We have a few updates in the Vida Vegan Con universe.

First up, a big thank you and Mmmm, miso BBQ sauce to all who attended last weekend’s Exquisite Dinner at Bridgeport BrewPub and helped us raise some cash and awareness for Merciful Maiden Critter Haven. We’d love to throw future vegan dinners in the future—please get in touch if you have an idea for a location or if you’d like to get your restaurant involved. Don’t be surprised if we take this series on the road one day. More photos of the dishes at the bottom of the post.

Behind the scenes, we’ve been hard at work, exiting the early planning stages of May 2013′s Vida Vegan Con II in Portland, Oregon, reviewing applications from potential speakers and poring over countless Google docs. In case you missed it, the dates and location are up, and registration will open this summer.

In addition to grand plans for 2013′s Vida Vegan Con, we started thinking…we wanted even more content and share a never-ending travel bug, so why not pick the brains of the Pacific Northwest Silicon Forest vegans for something special?

As usual, stay tuned…for the Vida Vegan Tech Seminar this Fall—November 3, 2012, to be exact, in downtown Seattle, Washington, at the stunning Seattle Public Library. Registration will open soon! Get in touch if you’d like to be involved.

And just one more thing: All three organizers are proud to announce our involvement with this summer’s annual International Food Bloggers Conference, Foodista, which just so happens to be this August in Portland. All three conference organizers and bloggers, Janessa, Jess & Michele, will be holding a Niche Blogging talk, and we’re told Nutiva Organic will be providing a special vegan breakfast on Sunday. Plus, Foodista is  offering a special discount to all friends of Vida Vegan Con for the month of May, which can be found here.

With that, here’s more from our first Exquisite Dinner:

Spinach Dip 

The Pub Trio: Wookie Wings with hot sauce, Mac & Cheese, Red Bean Slider

Every day’s better with a Wookie Wing.

The Standard: Lentil Loaf with Miso BBQ sauce, rice flour-battered sweet potato fries, grilled asparagus

Dessert: Rich Chocolate Cake with Porter ganache and raspberry butterfly

Do you have your handy dandy date book in front of you?

We hope so, because the time has come—we’re super officially ready to announce the dates for the second Vida Vegan Bloggers Conference weekend in Spring 2013.

Wait for it…wait for it…and put aside the following May weekend:

Feel free to grab this - make sure to link back to vidavegancon.com

Or, hey, take a week’s vacation and sample vegan overload—not to mention supporting and adoring local businesses—in Portland, Oregon. This year, we’ll be expanding and moving to the Park Blocks in downtown Portland, in the beautiful and grand Portland Art Museum space.

source 

That’s it! The contract’s signed and registration will open this summer. That’s in addition to the revealing of our speakers, more badges, beloved sponsors, lodging details, and more fun stuff.

As always, stay tuned here and to our facebook and twitter for the latest updates.

Questions?

Feel free to email us at VidaVeganConference[at]gmail.com

See you in 2013!

Now that you’ve all read the big announcement (we’re SO EXCITED), we want to share this reminder with you:

Potential speakers:  your applications are due by MAY 1.  This is for everyone; those of you who spoke in 2011 and want to speak again, and those of you who didn’t speak in 2011 but want to in 2013.

The Travel Panel, 2011. Photo courtesy of Veg News.

Remember that we’re aiming for a smaller speaking pool this time around, and you’ll be likely asked for involvement twice, if not three times or more, during the weekend conference. Think talks, panels, discussion groups, etc. Keep an open mind–and get ready to talk.

Please remember that all speakers are subject to approval. All traveling speakers will be offered a limited travel credit reimbursement.

With that, please see this link, and we welcome past speakers, attendees, and new folks to apply away!

See you guys in May 2013 in Portland!

Janessa displays our official VVC glee.

We have to share…the little vegan bloggers conference that could was the proud recipient of the VegNews 2011 ‘Vegan Lovefest’ award. Woohoo!

Thanks, VegNews, for your support, love, and thanks to all who attended the first ever Vida Vegan Con!

The award was placed on Janessa’s sweet mantle mere moments after this photo was taken.

May 2013: Portland, OR

Yes, we are returning to Portland for our sophomore conference. We found a fantastic, new location that we all instantly fell in love with—we toyed with announcing the name, but we haven’t signed the contract yet. You understand. It’s bigger than last year’s space, so we’ll be able to fit more of you and our favorite exhibitors! Plus some extras we’ve been brewing up ideas for, like a lounge area or work center.

As soon as we sign the contracts, we’ll give you a date and get ready to open registration. Just like last time, we’ll put together travel info and direct you to the best lodging deals, including dorm possibilities. We know a lot of you made longer vacations of the last VVC and will do our best to extend those special room-block prices. So stay tuned for more! And if you’d like to submit a speaker proposal, do it here before May 1, 2012.

August 2014: Chicago, IL

On our scouting trip in January, we knew we had to hold a conference here. We didn’t find the perfect spot yet, so the scouting will continue for VVC III! If you’re in Chicago and have suggestions, let us know. We’ll be taking another trip out there before too long.

Last hinty bit of newsy hints: One-day concentrated seminars comin’ up! We’re planning a small, single-day, concentrated blogging/social networking tech seminar for this November and a vegan business one for March 2014. They will be held in different cities, and neither of them will be in Portland or Chicago. Take away one tease, lay on another, right? We hope it’s more intriguing than frustrating.

Also coming up for local folks: On April 22, Earth Day, Vida Vegan is partnering with BridgePort Brewpub to bring you an exquisitely spring-themed vegan coursed dinner.

The menu will include fresh and lively dishes made with BridgePort beers (yup, they’re vegan-friendly microbrews), and a portion of all ticket sales will go to a local animal sanctuary.

More details, the final menu and a link to ticket sales will be announced in late March/early April. Check out the Facebook event here, and save the date.

All in all, we can’t wait to see you all again!

We know January and February in Chicago can be brutal, but that’s when we had time to go and that’s when we could afford to go, so that’s when we went, and you know what, we loved it!

Michele was lucky enough to grow up there, but for Jess and Janessa, this was a first look (and feel!) of the Windy City. We packed up our boots and gloves and headed to Chi-town to see if it has what it takes to host a few hundred vegan bloggers for a weekend.

We explored…

Three days of killer public transit for $14. Nice.

Chicago: Where a surprise Native Foods just pops up on your walk downtown...

We met up with friends, old and new…

VVC Organizers Janessa, Jess & Michele, with periwinkle-capped cookbook author Kelly Peloza outside Chicago Diner: The Brunch Visit

And we ate!

Nachos at Chicago Diner

The Chicago Diner: Where friends can share a Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Milkshake!

Custom pizza at The Boiler Room: Daiya mozz, Upton's seitan bacon, fresh basil & red sauce

Whole Foods Lincon Park: Where one can shop with a glass of wine.

Intelligentsia Coffee

Hot dogs from the Whole Foods food court!

Tacos from Quesadilla La Reina del Sur

The verdict? Chicago definitely has what it takes to embrace us and keep us busy. We saw a lot of cool spaces, ate a lot of comfort food (some good, some bad, some awesome), and even found a tattoo artist who uses vegan inks.

The holdup? We’re looking to bring you an even better, more polished event for 2013 and are honestly a little nervous about holding our sophomore conference so far away. Chicago’s a little more expensive than Portland, and we have a smaller pool of friends and family to beg, borrow, and steal from. We know we can do it…but we also can’t afford to lose our day jobs. We have a bunch to talk about before making a final decision, but we’re planning for a March 15th announcement, after a couple more meetings. 

You know either way, Portland or Chicago, it’s gonna be a blast. It wouldn’t be so surprising if we went with one for 2013 and another for VVC3. So, see you somewhere May 2013!