It’s not too early to plan your trip to the 2012 Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet in San Francisco, a city that epitomizes the pioneer spirit.

ONA12, Sept. 20-22, will tap into the Bay Area’s innovative media, tech and entrepreneur communities and the hundreds of biotech and information technology companies that are thriving in Silicon Valley. Add world-class restaurants, museums, theaters and orchestras and a ballpark, and you have the makings of a terrific three-day (or longer) stay.

Here’s a guide to who’s running the show, where you can stay and how much you should budget.

Help us retool the Online Journalism Awards
The Online Journalism Awards committee is getting ready for submissions later this year, and we’re asking for your input to help us in updating how we categorize organizations. Please take this short survey — it will go a long way toward making sure the OJAs keep pace in reflecting the state of the industry.

ONA12 Session Selector open
We know you have ideas for sessions at the 2012 Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet, Sept. 20-22, in San Francisco. Good news: Our Session Selector is now open and you’re officially invited to submit session proposals for consideration in the ONA12 program or apply to be a speaker. Deadline for session proposals is March 1, deadline for speaker applications is March 27.

Help us plan sessions for the 2012 Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet, Sept. 20-22 in San Francisco.

Our Session Selector is now open and you’re invited to submit session proposals for consideration in the ONA12 program. Submissions will be accepted through March 1. Then, from March 6 to March 29, the ONA community will vote and comment on sessions they’d like to see.

This year, there are two ways to offer your expertise at ONA12:

• If you have a session you’d like to suggest for the conference, take a look at the submission form and send us your best idea.

• If you have expertise to share with the digital journalism community and you’d like to speak at the conference, you can fill out the speaker application. As we put the program together, we may contact you.

Ideas from the community, along with input from the ONA12 conference committee, ONA staff and a member of the Board of Directors, will help the program committee create the sessions for ONA12.

If you have questions about the Session Selector or the ONA12 programming, email ONA12program@journalists.org. If you have any general questions about the conference, email ONA12@journalists.org.

As always, we look forward to seeing what you come up with.

The Online News Association, the world’s largest membership organization of digital journalists, has an exciting opportunity for a full-time, tech-minded business development and sales manager to drive revenue and sponsorships for this fast-growing nonprofit 501(c)(3).

He or she will work creatively with the Executive Director to set strategy and drive new vendors and sponsors to our sold-out annual conference, newly developed website and growing member events around the world. We’re looking for a visionary who can move seamlessly between the profit and nonprofit worlds, understands the tech marketplace, knows the players and can help form productive partnerships with technical and creative leaders in digital media.

ONA, with its Board of Directors comprised of game-changing digital journalists and small, dynamic staff, is leading the way for media in the digital age, and prides itself on innovation, collaboration and quick response to member needs.

Interested, or know someone who might be a good fit? See our full job description here.

First off, I’d like to wish a happy 2012 to all our members. It’s sure to be another exhilarating year for those of us in journalism, and we’re thrilled you’ve chosen to experience it with us. Additionally, I’m personally honored to be serving as President of ONA this year. As a longtime board member, I’ve seen this organization grow dramatically over the past seven years, and I’m proud we’ve been able to build on the original vision our founders had when they created ONA in 1999.

I’m writing today to provide you with an update on our recent board meeting and some other important ONA news.

This was the first meeting of our 2012 board — with new members Mario Tedeschini-Lalli, Burt Herman, Juana Summers and John Keefe all in attendance at the offices of Dow Lohnes in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20-21.

Over the past year, our small but mighty staff has launched a new website with a wealth of original content, trained our membership, grown ONA Local groups around the world, and provided guidance to journalists on pressing issues. So it’s with great pleasure that I kick off 2012 by announcing promotions to reward tireless work and staff additions to meet the needs of our rapidly growing ONA community.

Jen Mizgata

Let’s start with our newest hire: Jen Mizgata, who has been connecting members and the journalism community at large through all of our social media platforms and the ONA Issues Tumblr, starts today as our full-time Communications and Social Media Manager. Jen’s role will expand to help create innovative engagement initiatives and campaigns to promote programming, and she’ll serve as the homepage editor for journalists.org.

Jim Brady elected ONA president

Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief, Digital First Media, was elected President at the ONA’s January Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C. Jim, who is in his fourth term as a Board member, has held the offices of Treasurer and Vice President over the past three years, and has chaired or served on many key committees, including Legal Affairs and Strategy.

Joining Jim as officers of the organization are: Meredith Artley, Vice President & Managing Editor, CNN Digital, elected Vice President; Jody Brannon, in the second year of her two-year term as Treasurer; and Will Sullivan, Director of Mobile News, Lee Enterprises, elected Secretary.

ONA Students and Educators:

Happy New Year!

As the semester begins, we want to remind you that the deadline for the AP-Google Journalism & Technology Scholarship is fast approaching: Jan. 27, 2012.

We know many of you have questions about the application and we’re hosting another Google+ Hangout event. What type of project is the committee looking for? Do I have to major in journalism? Can graduate students apply?

ONA Scholarship Manager Irving Washington will host a Google+ Hangout Q&A to help you prepare for the AP-Google Scholarship on Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (ET).

Dear members,

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known as SOPA. With the House Judiciary Committee set to resume debate on the bill later this month, we thought it time to weigh in. As an organization representing thousands of content creators, ONA strongly condemns infringement of intellectual property and the violation of copyright. However, we believe SOPA would do little to stem those problems and would actually cause harm to the Internet and to the American public.

Indeed, the act — and its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) — would inappropriately shut down websites, disrupt the free flow of legitimate information and limit Americans from fully exercising their First Amendment rights.

That is why, consistent with ONA’s desire and mission to keep the Internet open and vibrant, we join with others to oppose SOPA and PIPA. Furthermore, we encourage our members to contact their representatives in Congress and ask that they, too, oppose these bills.

Join the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the Online News Association Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT, for a student-led online summit, “Telling Stories of Diversity in the Digital Age.”

Presentations will focus on emerging issues in contemporary journalism, including net neutrality, media consolidation, broadband access in rural America, the role of citizen journalism in the Arab Spring and comic journalism.

The summit will open with introductory remarks from Associate Professor of Journalism Simran Sethi, who teaches the Diversity in Media class. “Opportunities for storytelling are unprecedented,” says Sethi. “We no longer need to rely on legacy media to share information or connection with one another. This evolution is particularly salient for diverse constituents who are marginalized or left out of mainstream discourse.”