500 Attend Women’s Conference in Ventura : Gender: Event gives participants a chance to network and reflect on both serious and humorous issues.

Looking for enlightenment--or maybe just a little lighthearted insight on the issues unique to their gender--more than 500 women attended the fourth annual Ventura County Regional Conference for Women in Ventura on Saturday.

Participants networked and listened to experts speak about topics such as “How does your sex life measure up?” “While I’m in the shower, who’s minding the country?” and “If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then what’s the official language?”

There were also more serious discussions on turning stress into positive energy, books every woman should read, computer shopping for the home and business, and “achieving balance, contentment and peace of mind in the ‘90s.”

“It’s definitely a great thing,” Pam Garrison said. “I’m a single mother who stays home all day, so it’s fun to meet a lot of other women and get encouraged.”

More than 60 businesses set up booths featuring products and services ranging from sunglasses and cars to cosmetic surgery and computer dating matches. The Los Angeles Police Department and other employers were also on hand, looking to recruit women.

Ann McFeatters, a White House correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service, was the keynote speaker. Her humorous “shower” speech encouraged women to become more involved in politics.

Other featured speakers were comedienne Anita Milner and women’s studies professor Ashley Phillips. There also were seminars on jobs, travel, relationships, leadership skills, depression and aging.

Teresa Deslaurier of Thousand Oaks, a substitute teacher for the Simi Valley Unified School District, said the conference gave her the opportunity to meet successful women and hear stories of making it to the top in a male-dominated world.

“During the day, you don’t get to talk to people this accomplished,” she said. “A lot of them had to go through a lot of things to get to where they’re at.”

Deslaurier was one of several mothers who took advantage of an offer by Children’s Wonderland, an Oxnard day-care provider, to watch their children while mothers attended the conference.

Marsha Polk, a Navy spokeswoman, said she is relatively new to Ventura County, and the conference allowed her to meet interesting people and learn about local health-care providers.

“The seminars have been really good and educational,” she said after meeting Deslaurier. “They gave me the opportunity to meet with women I would otherwise not have the opportunity to meet.”

Participants said the hit of the conference was Milner, whose speech “Laugh and Stay Healthy” struck a common chord with many of those in attendance.

“The jokes are based on situations that women in particular go through,” Polk said. “That’s what people laugh about.”

Not everyone had such a light outlook on the conference, however.

“For me, this is about mental stimulation, things I can relate to on a special level,” said Margie Palmer of Ventura.