Vida Vegan Con Wrap-up, Linkage, Highlights and Food Photos
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 9:55AM 
This past weekend was the first ever vegan blogger's conference, Vida Vegan Con, in Portland, OR. No words can really do this event justice, but suffice to say that it was probably the single best event I have ever been to in my entire life. I have the highest level of respect for Jess, Janessa and Michelle for organizing this ridiculously awesome get together. 300 vegans gathered in one place, eating, drinking, sharing tips, stories, restaurant finds, donuts and more. Instead of posting a crazy long recap post, I'm going to link to some friends who have been posting updates/recaps/summaries, etc:
Le Chou Sauvage (awesome photos)
If you posted about VVC on your blog, comment on this post or email or tweet me and I will link it!
Some of my favorite memories from the weekend were:
- Inspirational (from a business standpoint) tour of Bob's Red Mill right off the plane (post coming soon).
- Staying late at the first night shindig to consume as much champagne as possible, courtesy of VegNews.
- Two tequila shots, a tallcan and a vegan quesadilla: $17.
- Meeting some of my favorite Twitter friends and all new vegan friends and forming a little vegan posse for the weekend. Shout outs to Brit, Jared, Dawn, Becca, Taylor, Bianca and the rest who are escaping me right now.
- Catching up with the amazing Anika from Lion's Share and Vegan Score.
- Not having to worry about what food at the conference could be eaten, it was all vegan and all AMAZING.
- The Nutrition panel, specifically Ginny's fact-based approach to vegan health and Gena proving that there is at least one sane, level-headed raw foodist in the world.
- The Accidental Journalist panel that took me back to junior high English class.
- The Travel panel where Jason from Super Vegan said "bad vegan food is bad for veganism". Couldn't agree more.
- Saturday night out which consisted of an eating bonanza... stuffing my face at the Galarama, only to head to Food Fight for an Upton's pastrami sandwich, followed by beers and vegan corn dogs at Hungry Tiger Too, and finished with a 2am walk to VooDoo for a vegan Boston cream donut.
- Sitting on the Marketing panel with such an esteemed group of vegan ladies in a packed-to-the-gills room. Add to that the response to my statement "I feel veganism has been highly feminized."
- The great conversation that developed in the Product/Restaurant Reviews and Ethics class that I was on the panel for.
- The post-conference, party-on-a-whim at the Bye and Bye. Tallcans, mixed drinks, shots, BBQ Platters, Frito Pies, hugs, info exchanges, goodbyes and just plain good times. Big smiles.
This was such an amazing weekend in so many ways and I can't wait to do it again in 2013. Since I didn't take my camera out with me at night, here are a few photos of all the great food provided for us while at the conference.
Portland, Vida Vegan Con in FOOD, NEWS, PORTLAND, VEGAN, VEGETARIAN
Reader Comments (7)
Thank you so much for being awesome! It was great meeting you at that impromptu Bye and Bye after party, and I feel so honored to be included in this round-up. Cheers, mate!
I can't believe I finally met you!!! You are as awesome as I thought you would be!
Awww... both of you are so nice! it was an absolute pleasure to meet you lovely ladies!
Amey from veganeatsandtreats.blogspot.com has some great writeups!
xo
kittee
Let's do more tequila shots!!! Vegan posse, unite!
Oh yum, I'm so happy to see a record of all the great eats we had over there, I completely neglected to take any pictures of the spread!
It was great to meet you!
Nice post! It was great to meet you despite our groups directional skills getting to the dorm. Also, thank you also for the (awesome) comment about my photos! :) Take care!