April came in like The Bands Break Up and went out like The Talent Search, chaotic, exciting, and full of people showing up with something to prove.
Here’s everything that happened this month.
Darian Darling is a LA-based makeup artist, beauty illustrator, and lifelong Jem fan. But she’s not just a fan, she’s practically a founding member of this community. In the late 90s, she built JEM Grrrlz!, one of the very first websites ever dedicated to Jem and the Holograms. She helped create the fandom infrastructure before most of us even knew how to find each other online. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Interview, The Face, and Grazia. Vogue once called her “a modern-day Pierre La Roche.” We just call her one of ours.
Anne Bryant is the reason the show sounds like the show. She composed and produced the vast majority of the Jem musical catalog, and she’s the one who cast Britta Phillips, Ellen Bernfeld, and Gordon Grody as the singing voices we grew up with. She once described working on Jem as “so much work, it was murder, but it was fun.” And when we told her fans were excited to meet her? She said: “My favorite thing that I never expected is that I would meet all of you, that you would be all grown up and wonderful.” I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Jimmy Sherfy is San Diego’s own cosplay king and SoCal magical girl extraordinaire, a drag performer, cosplayer, and creator of the first drag show at any anime convention in Southern California. He’s been cosplaying for 15 years, has appeared on MTV’s True Life, and is a massive Jem fan whose last JemCon was way back in 2008 in Los Angeles. He is, by his own description, absolutely stoked to come home.
Submissions for the Rock Fashion Runway Competition close tonight at midnight PST.
If you have been sitting on a design concept and telling yourself you’ll submit later, later is NOW. Head to jemcon.xyz/fashion-competition and get it in before the clock runs out.
Finalists will be announced in May. Up to 10 looks walk the live runway at JemCon on September 11th. Don’t let Truly Outrageous be someone else’s moment.
Rooms in our block are going fast
The group rate at the DoubleTree Hilton San Diego Bayside is $179/night and that rate disappears on August 20th. After that, you’re at whatever the hotel feels like charging that weekend (which is probably not gonna be pretty).
Use code JEM when booking. Discounted parking. Free Wi-Fi. No resort fees. Airport shuttle. It’s a genuinely good deal and it puts you in the building where everything is happening.
Book at jemcon.xyz/2026hotel.
Here’s the tea. The room we have booked for panels can only hold so many people. When we reach that number, we open a waitlist. If the list warrants it, we can book a bigger room.
But do you wanna be on the waitlist? No. Being on a waitlist is no fun. With nine confirmed guests and more coming in May, now is not the time to wait and see.
Register at jemcon.xyz.
The Jem Community Forum is live, free, open, and it’s only as good as the people who show up.
A forum is not a resource, it’s a community. And a community only works when people are actually in it. Posting, replying, sharing, starting conversations. If you’ve been meaning to join and just haven’t yet, this is your nudge. Come say hello.
JemCon has been held in 14 states and 3 countries. The next chapter could be yours.
Bids for JemCon 2027 are open now through June 30th. If you’ve ever thought about bringing this convention to your city, this is how that starts. Full details and submission guidelines at jemcon.xyz/host-jemcon.
JemCon is fan-funded and volunteer-run, and there are always little things that make the difference between a good event and a truly outrageous one.
We have an Amazon wishlist of items that help us run a smoother show. Supplies, equipment, odds and ends that add up fast when you’re producing a full weekend convention on a fan budget. Every item helps. If you want to show up for this community in a tangible way, this is one of the easiest ways to do it.
Shop the wishlist: amzn.to/4um5BSX
Get ready, because May is going to be a lot:
Rock Fashion Runway finalists announced - find out who’s walking the runway
Drag show performers revealed - the September 10th pre-show lineup is going to be something
Songwriting contest launches - more details coming soon
More guest announcements - yes, really, there are more
September 11–13, 2026. San Diego. We’ll see you there. 👑✨
— Roxy
Questions? Drop them in the comments. Know someone who needs to be there? Forward this along.
JemCon 2026: All In The Style
September 11-13, 2026
DoubleTree Hilton San Diego Bayside
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