Women's Media Group upcoming events

WMG Job Seekers Weekly Meetup (August 05, 2026)

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Wednesday, August 5, 10-11 a.m. ET

WMG members only; FREE (Virtual)

Are you unemployed, underemployed, or just thinking about a career change? Convene with WMG member Betsy Loredo and other job seekers in this weekly, informal online meetup. It’s a supportive space to share job-seeking ups and downs, pass along tips, and network with friendly peers who might have contacts to opportunities. On alternative weeks, we'll use the hour to work on resumes, applications, and other job search actions together–making it feel less overwhelming and more supportive.

LinkedIn Strategies for Career Growth (August 05, 2026)

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Wednesday, August 5, 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET

Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)

Join this event to learn how to improve your LinkedIn profile and position yourself for new career opportunities. Lynne Williams, Executive Director of the Great Careers Network, will share practical tips for strengthening your personal brand and optimizing your profile. Lynne will cover:

How to clearly define and communicate your personal brand
How to effectively incorporate keywords throughout your profile
How to strengthen your headline with a unique selling proposition
Where to find free tools and resources to enhance your LinkedIn presence

Meet the speaker:

Lynne Williams is the Executive Director of the Great Careers Network, which provides development and networking for career transitions and management. Lynne was included with other LinkedIn peers on the 2022, 2023, and 2024 lists of the Social Index Top 50 LinkedIn Experts International, and on Influence Digest's Top 15 LinkedIn Experts in Philadelphia. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation on the topic of LinkedIn for Job Seekers.

Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.

WMG Monday Happy Hour Meetup (August 10, 2026)

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Monday, August 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET

Arthouse Bar, Arthouse Hotel Lobby, 2178 Broadway (entrance on West 77th Street)

WMG members only; FREE (attendees pay for their own food and beverages)

Join Women's Media Group member Candi Cross for IRL networking with friends new and old. This Manhattan gathering at Arthouse Bar will provide an evening of genuine connection and in-depth conversation. Enjoy your favorite drinks, mocktails, and bites during this relaxed evening of networking and camaraderie with fellow WMG members.

Tour of the New York Society Library with Jennifer A. Perry (August 19, 2026)

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:15:00 GMT

Wednesday, August 19, 5:15 p.m. ET

New York Society Library, 53 E. 79th Street, NYC

WMG members only; FREE

For more than a quarter of a millennium, the New York Society Library has played a pivotal role in the book life of New York City. Founded in 1754, this library is the oldest cultural institution in New York City and served as the nation's first Library of Congress. Among its members have been George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Willa Cather, and Stacey Schiff. The current Director and Chief Librarian is Carolyn Waters.

The Library remains a private nonprofit organization today. Women's Media Group President Emerita Jennifer A. Perry has arranged for WMG to join the Library's members-only happy hour. WMG attendees will enjoy a presentation tailored to our group about the library's history, collections, and membership options. Then, we will join the wider audience for tours of the 1917 Italian Renaissance building.

WMG’s Small Group Socials are a long-standing tradition and remain one of our most popular program series. This is a wonderful way to facilitate meaningful connections among members. If you have any specific questions, please reach out to the host directly. All member contact information can be found in the Member Directory.

WMG Monday Happy Hour Meetup (September 14, 2026)

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Monday, September 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET

Arthouse Bar, Arthouse Hotel Lobby, 2178 Broadway (entrance on West 77th Street)

WMG members only; FREE (attendees pay for their own food and beverages)

Join Women's Media Group President Emerita Julie Blattberg for IRL networking with friends new and old. This Manhattan gathering at Arthouse Bar will provide an evening of genuine connection and in-depth conversation. Enjoy your favorite drinks, mocktails, and bites during this relaxed evening of networking and camaraderie with fellow WMG members.

Switching the Shelf: How Rethinking Your Genre Can Land You That Book Deal (September 16, 2026)

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Wednesday, September 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET

Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets), Toni Morrison Room, 3rd floor, NYC

$20 for WMG members and partner organizations; $25 for non-members; $10 for active Scholars

Some books don't need a rewrite. They need a different shelf.

Many successful literary projects began as something else entirely: a memoir became narrative nonfiction, a magazine article turned into a biography, or an adult novel found its audience as young adult fiction. Sometimes the fastest path to publication is rethinking where your story belongs.

In this conversation, editors Lee Oglesby and Kristine Puopolo, agent Kiele Raymond, and authors Katie Gee Salisbury, Stacy Kim, and Amy Klein will discuss how their own genre shifts happened, what prompted agents and editors to suggest them, and how writers can recognize when a different category may unlock their manuscript's potential. It’s moderated by Susan Shapiro, the bestselling author of 18 books in eight different genres, several that started out something else.

Meet the speakers:

Katie Gee Salisbury is the author of Not Your China Doll, a biography of Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Believer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in 2021 and gave the TED Talk “As American as Chop Suey.” She also writes the Substack Half-Caste Woman. A fifth-generation Chinese American who hails from Southern California, Katie now lives in Brooklyn.

Stacy S. Kim, Ph.D. is a social scientist, writer, and coach who helps caring high-achievers untangle the internal knots that keep them stuck—the tension between ambition and caregiving, perfectionism and resentment, status and self-doubt. Stacy founded her coaching practice, Life Junctions®, in 2008. Since then, she’s worked with hundreds of smart, caring women who didn’t need conventional advice, makeovers, or yet another plan; they needed a fresh perspective on the knots and curated action steps to move forward. From those early coaching conversations, The Untangling Practice™ was born: an evidence-based four-phase framework to help women move forward with focus, confidence, and ease. It’s now the foundation of her courses, keynotes, and forthcoming book from Hachette.

Amy Klein has always written about whatever she was going through, from jumping out of a plane to the scary world of dating. From 2013 to 2015, she was the wit and heart behind the taboo-busting New York Times Fertility Diary. Her work has also been featured in The Washington Post, The Forward, and Insider. In 2020, Amy published her first book, The Trying Game, which offers a wealth of information from the fertility trenches. Now she wants to help everyone get and stay pregnant and avoid many of the pitfalls and mistakes she made.

Lee Oglesby is a freelance editor who works closely with authors to nurture books that have the power to shape lives and communities. She is interested in science, the environment, food and agriculture, health and wellbeing, and transformational justice. She believes all stories should be told with a deep level of literacy around race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability. Lee was previously a Senior Editor with Flatiron Books, and has worked at Milkweed Editions, Oxford University Press, and some of New York City’s most respected literary agencies. She is a graduate of Amherst College and the Columbia Publishing Course.

Kristine Puopolo is a WMG President Emerita and Vice President, Editorial Director, Nonfiction at Doubleday Books. She has worked at either Penguin or Random House for most of her publishing career. Her list includes many journalists, historians, and experts. Kristine has edited bestselling and prize-winning nonfiction at Penguin Random House since 2001, including three books that were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction: Gulag (2003) by Anne Applebaum, The Dead Hand (2009) by David Hoffman, and Black Flags (2015) by Joby Warrick.

Kiele Raymond is a Senior Agent at Thompson Literary Agency. She pursued her studies in Literature and Anthropology with a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. from the University of Chicago before launching her publishing career at Simon & Schuster in 2011. She joined Thompson Literary Agency in 2017 to seek out bold new voices in literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Her clients include critically-acclaimed and award-winning writers such as Peace Adzo Medie, Ari Braverman, and Janice Obuchowski. Books on Kiele's list have been named New York Times 100 Notable Books, Time's 100 Must-Read Books, NPR's Best Books of the Year, and selected for Reese's Book Club and GMA Buzz Picks, as well as longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Women's Prize for Fiction, and the Diverse Book Awards.

Meet the moderator:

Susan Shapiro is the bestselling author/coauthor of books her family hates, like The Bosnia List, Lighting Up, and Five Men Who Broke My Heart (from PRH), which was recently optioned for a movie. She writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Salon, Newsweek, The Cut, Wired, Oprah Daily, and The New Yorker. She lives with her husband in Greenwich Village and has taught writing at NYU, The New School, and Columbia University’s MFA program, using her practical guides, Byline Bible and Book Bible, to help students of all ages publish. Follow Susan on Instagram @profsue123 or email Profsue123@gmail.com.

Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.

The Responsible Journalist: Practical AI, Ethical Boundaries, and Newsroom Reality (October 07, 2026)

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Wednesday, October 7, 12-1 p.m. ET

Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how journalists report, write, investigate, and engage with audiences, but questions remain about accuracy, transparency, and ethics. This interactive seminar explores how journalists and media creators can incorporate AI into their work while maintaining the core values of the profession. Participants will learn practical ways AI can support reporting, discuss the ethical challenges surrounding its use, and examine where human judgment remains indispensable. Through demonstrations, case studies, and group discussion, attendees will leave with practical strategies for using AI responsibly in their own journalistic work.

Meet the speaker:

Yelena Dzhanova is an audience engagement strategist at The Weather Channel and a doctoral candidate in Media and Communication at Temple University. She has reported for national news organizations and teaches journalism at both Temple University and Pace University. Drawing on both newsroom experience and academic research, her present-day research explores how journalists can thoughtfully integrate AI while preserving the ethical standards and public mission of journalism.

Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.

Target Acquired: Creating Custom AI Personas That React Like Your Audience (October 14, 2026)

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Wednesday, October 14, 12-1 p.m. ET

Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)

What if you could ask your readers what they think before you publish? In this session, you'll learn how to build an "ideal reader assistant," a custom AI tool trained to respond as your target audience. This allows you to pressure-test story ideas, headlines, and copy while you're still creating instead of waiting for feedback after launch. Using a simple, repeatable framework, you'll watch a reader bot come to life from scratch and leave with the tools to build your own, turning audience feedback from slow and reactive into fast, targeted, and available on demand.

Meet the speaker:

Erin Servais helps editorial professionals upskill with artificial intelligence through her AI for Editors training programs. Since 2023, thousands of people across 20+ countries have turned to AI for Editors to learn how to use AI tools safely and effectively in their publishing workflows. A leading speaker and writer on AI in content development, Erin has been featured in Jane Friedman's The Bottom Line and Mignon Fogarty's AI Sidequest, presented for organizations including the Book Industry Study Group and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Media, and served on the board of ACES: The Society for Editing. Learn more at aiforeditors.com.

Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.