Convention News

Walker Stalkers LLC’s Fan Fest Nashville Appears To Be A Disaster

Walker Stalkers LLC’s “Fan Fest Nashville” is currently taking place right now, and from all accounts it has been a complete disaster. The event, which was originally supposed to take place last August, has seen a number of guest cancellations, an almost empty venue, and (if what’s been alleged on social media is true) is only functioning because Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman of all people has stepped up to pay the bills.

The venue for the event is the Williamson County AG Center, but seems to largely sit empty. A number of guests cancelled their appearances, including Tyler Mane and Michael Rowe (who both remain listed on the convention’s website).

We have not been able to confirm this, but allegedly Walker Stalkers LLC owner James Frazier is out of the country for personal reasons. Instead the onsite staff is being managed by Michael DeVault. DeVault, some of you may remember, resigned as CEO of Walker Stalkers LLC after only one week on the job. DeVault had taken over after Frazier had resigned as CEO in the wake of an incident with guest Angel Theory at the company’s Atlanta event. It hasn’t been clear who was running their events since then, but most had assumed Frazier (who still owns the company) had resumed leadership.

According to several social media posts, the company has had a hard time finding staff for the event.

The event appears to be desperate for attendees. Reportedly they are allowing, with a screenshot of a page’s Facebook post, free entry to Fan Fest Nashville. From all accounts though, due to the lack of staff on the floor, there are very few attempts at badge checking at the convention at all. This has led some people who paid large amounts for VIP entry to resent the purported chaos.

The lack of staff has also led to an alleged lack of weapons and safety check for props, which has alarming implications for the event’s security as well.

One of the more distressing pieces of information that’s been floating around, from a business standpoint at least, is that there are allegations that the convention didn’t pay for many of the guest’s accommodations or fees. We have not been able to independently confirm this, but it appears that one of the convention’s other guests (Doug Chapman) and his team have had to step up to keep the proverbial lights on this weekend. Though not without not without criticism, Chapman seems to be the main reason Fan Fest Nashville has been functional at all.

We reached out to Walker Stalkers LLC for comment on this story, but have yet to receive a response. Honestly, none of this is a great look for an event the Tennessee Better Business Bureau called a “scam” last summer. It’s hard to see how any of this is going to continue forward, considering the ongoing financial issues that seem to continue to rock the company, the number of high profile guests no longer willing to appear, and the apparent general chaos surrounding the company’s leadership.

I don’t think anyone would be surprised if Fan Fest Nashville turned out to be the last convention this company ever runs.

We will update this story if any new information becomes available.

Trae Dorn

Trae Dorn has been staffing conventions for over twenty-five years. They also wrote and drew the now completed webcomic UnCONventional, and produce the podcasts BS-Free Witchcraft, On This Day With Trae, Stormwood & Associates, The Meatgrinder, and The Nerd & Tie Podcast. This leads many to ask how the heck they have the time to get it all done. Trae says they have the time because they “do it all quite poorly.”

2 thoughts on “Walker Stalkers LLC’s Fan Fest Nashville Appears To Be A Disaster

  • Kayla Poe

    Yeah, I went. I paid for silver VIP and my big perk was getting into the con 20 minutes early. They had maybe 30 vendors and 5 or 6 guests. I only bought tickets last july to see guests that all canceled. Was amazing.

    Reply
  • Melanie Roberts

    I bought platinum VIP in January 2019 and was so excited I had saved up to get the VIP experience but alas the venue was canceled and moved and I asked for a refund right away. still waiting on that refund So now I will not go to anything Walker Stalker or Fan Fest related

    Reply

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