In the 1970s, Alex Hershaft started noticing that animal rights people were attending his vegetarian conferences.

After discussing with them and doing more reading on the subject, in 1981 he organized Action for Life, a joining of the vegetarian and animal rights movements, and launched a series of annual conferences.

These conferences were held annually for seven years (1981–1987) and typically included training sessions for activists, networking, ceremonial activities, video showings, and open discussions.

[5] As of 2021[update], a typical conference involves "2,000 attendees representing 90 organizations from a dozen countries, with 100 exhibitors and 170 speakers presenting in 80 sessions.

"[6] Elected by the speakers of each annual conference, individuals who have made outstanding contributions towards animal rights in the US are inducted into the U.S.