On July 27, 2003, I packed my bags and set sail for the great unknown…the Hilton at Tyson’s Corner and the AR2003 Conference. OK, so this trip may not have had the same risqué appeal of say, Lewis and Clark’s explorations, but my level of anticipation might have rivaled the great explorers’.

I returned from the conference full of newfound insights, motivation, and a few too many vegan doughnuts. For those of you who are considering attending next year’s Animal Rights Conference, here are some pieces of advice I’d like to share:

Save Up In Advance
OK, so you’ve paid the conference fees (or, in my case, won them, thanks to VegetarianTeen), but you’ll need money for food, travel, and all the unique goodies being sold at the conference. Now, I’m not usually a big spender, but I couldn’t resist purchasing some of the one-of-a-kind animal art by Amanda Moekel, as well as a few books from the generous selection of vegetarian-related works sold by Lantern books. Other sales tables included such as items as pearl-free jewelry, t-shirts with catchy logos such as “Praise Seitan,” and non-leather belts and shoes. If you don’t quite reach the million-dollar range (or fifty-dollar one, for that matter!), be aware that there will be plenty of opportunities to pick up free reading material, posters, videos, and food samples. At the end of the conference, if you happen to have a few dimes left, you’ll have the pick of the best non-profits around to donate them to.

Decide Your Goals
What is it you want to get out of the conference? Do you want to learn how to start your own animal rights group? Meet one of your heroes? Or just make connections? If you know beforehand what you want to get out of it, you can decide which workshops to attend. I found I wanted to attend every session, but of course this just wasn’t possible. The truth is, while I learned about such important topics as the horrors of vivisection and setting priorities, I got the most out of talking with other activists. I met people from virtually every age group, ethnicity, and background. I even got to speak with some famous vegheads such as Gene Bauston and Carol Adams. A good idea would be to jot down any questions you’d like to get answered beforehand, so that you don’t leave the conference still not knowing what you can do about the annual cat dissection in biology class.

Talk It Up
I made it my goal to eat every meal with a different person (or persons, as the case may have been). In this process I got to chat with a young woman who had came all the way from Israel for the conference, a woman who had been led into animal rights through her previous experiences with vivisection, and college students who ran an animal rights club. What did all these different personalities have in common? They were all working towards animal liberation.

Enjoy the Sessions
Animal Rights 2003 had three different tracks—one designed for those interested in familiarizing themselves with the issues, as well as organization and remedies tracks. The idea was that, depending on your goals and background, this would make it easier to decide which workshops to attend. Ha! Throwing aside practicalities, I would have preferred the sessions be one at a time, and the conference be extended a few days (weeks?). Saturday, I naively attempted to go from session-to-session nonstop. Despite all I picked up in these hour-long meetings, this only resulted in session burnout, and by the time the weekend was over, I decided to attend only the sessions that most interested me. These included such topics as open rescues, engaging ethnicities, and meeting movement leaders. I would suggest highlighting the workshops that look most appealing to you at the beginning of the conference, so you don’t miss out on those, plus you’ll know when you have time to explore the other conference activities.

Get a Taste for Everything
One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t get to see Rattle The Cage’s much talked about film, “Lolita,” during the conference. In fact, because I was so wrapped up in what was going on upstairs, I missed out on virtually everything downstairs. I was very interested in learning about all the non-profit groups I had never heard of before, though. I mean, who ever knew there was a group specifically dedicated to dealing with rabbit issues? The great thing is, even if you don’t have time to talk with someone from every single group, you can at least grab some free literature to read on the ride home. Who knows? You may just come across your next big pursuit.

The Bottom Line
If you’re even remotely interested in animal rights, I would strongly encourage you to attend the national Animal Rights Conference (I swear I wasn’t paid to write that!). If you’re anything like me, you’ll learn tons about animal advocacy while making friendships that could last a lifetime. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll be left wondering why the hotel couldn’t serve cruelty-free fare year-round, instead of returning to its animal-laden menu.

--Laurel says she really admires John Robbins whose writing she finds inspirational and moving. She went veg because she wanted to eliminate as much suffering as possible from the planet. Read her how I went veg story and her one-dayfood diary.