Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group

A summary of what happened?

Dylan Vanas is an entrepreneur and the owner of LOL Event Group, a company that organized themed events across Canada. In November 2019, LOL Event Group hosted a series of “wizard-inspired” beer festivals in cities such as Montreal and Vancouver, which were marketed as immersive experiences reminiscent of the Harry Potter universe. These events have been the subject of significant controversy and criticism.

Major Concerns and Complaints Against Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group:

1. Misleading Event Promotion:
   • The events were advertised as offering specialty themed alcoholic beverages like “Butterscotch Beer,” interactions with live characters, and activities such as a “cornhole snitch toss,” creating expectations of a magical, Harry Potter-inspired atmosphere.
     Vancouver Is Awesome
2. Substandard Event Execution:
   • Attendees reported that the actual events fell drastically short of the promotional promises. Complaints included:
     • “Magic wands” that were merely disposable chopsticks still in their paper sleeves.
     • “Wizard-themed treats” that consisted of room-temperature pasta and common grocery store desserts.
     • A lack of immersive decorations and ambiance, leading some to compare the experience to a “low-budget kids’ party.”
       CBC
3. Refund Refusals:
   • Many attendees sought refunds due to the event’s poor quality. However, LOL Event Group cited their refund policy, which did not allow refunds within seven days before the event, and declined these requests.
     Yahoo!
4. Public Backlash and Allegations of Scamming:
   • Disappointed attendees formed groups such as “Cheated by LOL Event Group” to express their grievances and share experiences. The events received widespread media attention, with some attendees labeling them as scams.
     Yahoo!
5. Organizer’s Response:
   • In response to the backlash, Dylan Vanas released a video acknowledging that the events did not meet expectations and stating, “It wasn’t quite as magical as many had hoped.” He admitted shortcomings in the event’s execution and announced a charitable donation to J.K. Rowling’s Lumos Foundation as an act of goodwill. However, he maintained that refunds were not possible due to financial constraints.
     Vancouver Is Awesome

The “wizard-inspired” events organized by Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group in 2019 were marred by significant discrepancies between promotional promises and actual delivery, leading to widespread attendee dissatisfaction. The company’s refusal to issue refunds, despite acknowledging the events’ shortcomings, further exacerbated public frustration. While a charitable donation was made in response to the criticism, many attendees felt this gesture was insufficient to address their concerns.

Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)

Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.

What was Dylan Vanas - Lol Event Group trying to hide?

Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group‘s attempts to hide unfavourable content through the misuse of copyright notices while allegedly engaging in perjury present serious legal concerns. These actions suggest a calculated attempt to manipulate legal systems to suppress free speech, a fundamental violation of copyright law principles and an abuse of legal processes. The use of such tactics not only undermines the integrity of copyright protection but also potentially constitutes perjury, further entangling Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group may be trying to remove from the internet –

Investigative Report: Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group – A Tale of Controversy and Consumer Backlash

Dylan Vanas, an entrepreneur and the founder of LOL Event Group, gained notoriety in 2019 after organizing a series of “wizard-inspired” beer festivals in various Canadian cities, including Vancouver and Montreal. While the events were marketed as immersive magical experiences designed for Harry Potter enthusiasts, attendees were left disappointed by substandard execution and unfulfilled promises. The backlash was swift, with allegations of misleading advertising, poor event management, and refusal to issue refunds dominating the narrative. This report provides an in-depth exploration of the controversies, complaints, and fallout associated with Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group.

1. Background on LOL Event Group and the “Wizard-Inspired” Events

A. Marketing and Promises

LOL Event Group launched a nationwide campaign in 2019 to promote a series of themed beer festivals. These events targeted adult fans of Harry Potter and similar fantasy genres, featuring advertisements that promised:

• Specialty drinks such as “Butterscotch Beer.”
• Immersive magical decor and themed experiences.
• Live interactions with “wizard” characters.
• Engaging activities like a “cornhole snitch toss.”
• Themed treats and unique photo opportunities.

The marketing aimed to evoke nostalgia and excitement, appealing to millennials and young adults who grew up with the Harry Potter franchise.

2. Complaints and Negative Feedback from Attendees

A. Failure to Deliver Promised Experiences

Attendees across Canada reported that the events fell far short of expectations. Key issues included:

• Cheap Props and Decor:
  • “Magic wands” provided to attendees were disposable wooden chopsticks still in their paper sleeves.
  • Decorations were sparse and lacked the magical ambiance promised in promotional materials.
• Subpar Food and Beverages:
  • Advertised “wizard-themed treats” turned out to be basic, mass-produced grocery items, including cupcakes and store-bought snacks.
  • Drinks were served at room temperature and lacked the unique flavors described in the marketing.
• Minimal Activities and Entertainment:
  • Interactive experiences were poorly executed or nonexistent. Many guests described the event as feeling like a “poorly planned kids’ party.”

B. Overcrowding and Poor Organization

• Attendees in some cities reported long lines for drinks and activities, indicating that the organizers may have oversold tickets relative to the venue’s capacity.
• Complaints about understaffing were widespread, with many guests describing chaotic scenes and a lack of coordination.

C. Ticket Costs vs. Value Received

• Ticket prices ranged from $50 to $75, a steep fee considering the underwhelming experience provided.
• Many guests argued that the event was overpriced for what was essentially an unthemed gathering with minimal effort to deliver on the promises.

3. Allegations of Misleading Advertising

A. False Representation in Marketing

• Critics accused LOL Event Group of using false advertising to attract attendees. The promotional materials set high expectations for a magical, immersive experience, which were not met in reality.
• Some argued that the marketing deliberately exaggerated the event’s scale and quality to justify high ticket prices.

B. Consumer Protection Concerns

• Legal experts and consumer advocates suggested that the events may have violated consumer protection laws in Canada, which prohibit misleading or deceptive marketing practices.

4. Refusal to Issue Refunds

A. Strict Refund Policy

• LOL Event Group’s refund policy stated that no refunds would be issued within seven days of the event. Despite widespread dissatisfaction, the company adhered strictly to this policy, refusing refund requests from disappointed attendees.

B. Customer Backlash

• The refusal to issue refunds was a major source of frustration for attendees, many of whom felt they had been scammed.
• A group of attendees created social media pages and forums, including a group called “Cheated by LOL Event Group,” to share experiences and organize collective complaints.

C. Legal Challenges and Threats

• Some disgruntled attendees considered pursuing legal action against the company, though no major lawsuits appear to have materialized.

5. Organizer’s Response

A. Public Apology

Following the backlash, Dylan Vanas released a public video statement acknowledging that the events did not meet expectations. Key points from his response included:

• Admission that the execution of the events was below par and failed to live up to the hype.
• Explanation that logistical and financial challenges contributed to the issues.

B. Charitable Donation

As part of an effort to mitigate the backlash, Vanas announced a donation to J.K. Rowling’s Lumos Foundation, a charity supporting disadvantaged children. While this gesture was intended to demonstrate goodwill, many attendees viewed it as insufficient compensation for their financial losses.

C. Defense of Refund Policy

• Vanas maintained that refunds could not be issued due to financial constraints, citing the costs of organizing the events and the company’s strict refund policy.

6. Media Coverage and Public Perception

A. Media Criticism

• Canadian media outlets, including Daily Hive and CBC, covered the controversy extensively, often portraying the events as poorly organized and misleadingly advertised.
• Headlines referred to the events as a “wizard scam” and highlighted the gap between promotional promises and attendee experiences.

B. Damage to Reputation

• The controversy significantly damaged the reputation of LOL Event Group and Dylan Vanas, raising questions about the ethical practices of event organizers in the entertainment industry.

7. Broader Implications for Event Management

The controversy surrounding Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group serves as a cautionary tale for both event organizers and attendees.

A. Lessons for Event Organizers

• The importance of delivering on promises made in marketing materials cannot be overstated. Events must align with promotional claims to maintain trust and avoid accusations of deception.
• Clear refund policies and contingency plans are essential to address unforeseen challenges and maintain customer satisfaction.

B. Advice for Attendees

• Potential attendees should research event organizers and reviews before purchasing tickets, particularly for high-priced events.
• Awareness of refund policies and legal rights can help protect consumers from financial loss in cases of dissatisfaction.

8. Conclusion: A Tarnished Legacy

The “wizard-inspired” events organized by Dylan Vanas and LOL Event Group in 2019 failed to deliver on their ambitious promises, resulting in widespread customer dissatisfaction and media scrutiny. While Vanas publicly apologized and made charitable gestures, the controversy highlighted significant shortcomings in the planning and execution of the events.

Key Takeaways:

1. Misleading Advertising: The events were marketed as magical and immersive but delivered substandard experiences.
2. Customer Exploitation: The high ticket prices and refusal to issue refunds left many attendees feeling scammed.
3. Public Accountability: The backlash serves as a reminder of the importance of accountability and transparency in event management.

While Dylan Vanas has since moved on to other ventures, the LOL Event Group controversy remains a prominent example of how unmet expectations and poor event management can lead to reputational damage and public outcry.

How do we counteract this malpractice?

Once we ascertain the involvement of Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group (or actors working on behalf of Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group), we will inform Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group of our findings via Electronic Mail.

Our preliminary assessment suggests that Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.

Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –

Since Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and sensitive information targeted online by these events get a lot more exposure and traffic than what it would have received originally

We hope this becomes an excellent case study for the Streisand effect…The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms. Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible, which Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group is finding out the hard way.

Potential Consequences for Dylan Vanas - Lol Event Group

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).

Is Dylan Vanas - Lol Event Group Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group is certainly keeping interesting company here….

The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.

Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.

Reputation Agency's Modus Operandi

The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.

As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.

The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.

The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.

In committing numerous offences, Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. FSMSmart is certainly keeping interesting company here.

The Reputation Laundering

Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.

The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.

In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.

This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.

Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group is in great company ….

What else is Dylan Vanas - Lol Event Group hiding?

We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group] + {Negative Keyword, such as Scam, Fraud, Complaints, Lawsuit, Sanction, etc} on Google. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)

To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with industry experts and researchers. If you have any information on Dylan Vanas – Lol Event Group that you want to share with experts and journalists, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].

All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.