Walker Stalker Con is a very well known convention for primarily hosting cast members from the hit AMC show The Walking Dead and for the first time it was coming to Tulsa the first weekend in August. I signed up to work it back in June and had no idea just how cutthroat it is to get in! People traveled to Tulsa from California, Michigan, Oregon, Georgia, and Tennessee just to work here and guests came from Florida, South Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado and Texas just to attend. Luckily I was chosen to work it and on top of that I got an amazing job!
The booth where I worked for the weekend
We had an online training session 2 weeks before where we learned our job and how the con works. That was a lot of fun and got me super pumped to work! The con was two days: Saturday and Sunday and I was working all day both days. Just what I wanted to do! I didn't want to miss a minute! I was planning on attending if I didn't get lucky enough to work it. We had to report at 6:30am Saturday and Sunday for a team meeting before we got started. I was up at 5:30am so I could make the 30 minute drive downtown and get parked. They had us sign in, turn in paperwork and get our employee wristbands for the con. Then we went into an auditorium for a recap of everything we needed to know, get our employee t-shirts, and break off into our teams.
I was working line control, which are the people who hang out at actor's booths. This role is slightly different depending on the con, but for Walker Stalker you are up there with the celebrity helping them out for as long as they need you. The line control team walked around the show floor and since we had fewer people than we needed (there were a few drop outs) we could choose our celebrity to work with! As we walked by we were told to raise our hand if we passed the celebrity we wanted and we'd be chosen by who raised their hand first. It was so hard to decide! I raised my hand for Ross Marquand (Aaron in The Walking Dead) but I was too slow so I was told to work with Lennie James (Morgan in The Walking Dead) whose booth was next to Ross's.
Impressive costumes I saw
By this time it was 8:45am and the con would open at 9am for VIP guests. I was standing at Lennie's booth when his manager came out and explained to me how things would work. He intimidated me at first but he was so nice! He told me he wanted me right next to him at the booth, helping to take people's payments and take their names for autographs. I was so excited! At 9am guests started coming in and Kevin (Lennie's manager) told me he was going to get him. I greeted guests and let them know Lennie would be out at 9:30am. Meanwhile other celebrities started arriving, Michael Cudlitz (Abraham from The Walking Dead, John Cooper in Southland) walked by and said "Good morning". I love him so much, I met him in New Orleans and he was amazing.
Guests started lining up ready for Lennie and he came out before 10am and we got started. I would ask people if they wanted an autograph or a selfie, I'd take their payment and if they wanted an autograph I would write their name on a sticky note and put it on the picture they chose to get signed. They would give that to Lennie so he would know how to spell their name. Let me tell you there were some strange ones! Kevin grabbed another girl who was on the relief team (they take over for anyone who needs a break) and had her take pictures for those who'd paid to get a selfie with Lennie.
Talking to guests waiting in line
When the line was busy I would make conversation with guests and keep them entertained. I've been in their shoes, it's tiring to walk around a con all day, it can get boring standing in line, and hey I was having fun geeking out with these people! When it was slow, Kevin and I talked and talked and talked - he was so nice! He explained to me all the ins and outs of the con, shared some top secret info and funny pictures. I learned so much! He actually started out doing the same thing I was doing and worked his way up because on celebrity wanted him and only him at every con she worked. While that would be a dream job for me that I wouldn't turn down if offered, I'm not exactly striving for that. These celebrities won't be big forever and then what do you do. Not to mention this is not Kevin's full time job. He has a regular full time job at a university in his home town and travels to cons with his various clients.
The day went by so fast! I think around 2pm Lennie took a 30 minute lunch so I did too. I walked around the con to see who was out and what was going on. I bought an incredible poster for the con because it was limited edition and the first time Walker Stalker had come to Tulsa. I went to the inaugural Tulsa Comic Con in 2014 and there's something really special about inaugural cons like that. Some other people working the show with me were super nice and let me talk to their celebrities for free. I met Denis O'Hare (American Horror Story) and Steven Ogg (Westworld, The Walking Dead, Grand Theft Auto 5) before returning to Lennie's booth.
Lennie with a cute fan who dressed like his character
Kevin said I did an incredible job and when I took a forced afternoon break he said the guy on relief royally screwed up and he wanted me to only take breaks when they did. In a nice way, it was truly a complement. He said he wanted me to add him on Facebook because he would request that I work with him if we're ever at a con again together. The con continued until 6pm or 7pm but around 5pm Lennie left so I clocked out and went home. I was exhausted!!! They had warned me that no matter how in shape you are you will ache like you've never ached before and it was true! I enjoyed every second but when I drove home it all caught up with me and I could hardly walk. I took a long hot shower, ate dinner and went to bed. I'd be doing it all again the next day!
The next day was full of the same, 6:30am clock in, team meeting, and then we went back to what we were doing the day before. I was at Lennie's booth at 8:30am and again the con opened at 9am for VIP guests and 10am for general admission. Sunday was quieter than Saturday but still a lot of fun. It was announced to team members that the con did not do as well as they had hoped so Walker Stalker would not be returning to Tulsa :( I got more time with celebrities and they were allowed to sign our shirts. I spent some time with the adorable Scott Wilson (Hershel, The Walking Dead) who was very chatty to me and we laughed a lot. He was the first to sign my shirt. I got to take pictures and get autographs from most of the celebrities but many left long before the con was over so I missed them which was a shame. I did get a hug from Ross Marquand as he was leaving which was awesome.
Me and Khary Payton who plays King Ezekiel on The Walking Dead
Lennie left around 3:30pm and the con was due to end at 5pm I think. He took some time to talk to the two of us who worked with him, he called the other girl's mom and she freaked out which was hilarious. He took pictures with us and gave us free autographs. We had a good conversation about how much I loved the Walking Dead episode "Clear" which focused on his character. He didn't seem impressed that I loved that particular episode so much!
After Lennie left, I went around meeting more celebrities and getting pictures and autographs. So many had already left I felt like they gave up on the con. It was only for 2 days and by 4pm everyone was pretty much gone even though the con was supposed to have an hour left. Even the vendors were all gone. So strange to me, I've never seen that before. Michael Cudlitz who I mentioned earlier is super awesome and he is always the last celebrity to leave the con. He always hangs back to make sure he has time for all his fans and the people who help work the con. He wouldn't sign anyone's shirt but he did agree to take a picture with everyone which was amazing!
Me and Michael Cudlitz
I think in some ways I really lucked out because for those who were with a celebrity who left super early or took frequent breaks, they were left with not much to do. Sure that gives you more time to enjoy the con for free, but I was more interested in working with the celebrity. Having said that, some other celebrities like Austin Nichols, Steven Ogg, and Ross Marquand had a ton of fun with the people they worked with, joked around, made silly videos, took pictures all the time, shared lunch together and even invited some of the people working with them out after the con. Lennie by comparison was very much "let's get down to business".
If he had any down time he wouldn't talk to us, he would just play on his phone or talk to his manage. He seemed very disinterested in us and kinda stand off-ish. I don't want to sound like I'm talking smack because he was very nice, he just didn't seem as into it as some of the others, more like "let's get this over with" than "I'm here to have fun". If I were to do this again and get to choose someone to be with, I would pick someone else next time. Lennie was really funny though and great with fans. He would take time to talk to them, answer their questions, pose for pictures, ask them where they're from, he joked with them and shared some backstage secrets from the show.
Me and Lennie
I had an incredible weekend that was so much fun and I met so many great people - celebrity and non celebrity alike. On top of all that I got paid for it too! I know that Walker Stalker will not be returning to Tulsa, but I hope that it will come somewhere else that's close like maybe Dallas so that I could work it again sometime. It was exhausting but I wouldn't change a thing! So thankful for the opportunity!
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