Day Three at the Conference
Trip Start
Jul 14, 2007
1
8
12
Trip End
Jul 27, 2007
Los Angeles,
California,
United States
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The first workshop I attended was "Running a Local Group", followed by "Running a Sanctuary", both of which specifically interest me, but especially the latter. There were three women, each who run animal sanctuaries, speaking on Running a Sanctuary. Lorri Bauston (who started Farm Sanctuary and Animal Acres) was one of them, and I had the pleasure of meeting with her afterwards and chatting with her a bit about my aspirations in this type of endeavour/life work in the future. At the talk, all the speakers said that it IS essentially necessary to work/put in the time at an already existing sanctuary in order to learn (hands-on) how to start up your own, and I can see myself taking a month out of my life in the not-so-distant future to do just that - it's a great opportunity actually that there are sanctuaries, including Animal Acres, that offer these type of internships, where you live at the sanctuary and learn about the day-to-day operations of place
Ben eating his healthy, yummy dinner
. Lorri and I talked about this and she invited me to spend an entire summer at Animal Acres! I wouldn't mind doing it at all at this sanctuary, since it's so close to L.A. and you get 2 days of the week off to do what you want, and it would give me a chance to visit Los Angeles (which I do like) on my days off. But that is getting a bit ahead of myself.... At the very least, I was able to get some really good information from the three speakers, and took down lots of notes as well.The next 2 workshops I attended coincided with the first 2: they were on fundraising. The first one was basic fundraising and entailed a lot (pretty much ALL) of the tactics that I/we already engage in at Earthsave, or that I know about from researching various animal sanctuaries. It was good to know that I already do know quite a bit about fundraising (who would have thought?!) and that some of these methods were old hat to me. Again, though, I took some notes to be able to revisit this information in the future. I am really seeing a more clearer path now in what I want to do (and what I think I can do best) in the AR movement.
At the workshop before lunch, Ben came into the room to sit with me, and he told me something that I thought to be really odd. I thought he was hallucinating or something when he said to me "There's a wagon out there filled with puppies." A wagon out there filled with puppies?? How could there be such a thing!? Anyways, I went out then to go to the washroom, and, lo and behold, ran into a woman who had an actual "wagon" with four little doggies in it, all wearing matching t-shirts
Ben's dinner
! And she was holding another one in her hands as she was registering for the conference at the registration table and yet another little sweet pea of a dog in a bag hanging on her shoulder, who was wearing a black cap. Although it was somewhat odd how she was displaying her dogs to the public (the wagon, the clothes), it was also an incredible cute and endearing situation, and I wasn't the only one who thought so (this was area full of animal lovers, remember!). Anyways, to capture and immortalize the scene forever, I took some photos of the little dogs, and their owner let me eagerly snap away. Check out the pics!At lunchtime Ben and I went into the merchandise/info table room with the 90 exhibitors as I had more shopping to do. I gave Howard Lyman a big hug from Karl (as Karl had asked me to do) and bought some pre-arranged DVDs from him for Earthsave. Also made a few other purchases, including 2 yummy vegan cupcakes for later gluttonous consumption. Ben tried a small cup of the Soy Delicious Purely Decadent new Pomegrante Chip soy ice cream, and like it so much that he went back for another one! Then we went for the lunch buffet at the hotel restaurant, and I was impressed by their "mexican" themed options: tortilla soup, rice, a yummy bean medley, tofu enchiladas, and green salad with tortilla chips in it.
The afternoon workshops that I chose consisted of the fundraising classes, Running Campaigns, and Movement Networking
Dog in a Bag I
. They were alright but my mind was a little clouded by the sleep deprivation and the sheer coldness of the room they were in.Dinner at the hotel was a delicious "indian" themed meal: basmati rice, potato and pea curry, and delicious curried tofu cubes, among other things. I had a good conversation with a woman sitting by us at at dinner about vegetarianism issues, and she told me that her paid job is working towards getting veggie products in stores/restaurants. She told me it's impossible to get a veggie dog at a hotdog stand in L.A. - so I guess I should be very thankful that these are in generous abundance at all of the hot dog stands in Vancouver!
At the last, plenary, session, there were several really good speakers. Noteable was: first the presidential vegan candidate himself, Dennis Kucinich. His wife was supposed to come speak in person, but then was unable to, so instead Mr. Kucinich called a phone at the podium in the room - right when his introducer was talking about him - and she stuck the phone in front of a microphone, and voila, instant conference call to 400 people! I really did like what he had to say. He seems to really "get it" all, not just for the animals but in terms of the larger picture as well (which including some words about health care in the U.S
Dog in a Bag II
. and his aspirations for that), and if I were an American card carrying citizen, for SURE I'd be voting for him! (and that's saying a lot for me, someone who doesn't usually vote!)A man named Bob Linden, I think it was, who was sitting right behind, came up to talk as well, about a vegan radio show he hosts that is now going to be aired on virtual radio waves internationally! He was an engaging speaker, and even hard-to-please Ben liked him! Last of the speaker panel was Paul Watson, who is scheduled to be the main key note speaker for the conference tomorrow night, but took some time to grace us with his words for about 10 minutes this evening. Again, another powerful and engaging speaker, and I look forward to hearing him more tomorow. Ben, again, even liked him - referred to him later as "that guy with the white hair and wearing the shirt with dolphins all over it", while I said "You mean Paul Watson, the founder of Greenpeace?" Duh. Ben just happens to really support Greenpeace, so after I told him his connection to it, he said he would like to have a few words with Paul later, which he has no qualms about doing!
