DerpCon is the official 5 Seconds of Summer convention. As the band explains it: Derp Con is bringing people from all over the world to fight ninjas, internet haters and join in some serious banding. Think: Comic Con – but EVERYTHING 5SOS. It’s pretty freaking awesome if we do say so ourselves!! We’ve got a contest running to send a lucky Canadian fan to this years DerpCon. Enter here. But what’s it like to actually win? We caught up with our 2014 winner to find out. Meet: Jade What was it like to meet the guys of 5SOS? It was absolutely incredible! I won’t lie I can hardly remember what happened during my M&G. Ask any DerpCon winner and we’ll all say the same thing. None of us would have known what happened if it weren’t for the other people in the room and the videos that we got afterwards! The boys are so genuine and nice, I think of them as my best guy friends that I can always talk to. Even though my second round with them in Toronto was shorter than DerpCon, I still loved it. Especially since as soon as they say my sister Shea and all started screaming “DERP ROCK CITY”– It was pretty incredible!
Besides meeting 5SOS, what was your fave part of DerpCon? Meeting new friends, hands down! You can ask any DerpCon winner from last year this question and they will give you the same answer; we are all best friends and have each other’s backs no matter what! That was definitely the best part of the weekend! Although, if I had to choose a second favourite, it would definitely be the interviews that I did with Universal Music Canada and some other radio stations! I loved it; they were all so open to what I was saying. In a couple interviews I even shed a few tears, due to joy from meeting the boys. I loved interacting with the media reps from other countries – as well as being interviewed with my friends too. 
Where were the other attendees of DerpCon from? They were from all over the world, minus a few countries. Places such as, Detroit, Montreal, Cleveland, Switzerland, Manila, England, Netherlands, France, South Africa, Ireland, India, Australia, Japan, and Italy. Those are only a few places that I could name as there were really so many!! Do you still keep in contact with the other fans you met? Yes, every day! We all have a group chat together on an app called WhatsApp! This all started because of a girl in the UK named Sophie. She’s one of my best friends! When I went to England this summer, I actually met up with her again!! All of us are super close. We Skype as much as we can, regardless of different time zones and schedules. At one point my friend Maria (Detroit), Val (Switzerland) and I were on Skype for 6 hours…CALL US CRAZY! We’ve kept in touch for almost a year now, which is absolutely insane. You’d think that a group chat would die down after an event like this, but we keep in touch every day through social media! The internet is a great thing sometimes!! 
What are 5 things this year’s winner NEEDS to bring with them? Selfie Stick (no matter what 5SOS says, these are very much mandatory at an event like this, mine came in handy for the entire weekend! Any sort of camera (You want to capture moments from this weekend, whether that’s through vlogging, or taking selfies with friends! Your favourite clothes (C’mon you gotta feel amazing! Emergency backup bag (ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Have a backup bag. This will consist of any makeup, or emergency products that you may need throughout this weekend. Trust me when you get those sunglasses marks on your nose, or if you accidentally scratch off a bit of eyeliner, you’ll want those on hand! ENERGY! (AND LOTS OF IT! 5SOS look for energy in their fans! especially when they meet you! Be enthusiastic and give them all big hugs and make sure to rock out along with your best friends!) If you could sum up your DerpCon experience in 1 or 2 words, what would they be? Life Changing — DerpCon changed my life in ways that I couldn’t even describe. I am still so thankful for that weekend. I found my best friends, met my favourite boys, and luckily got to seem them perform their first ever headlining show. I still think about that weekend almost every day. I always wish that I could go back and re-live it all again. That weekend made me realize what I actually wanted to do with my life, as far as college and career goes (I know, I wasn’t expecting that either.) I realized I wanted to get involved in the media world as much possible. So, from there, I applied and got accepted into my dream program in college and I’ve gotten on a 5SOS Update account that has almost (as of October) 160K followers! It’s insane as to how much one weekend can change your life! I really hope that TNBS winner feels the same way about the experience that they’ll have! 