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Animal Rights 2009
A couple of weeks ago the annual animal rights conference organized by FARM took place in Los Angeles. No one from Lifescape attended but chatting to Daniel Manahan after the event I asked him if he and a few others could give some thoughts on the conference. I thought our readers might be interested. Further information and reports on the conference are here . If anyone else attended and has anything to add please feel free to comment.
“This was the first time I had ever been to the Animal Right’s conference, and since it was only 30 minutes from my home in southern california, it was very convenient.
I have been on a budget recently so I didn’t want to pay the conference fee, so I decided to work as a volunteer, so I could get in for free. My experience was amazing. It was not what I had expected. I thought it would be just a bunch of hippies preaching to the choir with stuff I already knew, since I have been vegetarian since 1979, and vegan for almost 5 years now. For 3 days, I got to sit in many lectures, ask questions, and share my knowledege with others.
One particular meeting series seemed to be very popular were the round table discussions. Where difficult topics were discussed and everyone in the room had an opporunity to debate back and forth issues in a respectful environment. Hot topics such as Animal Welfare vs Animal Abolition kept people at the edge of their seats.
The most important aspect of the event was seeing a lot of my facebook friends in person and telling them to their face how much I appreciate them for their loving work towards animals. Being in the same room with heros such as Shaun Monson, Jane Veldez Mitchel, and Captain Paul Watson with his crew, gave all of us an energy that we can take back home with us in our personal activism endeavors.
I can’t wait for them to come back to my town!”
by Daniel Manahan
“I attended the 2009 National Animal Rights Conference because I wanted to support the animal rights movement, network with like-minded individuals, give presentations and promote my own vegan company, Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness – showing another side of veganism that isn’t often exposed or seen.
Nearly all of my expectations were fulfilled. I especially enjoyed giving 5 presentations throughout the conference and enjoyed being interviewed about 5 times for various projects from short statements supporting an organization to much longer and more in depth interviews about veganism or the animal rights movement.
Some of the highlights for me were working with John Pierre leading the fitness classes in the mornings, and hanging out with Shaun Monson the producer of Earthlings and Yvonne Smith, the Traveling Vegetarian and host of www.travelingvegetarian.tv. It was a tremendous bonding experience and I made many new friends.
I want to thank Alex and Dawn and all the others from FARM who organized the conference.
It was great to see old friends and make many new friends all the while nurturing and supporting each others’ visions for a brighter future.”
by Robert Cheeke, Vegan Bodybuilder
www.veganbodybuilding.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i2o4Ls3c3g&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp%3Fref%3Dhome&feature=player_embedded
1. “I went to the AR conference to improve my effectiveness as an activist by becoming better educated about issues, and receiving guidance/advice/encouragement from veteran activists. I also wanted to feel the empowering influence of being among like-minded AR people, and make some new and supportive connections.
2. I did learn useful info to use in my outreach, and also made new alliances/friendships. I felt the workshops helped me focus on both general and specific issues related to my own outreach work.
3. Overall, I liked the conference very much, and was glad I attended it in full. This was my first big AR Conference. I thought the event was well-organized, and covered a broad spectrum of relevant topics. While one hour seemed suitable for some of the sessions, I thought others would’ve benefited by being a little longer to allow for more discussion. Also, since the plenaries ran overtime every night, I think a reduction in the number of panel speakers would’ve been good.” by Alicia Snelen Koberstein
“This years ARC 2009 was amazing…just like last year but even better! The speakers were phenomenal. I learned so much and the information that I gathered has motivated me to take my animal liberation activism to the next level. I had so much fun getting to know new vegans/animal rights activists and it was great to get to catch up with the people I met last year as well. The conference was non-stop fun – so much so that I basically got about 4 hours of sleep each night! I can’t wait for next year’s conference in D.C.. I know it will be just as enlightening and fun as this year’s was too.” by Kerri
