How to Follow the Online News Association Conference
The sold-out annual convergence of digital journalists begins this week in San Francisco, with a career summit/job fair and pre-conference workshops on Thursday, and formal proceedings Friday and Saturday.
Once again, I’ll be acting as control tower on Twitter @ONA09, directing you to discussions of note, posts, articles, and relevant links. The conference hashtag is #ONA09. Keynotes and individual sessions will have their own hashtags for easier filtering. They’ll be posted to the conference website and available in the printed program you’ll receive on-site.
If you plan to blog, vlog or otherwise report about the conference, let me know by leaving your link in comments. I’ll be tweeting from my personal account too. Follow me @MacDivaONA.
The student newsroom will report from the trenches and post coverage at the ONA09 website. I’m told they will be liveblogging lots of sessions.
For the first time, conference keynotes will be live streamed and available to anyone online. In addition, ONA members will get free access to live streams of many Friday and Saturday sessions. Non-members can get access to those streams for $25 a day. Purchase details will be posted at the ONA website soon.
And finally, I made a couple of tools that I hope will make the experience more fun:
- a backchannel (now with Web and iPhone favicon goodness) that shows conference-related tweets
- a map of San Francisco bars, restaurants and sights. If you want to add places, let me know and I’ll add you as a collaborator.
and
View What’s Near the Hilton San Francisco in a larger map
Two more notes, since we seem to get these questions every year:
Weather: The weather promises to be beautiful, with forecasts calling for sunny skies and temperatures ranging from the low 50s at night (12-13 °C) to the upper 60s (16-20 °C) during the day. Nevertheless, San Francisco is notoriously chilly so bring a jacket.
What to Wear: There is no dress code for the conference, but attendees typically come in business casual and dress up for the Online Journalism Awards ceremony (yes, in past years, people have come in tuxes and gowns). If you plan to go out at night, public transport is available on the Muni, but you will most likely either do a lot of (expensive) cabbing or walking. Choose your footwear accordingly.
Like all things in life, a conference is what you make of it. Bring your questions and ideas and have a great time. I look forward to meeting you.
How to Pitch Tips From a Fast Company Staffer
Linda Tischler, who covers design stories for Fast Company magazine, posts 10 tips on how to sell your story idea.
The list is mostly pet peeves, which freelancers must pay attention to. But there are also two excellent guidelines on what to do:
Offer me something nobody’s had before. The quickest way to catch my eye is to give me a chance to be first to report something cool. Editors, a very competitive bunch, love that. Give me some catnip to dangle before them.
…
Do pitch me something that advances the conversation. What are the big issues designers will be grappling with in the next few years? Who are the brightest young talents? Who has solved an intractable problem in a particularly innovative way? What trends are you picking up as you talk to clients? Why should I care about what you’re pitching me?
Read the rest of Linda Tischler’s post, “How to Pitch Me.”
For more pitch guidance, read my post, how to pitch a multimedia story to MSNBC.com.
Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr
Who’s Missing From This Food Map?
Ever wonder what the most popular links are within your circle of friends and trusted sources?
Web Trend Map, a new interactive site, let’s you do that. Created by designer Craig Mod and information architect iA Inc., the website maps selected Twitter users and displays the trending links among those users off to the side.
The site was sorely lacking in food-related maps, so in the spirit of my most recent post, I made one.
Are there any food bloggers/makers/photographers you love who are on Twitter? Let me know and I’ll consider them for inclusion.
Craig and iA write more about the thinking behing Web Trend Map on their site. And if the words “web trend map” sound familiar, it’s ’cause iA Inc. is the company behind the popular Web trends infographic, now available as a poster.
