Vida Vegan Con, 2011

Who: Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria and most of the VN crew
What: Vida Vegan Con, the world's first vegan blogging conference!

Where: Portland, Ore.

When: August 25 to 28, 2011

Why: Why would we miss a first-of-its-kind event that combines media, awesome people, and fantastic vegan food?

The Scoop: When there's a totally vegan blogging conference held in the vegan mecca that is Portland, Ore., you go. That's all there is to it. The VN team first heard about Vida Vegan Con last year, and we've been eagerly anticipating it ever since. Finally, this past weekend, our excitement reached a fever pitch as we left the office on Thursday afternoon and headed for the City of Roses. Once the wheels hit the tarmac, we were off and running.

Our first stop was Vendetta, a cute bar with a lovely outdoor patio where a group of VVCers were gathered. Let's just say that we wasted no time in mingling among the very awesome attendees.

Allison Rivers Samson and Terry Hope Romero, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Fran Costigan, Colleen Holland, and me! (Photo via Allison Rivers Samson)

Yes, that is an all-star lineup if I dare say so myself. In the background you can see The Oregonian's Grant Butler, Native Bowl's Julie Hasson, and the flaxen locks of VN contributor Dynise Balcavage. Not a bad way to kick off a conference, if you ask us! After chatting for a bit we rushed over to a sneak peek screening of Vegucated, hosted by the film's creator Marisa Miller Wolfson.

Friday we spent galavanting around Portland. Our first stop? Duh, the vegan mini-mall. We met up with Michelle from Herbivore Clothing Company at Sweetpea Baking Company for some morning grub. Bagels, scones, bars, and big, strong lattes were in order. After stuffing ourselves and chatting, we headed to Herbivore to peruse the goods. Hello, adorable animal-rights themed hoodies, buttons, stickers, and more! We could have easily walked away with one of everything from Herbivore, but the most popular purchase was actually this cool One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book, which three of us on staff picked up. Then, we stopped at Food Fight! Vegan Grocery. We were like kids in a literal candy store. I couldn't resist grabbing a handful of Crazy Rumors Lip Balm, a packet of JJ's Sweet's Cocomels in Fleur de Sel, and a couple of Halo Bars for Assistant Editor Anna Peraino, who wasn't with us on the trip and freaks out for them. Is there any greater joy in life than freaking out your coworkers with surprise treats? Heck no. Friday night we headed back to the hotel for a kick off Champagne and cupcake reception, which VN hosted. You know who likes cupcakes and Champagne? Everybody, that's who. After our aperitifs, we headed to Portobello for a special meal with VN contributors. Chef Aaron Adams blew us away with his inventive, locally sourced, phenomenally delicious cuisine. Check out a course-by-course recap by our Raw Done Right columnist, Gena Hamshaw at Choosing Raw. A stellar, four-hour meal shared with brilliant colleagues? Things really don't get better.

 Colleen moderates the Travel Panel

Saturday and Sunday we got down to business. The days were jam packed with the bulk of the conference. The panels were fantastic, the speakers engaging, the food demonstrations delicious, and the Galarama a ton of fun. With so many fantastic vegan bloggers in attendance, there's no shortage of great coverage of the individual panels; check out Vida Vegan Con's Facebook page for a roundup of recaps. For the visually minded, check out our Facebook gallery. 

The panel was a total success, not to mention a blast. Kudos are due to the organizers—Jess Scone, Michele Truty, and Janessa Philemon-Kerp—who saw a need for something in their community, and took it upon themselves to fill it. It's creative, dedicated activism like theirs that will power the next phase vegan living, in whatever form it takes.

Mushroom Meet 'n' Greet

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria and Associate Editor Abigail Young
What: A pre-conference
Where: RN74, San Francisco, Calif.
When: September 25, 2009
Why: Meeting fellow food bloggers before the big BlogHer Food '09 conference!

The Scoop: Often times, Abby and I like to eat. Sometimes, we even like to eat together, and when the opportunity arose to attend a pre-conference cocktail hour with mushroom-centric hors d'oeuvres, we pretty much jumped at it. The evening was organized by Jessi Langsen of The Mushroom Channel, which is a PR blog for The Mushroom Council. As you might expect, there was a clear theme: mushrooms.

The very chic RN74 was a charming, if somewhat croweded, space for the fun. The place was packed—it was Friday night, after all—with diners, drinkers, and then us, the bloggers. Canapés of maitake mushroom tempura and shiitake veloute—which I was assured was vegan—came around every so often, which we eagerly devourved, having been instructed to come "dinner-time hungry." Abby and I got separated early on by the crowd, but both ended up finding fine chatting companions. It was fun to catch up with Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen, and Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of BlogHer. Abby met Abi Jones, a local San Franciscan—something of a rarity in this crowd—who started Heat Eat Review.

Me, Abby, and Abi, at the evening's end

By the time we left we were all geared up for the following day's conference, about which Abby will have a full report soon!

Weekend Warriors, Part Two

Who: VN Associate Editor Abby Young, Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, and Editorial Assistants Kailey Harless and Charlotte Gordon

What: Animal Rights National Conference, Part II

Where: Los Angeles, Calif.

When: July 16-20, 2009

Why: To represent VegNews at the annual AR conference

The scoop: We all woke up a bit tired from the late celebration night before, but with a nice workout and a cup of caffeine, it wasn't hard to recharge for another Animal Rights 2009 conference day. The crowd was noticeably thinner than other days, as vendors were leaving and attendees were heading home.

As a conference first-timer, I was most amazed by the long-time VegNews readers. We often had people stop by the booth just to say how much they adore each issue, or share how long they've been reading. Seeing their genuine excitement fueled us more than any cup of coffee ever could, and knowing that people thoroughly enjoy what VegNews staffers dedicate their lives to made every moment behind the booth worthwhile.

Over the weekend we met loads of people. We first spied Bryan Pease being interviewed for suprememastertv.com next to our booth, who stopped by the table to chat after his turn on-camera. Since he's an animal-rights attorney and the activism advisor for VegNews, it was nice to meet one of our very own!

We also chatted and posed with Nathan Runkle, founder of Mercy for Animals and the youngest activist ever to be inducted into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame. Lyndsay, Nathan, me, and Abby

You know what the perfect way to end a long, fun, yet exhausting weekend is? Dining well, of course. Abby and I ventured out into the pavement jungle in search of an affordable, vegan-friendly restaurant. Thankfully, we found the quaint and accommodating Par's Persian Cuisine, which offered both Lebanese and Italian fare.

Within seconds of looking at the menu, I knew what I wanted. Smooth, exquisite, garlicky hummus that I consumed with edible spoons: many, many wedges of warm pita:

Luscious hummus topped with olive oil and paprika

A crisp, fresh, bright tomato-cucumber-mint salad made for a cooling complement:

Diced cucumber and tomato mingle with mint and parsley

With full, happy tummies, Abby and I trekked back to the Westin and fell into a deep slumber. So what if it was only 10 pm? At least we were well rested for the daunting trip back to San Francisco. And by daunting I mean breezy. Virgin America knows how to treat a girl (big cushy seats? Please and thank you!), and San Fran is merely a hop, skip, and jump away from LA.

All in all, the weekend was a success. We learned from the AR lectures, dined well, met incredible people, and laughed constantly. This AR first-timer couldn't ask for more.

WIPP It Good

Who: VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, VN Editorial Director Aurelia d'Andrea, + VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria
What: The Women In Periodical Publishing Women's Leadership Conference
When: Friday, January 23, 2009
Where: The Westin, San Francisco, Calif.
Why: Because ladies do more than lunch

The Scoop: In case you're wondering, it's a really extra-good idea to attend conferences about the industry in which you work. Meeting people, listening to presentations, and having your little neurons going crazy-haywire-rapid-fire with bajillions of new ideas is definitely worth being away from the office for a day. This year's WIPP Women's Leadership Conference was the first of its kind, and happened to be held right here in the City by the Bay. There was no way that Colleen, Aurelia, and I would have missed this.

The morning started off early and got right to business. After briefly mingling with other attendees—and inhaling a few cups of coffee—we were treated to an opening welcome by Michela O'Connor Abrams, the president and publisher of Dwell magazine, who gave a lovely introduction to Jackie Speier, aka our Congresswoman. Speier was inspiring, funny, and informed, which are pretty much the perfect qualities for an early-morning speaker to have. Her latest project is working to ban toxic additives in cosmetics, about which she quipped that if the same chemicals were found in a stereotypically male product, like beer, there would be a new Manhattan project to find alternatives. Thoroughly enthused by Speier's speech, we were ready to get down to the business of talking business.

The day consisted of multiple breakout sessions and panels that discussed topics from how CFOs and COOs differ and how to put a "C" before your title to the growing demand for online content (like, ahem, certain blogs), and how to make publishing profitable in tough economic times. Come lunchtime, we were as hungry for food as we were for more discussion!

Purely by chance, we three VegNews-ers ended up at an all-vegan table at lunch. We were joined by Andrea Kowalski, the web editor at Yoga Journal, and Elisa Camahort, co-founder of BlogHer. Evidently, Colleen and Andrea had called each other that morning to coordinate oufits, as you can see:

Elisa spearheaded the "ask the waiter if the pasta sauce has dairy" effort, and to our relief, it didn't. While we munched our lunches, we were treated to a speech by yet another inspiring woman, Alix Kennedy, who received the 2008 Exceptional Woman in Media award. After lunch it was off to more panels, in which we tackled topics like successful independent publishing (hello, Dwell!) and a generational perspective on women in the publishing world that included Katy Tamony, VP and editor-in-chief at Sunset, and Grace Hawthorne, founder of ReadyMade. Yes, we talked about women's place in the working world (duh, leading it!) and hairstyles.

At the end of the lightning-quick day, we were treated to a wine tasting and more mingling, which was a great time to take off our over-worked thinking caps for the day and enjoy the company of friends old and new—like the lovely Michela, seen below (at left) with the VN crew.