JemCon 2009 Staff

 

 

Name	Staff Position
Shevona Mckenzie	Con Chair Shevona McKenzie is from MI and works for a large Marketing Research firm. She has loved Jem since she was a little girl, since then she has acquired the entire produced Jem line. Shevona's favorite episode is 'Mid Summer's Night Madness' and her favorite character is Jerrica. She loves to make OOAK Jem dolls, fashions and accessories. Feel free to ask her anything Jem related, nothing is too bizarre! For more info on Shevona's work, check out her website: www.beyondjem.com
Sean Gaff	Vice Chair/Public Relations Sean Gaff aka svgbaritone, is from MA and works as a Theatrical Musical Director/Pianist. Sean's obsession with Jem began immediately when it aired in 1985. His late mother was very supportive of his new found love and encouraged his creativity. His collection is a living memorial to her and the bond they will forever share through Jem. After attending and sewing fashions for JemCon 2007 he found himself compelled to devote more time to JemCon and the Jem community, where he's made many amazing friends. Without Jem in his life, Sean doesn't believe he would have ever become a creative person nor a musician/performer. Check out his website: www.foreverjem.com
Beverley Hooton	Webmistress Affectionately known as "Bob" by friends and family, Bob has been a dedicated fan of Jem since the age of 7. She started collecting Jem merchandise seriously in 2002 after the discovery of the internet and the realisation that Jem extended beyond the run of season 1 episodes originaly aired in the UK. As webmaster of: www.jemthingsandstuff.co.uk, Bob enjoys being creative and artistic. She credits Jem with sparking her interest in webdesign, which lead to a career move early in 2008. Bob now works as web technician for a Specialist Technology College while studying part-time for a Degree in Internet & Business Technologies. In 2004 Bob made 10 full-sized Holograms and Misfits costumes for her friends to wear on her birthday "Jem Night." She is looking forward to continuing this creative streak and making 4 more costumes for her twin sister Jacki and herself to wear at JemCon 2009!
Rachael Prins	Fashion Coordinator Rachael Prins also known as "Jemgirl' lives in Melbourne, Australia and has been a Jem fan since the first show aired on tv. Later when the internet allowed her to collect the dolls beyond the odd lucky find at markets and toy fairs, she soon got interested in taking her creativity into customizing dolls and has turned her passion into a career as a doll customizer where she customizes everything from the head to toe on a doll. Rachael also works as a musician, composing and producing her own music along with some voice over work and finds this another element of Jem that has inspired her to do so. "There's so many elements of Jem with the dolls, the show and the music that seam as though Jem was made for me!" Rachael will be producing the fashions for the event. You can check out her website: http://jemgirl.com and her new Jem podcast: http://jemcast.com
"Joz"	Dealer Liaison It was instant love the moment Joz received her first Jem doll (the original Jem/Jerrica), especially since Jem combines three of Joz's passions: Music, animation, and dolls. One of her favorite memories is spending hours learning Jem songs from cassettes carefully recorded from the television show. The love of Jem music has endured. When Joz is feeling scared, she finds belting out "Designing Woman" or "It All Depends on the Mood I'm In" always gives her courage. Jem also helped inspire Joz's career as a vintage toy/anime seller. Things came full circle when this career led to Joz's discovery of Jemcon and the opportunity to meet fellow fans in person! Visit Joz's Jem cel collection at: http://felicitychan.rubberslug.com
Ally Lewis	Guest Liaison Ally hails from Birmingham Michigan. Her love of dolls started in childhood, and she has been crazy about Jem ever since she first saw the cartoon and received her first Jem doll. Soon, she and her friends were making up their own Jem eps and recording them on audio tapes complete with songs. In college, she wrote an essay comparing and contrasting Jem and Madonna in aspects from fashion to charity work.After graduating from Wayne State Universtity with honors in Liberal Arts, she started working at Barnes and Noble bookstore as a retail seller where she has remained the last 12 years. Most recently, she started Jemarama, a sale/trade buisness for all kinds of Jem items. Besides Jem, Ally is also interested in fashion modeling, singing, acting, watching basketball,making doll scenes, and writing. Ally has been in many plays and operettas. She has also had poems and essays published in literary magazines and the Detroit Free Press. Ally writes Jem Fan Fic and loves chatting online about Jem. This will be her fourth Jem Convention
Ter Brazier	Display Liaison Ter's first Jem experience was when he was in first grade. His sister rented a Jem VHS from the local Video Watch store and when the first note of the theme song began, he was hooked. Since then it was a snowball effect; Ter began collecting Jem dolls when he was in third grade when he found Jem and Synergy sitting on a shelf at an antique store. Ter begged to take them home. His parents bought them for him, as they always supported his hobbies interests without question. Ter first got into OOAKing when he was 17 with his first OOAK being a Rock N' Romance Jem Repaint. Ter's boyfriend, Ryan, has always supported him with his hobby and Ryan helps Ter OOAK frequently (though he’s not a hardcore Jem fan like Ter is). Ter focuses mainly on re-rooting and re-painting, though he's currently trying my hand at sewing fashions. Ter says "Sewing is a lot harder than it seems!"
Jason Brown	Graphics Coordinator Jason Brown lives in Gaithersburg, MD. He's been a Jem fan since 1986 when a friend tuned him onto the show. Once he saw the intro he was hooked. He started collecting Jem in his high school years. Then in his late 20s he decided he was too old for Jem, and tossed out all of his Jem dolls. and later regretted this. Then the internet brought all of his Jem memories back to him. The Rhino DVD release fueled his fandom even more. Since then he's begun collecting Jem again. Jason's favorite part of Jem is the artwork. From box art to animation. He doesn't have a favorite episode, he finds it too hard to choose. Each episode has it's own magic. Currently Jason works for a reseach facility. He's planning on going back to art school sometime in 2009.
Kett Robbins	A/V Coordinator Kathleen "Kett" Robbins lives outside Los Angeles and works as an sound editor and mixer. Kett credits the Jem cartoon for inspiring her to make the move to LA and her choice of career. Kett's been an obsessive fan of the Jem cartoon from the beginning, her favorite Jem character is Jerrica and her favorite cartoon episode of all time is "Out of the Past".