Welcome, Michelle!

Did you have enough protein and good fats with the salad? Particularly in the beginning, have a large serving of meat/fish with plenty of good fats, like olive oil dressing, until full. Have nuts and cheese on salad or as dessert.

Conferences can be horrid and have trashy food, but if travel and eating out are part of your life, might as well learn tips to survive them now.
Here's one with reader comments added: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lo...wcarbtravel.htm
And there are many threads here too: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=441708

Profile says you teach health and science, and the Low carb Paleo movement has supporters in Aus and NZ...maybe there will be a change to serving real foods??