The Women's Conference 2008 Makes History, Selling out in Record Time of Less Than Three Hours

Tickets Still Available for Pre-Conference 'Night at the Village' Event and Afternoon Session Featuring the Minerva Awards Presentation

LOS ANGELES, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Full day passes for The Women's Conference 2008 have sold out in a historic, record-breaking time of only three hours, after going on sale July 14, California First Lady Maria Shriver announced today. Taking place on October 21 and 22 at the Long Beach Convention Center, the celebrated event will boast a growing roster of more than 50 speakers and participants, including Lance Armstrong, Warren Buffett, Jennifer Lopez, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gloria Steinem.

To meet the increasing demand for this conference, Shriver has added a new event on October 21 called "Night at the Village." The event will transform the Long Beach Convention Center's exhibit hall into a 160,000 square foot women's village with interactive exhibitor booths, stage presentations, book signings from prominent authors, shopping, food, musical entertainment and a conversation with Rachael Ray. Individual tickets for Night at The Village are available to purchase for $20. Tickets to the conference's afternoon session featuring the fifth annual presentation of the Minerva Awards hosted by Maria Shriver, remarks by Bono and Caroline Kennedy, and a special musical performance by Bonnie Raitt are also available to purchase for $40. Additionally, The Women's Conference can be experienced free-of-charge through a live webcast of the main stage sessions throughout the day and video on-demand highlights at http://www.californiawomen.org/.

"It is a historic occasion for us to have gone from selling out in three days last year, a record then, to only three hours yesterday, and I am thrilled by the support and enthusiasm from such an incredible and diverse community of women," said Shriver. "However, we want to make sure that as many women as possible can participate in the conference and therefore take great pride in offering the Night at The Village event, as well as a separately-ticketed afternoon session showcasing the Minerva Awards presentation."

Night at The Village is presented by sponsor Lean Cuisine.

"As the presenting sponsor of Night at The Village, Lean Cuisine is thrilled to have the opportunity to inspire women," said Kristin Gibbs, Director of Marketing for Lean Cuisine. "Lean Cuisine shares in the conference's belief that women united by a common purpose and shared conversation have infinite potential. We're looking forward to partnering with The Women's Conference to empower and inspire women to do something good for themselves each and every day."

The Women's Conference is supported by generous sponsors that share its mission of empowering, inspiring and educating women. The Premier Conference Sponsor is Safeway, who will feature the best of California's healthy cuisine at The Village exhibit hall. Target returns as the Minerva Awards sponsor, and Wachovia is the presenting sponsor of the Minerva Leadership Program. The Conference National Media Partners are Disney-ABC Television Group and Meredith Publishing. Official sponsors include BP, Cisco, Dove, FedEx, HealthNet, Intuit, Mattel, PepsiCo, PG&E, Wells Fargo, and Visa.

For more information about The Women's Conference, or for online press registration, visit http://www.californiawomen.org/.

CONTACT: Marissa Moss, +1-310-926-7365, for The Women's Conference

Web site: http://www.californiawomen.org/

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