We’ve finalized our speaker schedules for both the Twin Cities Veg Fest on Saturday, October 26 and the Their Lives, Our Voices conference on Sunday, October 27.

We’re thrilled to have such a great collection of speakers joining us for both events. Our speakers include leaders of the national animal protection movement as well as a number of local activists and experts. At the Twin Cities Veg Fest, we’ll be covering topics such as the realities of animal agriculture, political action for animals, the lives of farm animals, the ethics of eating animals, and vegan nutrition. At Their Lives, Our Voices, we’ll go more in depth on many topics, along with a number of sessions on practical activism such as event organization, managing volunteers, long-term strategy, and more.

Mark your calendars now for the Twin Cities Veg Fest and register today for Their Lives, Our Voices. TLOV is only $20 (or $10 for students/low-income individuals)! We look forward to seeing you at both of these great events.

We’ve confirmed our five speakers for this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest, and we’re quite excited to share our line up with you.

This year we’re bringing in two great speakers from out of town, Nathan Runkle, Executive Director of Mercy for Animals, and  Nick Cooney, Compassionate Communities Campaign Manager at Farm Sanctuary. Nathan and Nick are both wonderful speakers with a lot share about farmed animals.

We’re also thrilled to have Christine Coughlin of Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection. Christine will tell you about her work on behalf of farm animals through lobbying efforts and political action in the Minnesota legislature. Jeff Johnson is an Assistant Professor of  Philosophy at St. Catherine University and a Compassionate Action for Animals board member. Jeff will discuss the ethical issues inherent to eating animals. Finally, registered dietitian Suzy Sorensen will talk about how to stay health on a plant-based diet.

Over the next few months we’ll have more details to share about each speaker’s talk as well as interviews with each speaker. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or by subscribing to our news feed.

Twin Cities Veg Fest is all about attendees. We want people from all over the region to come try delicious vegan food, learn more about animal issues, and have a great time. One of our biggest jobs as organizers is to advertise the festival far and wide. We’ve just printed 40,000 of these flyers as part of that advertising effort. We’ll be distributing this flyer around the Twin Cities, stuffing them in leaflets we hand out, and providing them as inserts in some local newspapers.

If you’d like to help with our advertising efforts, please contact info@tcvegfest.com. We can mail a batch of flyers to people in nearby states and cities if you’d like to distribute them in your own area. You can leave them at coffee shops, schools, churches, or anywhere else that people gather.

Join activists from around the country at the 2013 Their Lives, Our Voices animal advocacy conference! Hosted by Compassionate Action Animals, Their Lives, Our Voices aims to empower animal advocates in their efforts on behalf of farmed animals. TLOV features engaging and informative discussions led by leaders in the movement. This event will consists of two tracks of speakers focusing on activist strategy and skills development, with a kick-off keynote from Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals.

The day’s schedule will include talks on grassroots organizing, effective lobbying and political action, educational outreach, event planning, tabling strategy, ecofeminism, nutrition, and more. Attendees are encouraged to actively participate. And of course, a conference like this is a great networking opportunity where you can meet like-minded people who share your passion for helping animals. Come make TLOV a success and register today!

The conference will be held on Sunday, October 27th at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. The event will run from 9:45am to 5:20pm. Registration is $20, with a $10 level for students and low-income individuals. Conference attendees are also encouraged to attend the second annual Twin Cities Veg Fest on Saturday, October 26th.