Kids Inc. "Convention" '98

For more info on the third annual Kids Inc. Convention (August 13th-22nd, 1999), click here

The second annual Kids Inc. "Convention" took place in Los Angeles last August. Fans gathered together for a weekend of fun, and got to meet some of the stars of Kids Incorporated. I'm Jenny, one of the fans, and the organizer of the annual convention. Fans came from all over the country (and even from outside the country!) to meet and celebrate our favorite show. Many of us had written and emailed each other for a long time, but never met. The idea of a bunch of strangers coming together for a weekend might sound crazy, but it wasn't long before we were all laughing and talking like old friends. Being Kids Inc. fans, we shared a special bond.... We all sometimes sing the wrong lyrics to songs(like "brother" instead of "lover"). We know all the cheesy KI dance moves. We've all been made fun of for loving a kids' show from the '80s. But for one weekend, being a fanatical KI fan was the norm.

On Thursday I arrived at the LAX airport where I met Alan (from nearby Huntington Beach) and Dawnelle (from Guatemala). The three of us hung out in Hollywood and shopped on Melrose. Dawnelle got some excellent shoes! She and I have the same shoe size and the same taste in shoes, so we hit it off from the start! Later we met Michelle and Kandice (from Ohio) at the Doubletree Hotel in Santa Monica. That night, Dawnelle and I went out to see my friends' band (Queeny Blast Pop) play at The Troubadour. Here we are heading out for a night on the town.

On Friday, August 7th, everyone gathered in our hotel room to hang out and look at pictures. We also took pictures of the group in cute, Kids Inc. style poses. Below is (left to right) Dawnelle, Bessie (Florida), Alice (Culver City, CA), Michelle, Susan (West Virginia), Kandice, and me.

Also present were Alan, Rob (Hawthorne, CA), Ben (Arizona), Melanie (California/Wisconsin), and Maria (Pennsylvania). Ben brought every Wild Orchid mix to listen to, and we looked at our collections of pictures. I brought two clothing items that were actually worn on Kids Inc.. Here Dawnelle and Bessie model the outfits of their favorite Kids, Stacy and Love:

Later that afternoon we were joined by Kids Inc. star (87-88) Connie Lew and a friend. We hung out in the hotel room and talked for abobut an hour. Connie was so incredibly nice and funny. She talked about Kids Inc. and some of her other TV appearances with us. She told us about being a guest on the Tonight Show with Jonny Carson, and we joked about her height (or lack thereof) on KI. Here is what Connie looks like, 10 years after starring on Kids Inc.:

Bessie and I had created a Kids Inc. "yearbook" with a picture and bio of everyone on Kids Inc.. Connie signed by her picture on 25 copies, after exclaiming "What a terrible picture of me!" Before leaving, we convinced her to sing for us. She consented to singing along with the tape of "My Heart Will Go On," as long as we wouldn't video tape it. "I'll be watching for the red light!" she warned Dawnelle. Here she is singing... She was terrific! She sang the whole song beautifully, and without any preparation plus being worn out from celebrating her birthday the night before. Hopefully Connie will do more singing once she graduates from UCLA.

After a great time with Connie, some of us went to the Third Street Promenade, a shopping area near our hotel. Here are me, Dawnelle, Michelle and Kandice. It wasn't long before we were all worn out from a long day of fun. Saturday we split up for the morning. Bessie, Dawnelle and I went to Hollywood, where we fixed my car, went back to Melrose, and checked out some stores on Hollywood Blvd. We went to the Cinema Collector's Book Shop and Star World. I bought some 8X10s of Ashley Johnson, a few TV show scripts, and a bunch of small photos of Martika and Ryan Lambert. We met Kandice and Michelle at the Beverly Center, a mall in Beverly Hills. We split up for about half an hour, and Bessie ran into none other than Stacy Ferguson. She and her friend were buying sleepwear for a party at the Playboy mansion! Bessie and I went with them into Bloomingdales, because they were in a hurry and couldn't stop to talk. Stacy felt bad that she couldn't meet everyone then. Bessie and I knew that Dawnelle would die when she learned that Stacy was there and she missed her. So I gave Stacy our phone number, and she said she would call tomorrow. When we told Dawnelle what happened she was so upset. We convinced her that she would get to meet Stacy tomorrow. Meanwhile, Bessie had spotted someone who looked like Calista Flockhart (who Bessie loves) but got distracted by seeing Stacy. So we all had an exciting time at the mall!

Saturday night, we headed down to Alan's apartment in Huntington Beach. We watched tapes of Kids Inc. and Wild Orchid, and feasted on pizza and soda. Ben, Dawnelle and I had fun doing some of the Wild Orchid dance moves...

The next morning we didn't want to go far, in case Stacy called. Bessie, Dawnelle and I went down to the beach and the Santa Monica Pier. Here is me and Bessie on the ferris wheel. Here Dawnelle and I do our Wild Orchid pose on the beach. We all met back at the hotel Sunday afternoon. Vicki (Santa Rosa, CA) came by the hotel to meet us. She and I have been pen pals for about 10 years, but had never met. Alice and Susan had been pen pals with Vicki too, so we all were happy to finally put a face to our pal. Here is (back row, l to r): Dawnelle, Vicki, Alice, Susan, Kandice, Michelle, (front row, l to r) Jenny, Bessie, Ben:

We had gotton a tip on a private party at a restaurant in Malibu that evening. The party was for the Backstreet Boys, and we hoped Wild Orchid might attend. No one objected to spying on the Backstreet Boys, so off we were to Gladstones 4 Fish! Here is Dawnelle and I, ready to crash the party. We had made a reservation for 10 people at the restaurant, so we could have dinner and do some spying. Before getting seated, Dawnelle and Susan had their charicatures drawn. While Susan was posing, a group of people walked past us, and one of them was Backstreet Boy Nick. We had our own little room with a big table, and a view of the beach...and the BSB party. The party was in a private room and on the beach, so we looked out the window and wandered around the restaurant. Meanwhile, we managed to order and eat food, though I don't think anyone really tasted their food! We were too excited, especially when we saw the three Orchids walk past our room into the private room. We tried to remain calm, but when we saw Stacy and Stefanie heading toward the bathroom, we ordered Susan into the bathroom to "bump into" them. But it was Dawnelle who bumped into them first. She was already in the bathroom, when she saw Stacy walk in. Dawnelle froze, but Stacy came up to her and complemented her on her little braid (Stacy had one too). So Dawnelle explained who she was, and soon Susan came in. Stacy and Stefanie immediately agreed to come and meet us. They got Renee, and Roger, their publicist, came too. Roger is really nice, here he is with Ben.

We had finished eating, but had a cake coming for Bessie, since it was her 18th birthday! When the cake came, Wild Orchid serenaded Bessie with their version of Happy Birthday.

We all took a bite of the cake (it was actually one huge piece), and Stacy ordered steamed clams! (A few fans took empty clam shells home as a momento! You know who you are!)Here's Stacy eating cake.

Dawnelle gave a picture frame from Guatemala to Stacy, and we had them sign a ton of things. Dawnelle had all three sign a bottle! Ben got his "Talk To Me" vinyl single signed. Aside from the picture taking and autographs, Stacy, Stefanie, and Renee talked to all of us, and wound up staying with us for about an hour before returning to the BSB party! They told us funny stories about performing, like how Stefanie has been known to bump her lip with her microphone while singing. Here Stefanie tells us about a hot concert when her mascara ran all down her face!

Ben had been inspired by WO to sing, so he asked if he could sing something with them. Ben's dream came true as he belted out At Night I Pray with WO backing him up!

Here is me, Renee, Ben, and Stefanie, here is Ben and Stefanie, and here is Susan and Wild Orchid. Finally we did a major photo session--everyone posed for individual pics, and group pics with everyone's cameras (even with WO's camera!). I got a picture with them in the "Talk To Me" pose, and two of me and Stacy, one serious and one silly.

Here's the group: (clockwise from Stacy) Stacy, Maria, Alan, Jenny, Susan, Michelle, Dawnelle, Renee, Stefanie, Rob, Ben, Kandice, and Bessie.

Here are two pics of WO posed.

Here are some shots from video footage of saying goodbye to the girls, and Dawnelle's reaction...

We had such an incredible time with Wild Orchid. Everyone got to see how nice the girls are. They seemed especially nice compared to the Backstreet Boys, who were not so happy to pose for pictures and sign autographs. You can tell that WO really appreciates their fans! Back to reality, we paid the bill, and spied on the BSB for the next two hours! Dawnelle had to return to Guatemala that night, so she left a little early. But I would say she had a fun time at the convention! When Kevin and Howie of the BSB came outside, we got pictures and autographs. Here is Kevin signing autographs (check out the excitement on Michelle's face!), here is me and Kevin (that's leftover food wrapped up like a crab that I'm holding), here is Howie (Michelle's still smiling!). Brian agreed to sign some autographs, but said "I'm not doing pictures tonight." Well, he did one! While we were waiting around to see the BSB, I wandered down to the beach a couple times. I saw Jimmy Ray (he's their opening act), and just went over to him. I talked to him and this other guy who said he was AJ (I didn't know what they looked like!). I also talked to Renee's niece Amy, who I know. She set me straight on AJ! Jimmy Ray was really "out there," and all of a sudden he ran into the ocean! After rolling around in the waves, he came out and I took this picture of him. He pulled AJ (the real one) in with him again, but then someone told them to stop. Here is AJ coming out of the ocean. I asked AJ for a picture before heading back to our group. (Don't ask me where that red blotch came from.) We were there when the BSB and Jimmy Ray piled into their van and left, so I asked Jimmy Ray for a picture with him. (It got exposed or something, so it's kind of weird.) You can see how skinny he is--my arm reaches all the way around him! He gave me a little kiss on the head when we posed. Like I said, he was out there!! Here are some more pics of the Backstreet Boys.

After 5 hours at the restaurant, we finally headed home for the night. The next morning Matt, Bill, and Brian joined us. Matt (Oklahoma) is a KI fan, Bill is a Party Of Five fan and email buddy of Matt, and Brian is a friend of Bill's (both from Michigan). Matt had bought tickets to the Party of Five set for him and Bill for Tuesday, so they had gotton into town Sunday night. Matt and Susan were our quasi-celebrities. Susan worked as a production assistant on Kids Inc. in '93, and Matt interviewed Jennifer Love Hewitt on MTV's show Fanatic! Here is Bill, Brian, Bessie and Matt by the roller coaster at the Santa Monica Pier. We went to the Pier and hung out until it was time to go to Burbank. We went to Jerry's Deli in Studio City to meet Haylie Johnson for dinner.

We got a table, and Haylie and two of her friends joined us. Ashley was busy working on her new movie Anywhere But Here, so she couldn't come. Haylie's friends were Lacy, who is an aspiring country singer, and Tyrone, who is the producer and star of Young Hollywood, the movie that Haylie directed. Haylie charmed everyone with her hyper and sweet nature! She told us funny stories about her and Ashley meeting the Backstreet Boys and Jimmy Ray at a concert Jonny Lang (Haylie's boyfriend!) performed at. Maria brought her scrap book of pictures of Haylie and Ashley from magazines, so Haylie looked at them and signed by some of the pictures. She told us stories behind some of the pics, and pointed out Lacy in one! Haylie also signed the yearbooks.

After dinner, we went outside to take some pictures and say goodbye. Haylie posed with everyone, and we talked her into singing for us. When she calmed down enough to pick a song, she sang En Vogue's "When I Had You." Haylie has a beautiful voice! Lacy also sang a song for us, she's sure to be a big star in no time! Here are some shots of Haylie being hyper outside:

Here Haylie gets ready to pose with Kandice. Here she poses with Matt. Haylie also posed with Melanie, Susan, Ben, Michelle, Kandice, Alan, Rob, Brian, and Maria:

Maria has her own page of pictures of Haylie from the convention. Here's the link. Here is me and Haylie (but my eyes are kind of closed). Here's a better one:

We left the valley, and decided to meet for dinner in Beverly Hills at Ed Debevic's. Susan, Michelle, Kandice and I stopped off at the NBC studio to look at the set from some soap opera! We had fun at Ed's, the waiters are supposed to be really rude and crazy, and they sing and dance too! Here are pictures of my table, the other table, and a combo.

After dinner, it was time for Michelle and Kandice to go to the airport. They had a great time, here are Michelle's comments. Here is Bessie, enjoying her last night in L.A. with Matt and Bill! The next day, Bessie, Matt, Bill, Brian and I shopped in Hollywood and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Bessie and I had flights at the same time, and we were late! They had to re-open the plane's door for me, but Bessie missed her flight! She got a flight later that night, even though I'm sure she wouldn't have minded staying for another day or two or three... Some of the group still in L.A. saw Mario Lopez and Jennifer Love Hewitt at a movie premiere the next day!

I had a great time at the convention! All the other fans were really cool, and I loved meeting Connie (for the first time), Haylie, Stacy, Renee, and Stefanie. We also got free headshots of Anastasia Horne, Nicole Brown, and Haylie and Ashley Johnson. The whole weekend was really fun, and I can't wait until next year. It will be even bigger and better! If you are interested in coming to L.A. next summer for the convention, email me at prozax@juno.com.

Here's my Main Page