that I didn't want it to end. I think some other people felt the same way.
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