Conferencing for Animal Rights in 2009

by Stephanie Ernst · 2009-06-02 06:51:00 UTC
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Know what I think you should do in July? Come to the Animal Rights National Conference (July 16-20) so that you can buy me drinks at the hotel bar learn, collaborate, get inspired and energized, eat great vegan food, enjoy the company of fellow compassionate animal-advocating folks, and help push this movement forward and advance change. (See the Fast Facts on the conference here.) Also make sure to vote in advance for what you think were the most effective animal rights campaigns of the last year.

The conference includes 100 sessions with remarkable speakers, about as many exhibits providing information and selling merch & food (you've never see so many people in one place walking around with vegan grilled cheese sandwiches), 80 video showings, and more. And one aspect that I really loved about the conference last year (admittedly the first year I gathered up the funds to go) was simply the people. If you still need proof that animal rights advocates and vegans don't fall into a stereotype, head to the conference. You'll find NYC dwellers and residents of rural Texas and attendees who crossed oceans to get there, teenagers and advocates well past retirement age, newcomers just starting to explore animal rights and advocates who've been helping animals for decades, and people with widely ranging backgrounds, belief systems, and lifestyles all coming together in one place because of shared concern for animals. I met some truly remarkable people last year, and I'm hoping I'll get to see all their lovely faces again this year too (as well as the equally lovely faces of all the folks I've not met in person yet).

There are other animal advocacy conferences, including regional ones, happening this summer as well, and if I had the financial resources, you can bet I'd be at each one, particularly the Let Live NW Animal Rights Conference (June 26-28) in Portland, OR, this month and the Midwest Animal Advocacy Conference--Their Lives, Our Voices (June 12-June 14)--in Minneapolis, MN. If you live in those regions, sign up to attend and tell them I sent you, OK?

And then I'll see you in Los Angeles in July, right? Right?

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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