ELLERBEE TO SPEAK AT `06 CONFERENCE.

Byline: Daily News

LANCASTER - Emmy-winning journalist and author Linda Ellerbee will be keynote speaker at the Antelope Valley Women's Conference.

Ellerbee is expected to talk ``with inspiration, humor and interesting stories about her life and geared to women,'' said Ingrid Chapman, one of the conference organizers.

``I can tell you that booking her generated a whole lot of excitement to our organizer,'' Chapman said.

Expected to attract 1,200 participants, the conference will include seminars on women's health, business, self and family, home and children, vendors offering services and products for women, and a book fair featuring the works of authors speaking at the conference.

With the theme ``Explore the Possibilities,'' the conference is intended to celebrate, inspire and empower women in the Antelope Valley by highlighting information and sharing resources, organizers said.

The event was inspired by an annual state conference, the Governor's and First Lady's Conference on Women and Families.

Ellerbee is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the state conference in October in Long Beach and last month at the Professional BusinessWomen of California conference in Sacramento, organizers said.

Ellerbee began her journalism career at CBS, and moved to NBC News, then in 1986 went to ABC News to anchor and write ``One World,'' a weekly prime-time historical series that won an Emmy.

In 1987, Ellerbee and partner Rolfe Tessem quit network news to start Lucky Duck Productions, first producing documentaries for PBS. In 1991 Lucky Duck began producing Nick News for Nickelodeon, with Ellerbee writing and hosting.

Nick News has won four Emmys. In 2004, Ellerbee won an Emmy for her series, ``When I Was a Girl,'' which aired on WE: Women's Entertainment.

Ellerbee has written books about the television news business and being a single mother, as well as children's fiction.

A breast cancer survivor, Ellerbee travels thousands of miles each year to give inspirational speeches.

The all-day conference is scheduled for April 7 in the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds' two main pavilions and two smaller meeting halls. It will open with a continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m., will include a buffet lunch with entertainment, and will close at 5 p.m.

Registration fees will be $75 per person before Feb. 1 and $95 after Feb. 1. Registration fees for full-time students and seniors age 62 and older will be $50 before Feb. 1 and $70 after Feb. 1.

For more information, go to www.avwomensconference.com or call [phone].

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LINDA ELLERBEE

Veteran journalist