Just a few short weeks remain until I head to Portland (aka vegan mecca) for the first-ever vegan blogger conference, Vida Vegan Con. I'm all registered, my flight is booked, business cards are on the way... so it's all I can do NOT to start packing now. I'll try to hold off at least another week for that.

So, why do you care? A vegan blogger convention might not be that exciting if you're not a vegan blogger, and I know that most of you aren't. That's ok. I'm excited about the conference not only because I'll get to meet tons of my vegan-bloggery-brethren but also because of the discussion panels and workshops that will give me some food for thought and, I hope, make me a better blogger.

I'm also stoked to take advantage of my time in Portland and stuff my face with yummy vegan eats. Portland's one of my favorite eating towns, with a long list of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants. Plus, the conference organizers are hooking the attendees up with a goodie bag, so I'm looking forward to getting introduced to some great products that I haven't had an opportunity to try. You can be certain you'll be hearing about some of those!

Vida Vegan Con is a great opportunity to bring the vegan blogging community closer together and to share information, but my trip to Portland will also be a chance to reconnect with some old friends. A number of close, long-time friends live in Portland and I'm tickled to be able to sneak in some quality friend-time on what is ostensibly a business trip. I even convinced my blogger and hiker pal Sarah to come down from Washington to attend the conference, and I'm excited to get to see her for the first time in nearly a year! 

Are you attending Vida Vegan Con?