Inc. 500 Conference: Day Two

The Inc. 500 Conference will be continuing until Sunday. However, I flew out of D.C this evening to attend a special event for two friends back home. I was a bit disappointed that I would be missing Russell Simmons, yogi and vegan, who is speaking on Saturday morning - but I feel as though a "wedding" might actually trump in the "personal important life events" category. 

  

I wanted to share information on one of the most intriguing speakers I've seen in a long time. Ted Leonsis, a businessman and philanthropist at heart, spoke today with finite passion about creating business for happiness and to help further develop people. The man has experience in a multitude of industries - he owns professionals sports teams, created a film called Nanking that was featured at Sundance, he worked at AOL, and he even knows what Groupon is (because he's the Vice Chairman). His experience gives him a unique perspective and I found his faith in the positive possibilities of the human soul very impressive. 

I wanted to share this with you for a couple reasons - because 1. Ted's blog Ted's Take will be included in my  blog roll moving forward and 2. Because if you have any sort of an entrepreneur spirit you should know who he is (as potential motivation).

Thanks, 

Danie

Inc. 500 Conference

The White House was looking picturesque today as my flight was jetting by the Nation’s Capital.

Of course by picturesque I mean that, if you can ignore the stark reconstruction of the National Mall blaring dirt instead of water and focus on the little white building in the background, Washington D.C. is actually quite refreshing to see without the tainted picture of a news story. 

I’m in D.C. for the Inc. 500 Conference.

I wanted to blog specifically about this conference because, not only is it informative and sophisticated from a content perspective, but it also has been a great experience from a client perspective.

Last year I had the opportunity to travel to a conference in Denver because my company was one of the major sponsors. Everything went well until dinner. The Inc. advertising rep didn’t realize I was vegan. I didn’t say anything before dinner. There was a language barrier between me and the server. Things were returned to the kitchen multiple times and I felt very uncomfortable - even worse I think the server was frustrated and looked defeated.

This year, however, it was definitely a different story. The ad rep that handles our account secured that I was served a vegan dish for every portion of the meal tonight. There was not a single mishap through dinner, which allowed me to enjoy the people around me and the atmosphere.

It just proves that good relationship management means sometimes you have to go that extra mile for a business partner - which is appreciated and really does make a difference.

I’m exhausted from traveling and have about 5+ different break out sessions and meetings to attend tomorrow. I hope you have a very productive (and fun) Friday.  

Thanks,

Danie

An Eastern Prom, Local Sprouts Afternoon

Lately my days have been passing by without a mention to time. It is the ebb and flow of life, and right now the flow is flooding with things to do and people to meet. However, last Monday Joe and I decided to grab sandwiches from Local Sprouts on Congress Street and watch the sailboats sit on the ocean. Life was sunny and simple - even just for the moment.

AND if you haven't visited Local Sprouts Cooperative, the place is vegan and meat friendly - and all from Maine. Check it out!

Who knew sail boats were the size of my toenail? How interesting...

Yummy hummus sandwich with tempeh and fried rice on the side.

Joe's meaty meat meat sandwich.  I'm not exactly sure what the name of it was - something with BBQ I think. (I still think the veggies look much more scrumptious!)

Last Bit of Summer & Vegan Squash

Hello Readers –

Hope you had a fabulous Labor Day weekend with lots of sunshine and vegan potato salad. I would love to hear what you did if you would like to leave a message.

Just a couple of things to share today!

To start, last weekend, while Irene was jetting up the East Coast and I was rummaging around my apartment, Joe and I decided the best option would be to stay in and make dinner. It was perfect because the power was still on and I had skipped by an acorn squash at the grocery store two days earlier which magically landed in my red basket and was now sitting in my refrigerator. 

Since Joe is a classic meat and potatoes guy and isn’t really well versed in the cooking category of “squash”, I figured I could cook it quite classically -- with some brown sugar. To my surprise, he had stumbled upon this Italian Roast Acorn Squash recipe from Dianasaur Dishes and we decided to leave off the cheese to make it vegan, although you could buy substitute cheese and it would taste just as good.

You should try it. Good luck.

Second, summertime in Maine is coming to a close and our family decided it would be awesome to see the Dani Tribesmen on the reggae cruise this past Sunday. Music, beer, views of the Maine landscape, and dancing if you’d like. It’s a family favorite since a third of the band members are actually my family! They have three weekends left and leave every Sunday from Boothbay Harbor.

Waiting for the boat. Enjoying the sun. 

Enjoying the wind...

Lastly, I am taking a trip to Chicago in October and I will need to eat! Any recommendations on where I can find fun vegan eateries and where a girl can get a vegan cookie would be appreciated. 

Thanks, 

Danie