Q-Me Con NYC 2008 Women's Summit Tickets on sale NOW!


2008 QUEER MEDIA CONFERENCE (Q-Me Con) TO BE HELD IN NEW YORK CITY, WILL FOCUS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES

HEATHER MATARAZZO, ROSE TROCHE, ANGEL BROWN, BARBARA HAMMER, SARAH WARN, MEREDITH KADLEC, MICHELLE KRISTEL, AMY LESSER, KATHERINE LINTON, SHELLY WEISS, KERRY WELDON, OTHER PROMINENT ACTRESSES, BLOGGERS, JOURNALISTS, ENTERTAINMENT EXECS TO PARTICIPATE



New York, NY, March 3, 2008……The Annual Queer Media and Entertainment Conference (Q-Me Con) premiered in New York City in April 2006 and is the first-ever multi-day conference specifically designed for queer industry professionals working in, or looking to break into the media and entertainment business arenas. This year’s conference is structured as a Women’s Summit.

The Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women’s Summit is a weekend-long forum featuring engaging seminars and networking events with the intention to empower queer women seeking to network and educate themselves in how to get their authentic, diverse voices and images OUT into the massive media-sphere.

The Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women’s Summit will feature a wide array of informative seminars, ranging from Q & A panels with queer, female producers, directors, writers, bloggers, actresses, journalists, musicians and film, TV and theatre and entertainment executives to in-depth forums and interactive workshops delving into the “ins & outs” of financing, pitching, marketing and distributing female-centric content.


Here are the major details for the conference, along with some supporting quotes from the major players:

Who/what: Punkmouse & Warrior Princess present the Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women's Summit

When: May 9 - 11, 2008

Where: Ripley Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

(Off-site parties & events will take place at various venues throughout Manhattan & Brooklyn)

"The idea for the Q-Me Con Women's Summit sprang out of a block of programming devoted to women's issues that we launched in Hollywood at Q-Me Con 2007. We had such an amazing response to the women's track in Hollywood that we decided to create an entire summit for the queer female media making community back in our hometown, NYC."

"It's becoming increasingly more clear that we must take responsibility for creating and distributing our own images of ourselves if we want to see our community accurately represented in the mass media & entertainment arenas on any significant level."

"The time is ripe for our queer, female media-making community to band together and support one another with shared resources, connections, talent, mentorships, motivation and encouragement. This is exactly what the Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women's Summit is designed to foster."

"We have assembled an amazing Leadership Committee of Queer Women in the media & entertainment arenas who have become the backbone of this event. We're also honored to be partnering with our returning Presenting Sponsor, here! Networks, along with our Major Sponsors, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), LYNX and NewFest, and other community partners, GO! NYC, AfterEllen.com, Renna Communications, GLAAD, Out In Television & Film, Velvet Park and dozens more.

- Jennifer Howd, Executive Director of Q-Me Con & Co-Founder of Punkmouse


"The Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women's Summit is a very important event because women's voices are still a minority in the Media today, and more so with respect to the LGBTQ Community. This summit brings women, of all ages, shapes, forms and cultures together to experience community, empowerment, and endless possibility where, as a result of how mass Media has affected our lives as women as a whole - they may have otherwise been discouraged to do so. The Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women's Summit allows us to have access to these important elements that play a large role in our Industry, and it gives everyone a space to share their authentic voices."

- Sandra Madsen, Co-Executive Producer of Q-Me Con



"By focusing Q-Me Con 2008 on topics that affect the queer women's media making community, Jennifer and Sandra are taking the conference into a new and much needed direction. I think that more so than gay men, queer women need a safe space to discuss the issues that specifically affect them. They're also in need of increased opportunities to foster creative solutions and spaces to network and come together. I think this year's Q-Me Con (NYC) 2008 Women' Summit will achieve those goals and much, much more."

- John Baez, Co-Founder of Punkmouse


“This is the third year in a row that here! Networks is involved with Q-Me Con and as always, we are thrilled and honored. This weekend series of events & panels rivals any industry conference or networking event out there — It continues to simply get better and better. And this year the Q-ME Con (NYC) 2008 Women’s Summit is particularly vital as it will focus on an important and underserved niche...Women in Media & Entertainment.”

-Josh Rosenzweig, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Marketing for here! Networks.



Q-Me Con was created by Punkmouse, a NYC-based queer media and entertainment consulting group, founded in 2005 by veteran media and marketing mavericks Jennifer Howd and John Baez.


A portion of the profits from the women's summit will go to the Lesbian Cancer Initiative (LCI), a program of The Center.


V2 vodka is the official liquor sponsor for the summit.