With three full days of workshops, discussions, creative presentations and more expected at ONA13, we want to collect as many ideas as possible and know more about what you’d like to see and talk about when you come to Atlanta this October.

To give you more time to weigh in on the conference design, we’ve extended the deadline for the ONA13 Suggestion Box for one full week! You now have until May 8 at 11:59 p.m. E.T. to tell us what you can teach digital journalists.

Help us disrupt newsrooms around the world and train a modern workforce of journalists. You can check out all the great ideas
submitted so far at the ONA13 Suggestion Box.

We are especially interested in ideas aimed at beginners and intermediate level training.

Have an idea for the conference, but don’t want to present? We want to hear that, too. Submit today!

Don’t forget, registration for ONA13 is now open. Register now and get the discounted early-bird rate.

Be an early bird and save

Registration is officially open for the 2013 Online News Association Conference & Awards Banquet, Oct. 17-19, in Atlanta. Pro tip: The earlier you register, the lower your fee.

New this year: One price gets you into any and all conference sessions, the Midway, exhibits and the Job Fair! Pick and choose from our extended (three-day) program.

Starting today, members and non-members will have two months to sign up for the conference at the early-bird rate. Then the cost goes up incrementally, so avoid the last-minute crunch. As past attendees know, ONA13 passes sell out quickly, so plan to get yours early.

ONA13 General Pass

Registering as a group (10 or more, for a $50 per ticket discount)? Contact support@journalists.org for assistance.

ONA is now accepting applications for the 2013 MJ Bear Fellowship, which identifies and supports promising digital journalists under 30. Fellows are up-and-coming early-career journalists selected for their potential to expand the boundaries of digital news through professional experimentation, research or specific projects. The fellowship provides a personal mentor for six months, a three-year paid ONA membership and the opportunity to present at the 2013 Online News Association Conference and Awards in Atlanta.

Apply for the MJ Bear Fellowship

Here are three more reasons to apply:

Students, now there’s an ONA Facebook group for you
The new ONA Students Facebook group is off and running, with students posting thoughts on the job market, internships, data viz, coding, social media ethics, on-campus events, the future of the industry and — of course — applying to the ONA13 Student Newsroom. Join and connect with more than 150 members talking about digital journalism and technology. (Educators, don’t forget the ONA Facebook group for you, now with over 375 friends.)

Dive into design at ONA dCamp DC 
We’re hosting ONA dCamp DC, a full day intensive workshop on news design May 11 at the Washington Post. Designed for reporters, editors, executives, creatives, technologists and more, this workshop is for anyone looking to learn and collaborate around news innovation and design. You’ll be placed in teams guided by leading news design experts and will work from brainstorm to prototype to project execution in one day. This training is brought to you with the generous support of the Gannett Foundation. ONA dCamp is only $5, which will cover the cost of meals. Apply now. Deadline to apply is May 3.

Join the ONA13 brainstorm on Branch

What do you want to see at ONA13? We’ll be opening the ONA13 Suggestion Box soon, which will allow anyone to submit a session idea, but before we do, we’d like you to help shape the direction of ONA13.

Join the conversations we’re hosting on Branch now: What do you want to see at ONA13? and What is the most creative learning experience or presentation that you’ve seen lately? Over two dozen journalists have already weighed in.

Deadline Approaching for Data Journalism Awards

Applications are due April 5 for the Data Journalism Awards, administered by the The Global Editor’s Network, and recognizing outstanding work in the field of data journalism worldwide. Eight awards will be given in four categories, with 15,000€ in prize money. Submit your work.

Innovation Uncensored

ONA members, save $50 on registration for Fast Company’s signature Innovation Uncensored event April 23-24 at Terminal 5 in New York City, where you can meet today’s most creative and daring business leaders.

Earlier this month, ONA joined with a number of journalism organizations to express disappointment with recent actions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that affect coverage of their member institutions. ONA Board President Jim Brady attended a meeting with NCAA officials and representatives of five other national media groups March 4 to discuss issues raised in our Feb. 13 letter to the group. NCAA agreed to the following:

• The NCAA will set up a call with our organizations after the upcoming basketball tournament to discuss the establishment of a permanent working group to address outstanding media issues.

• The NCAA will include media groups in future discussions with the Division I men’s basketball committee regarding the seating of working journalists at the tournament.

• Editors will be invited to upcoming meetings with the NCAA and conference officials and have the opportunity to introduce discussion on injury reporting standards.

• NCAA officials said there would be no numerical restrictions on social media posting during its tournament events.

• NCAA officials will contact the Pac-12 Conference to inform the league that there is no longer a policy limiting by number live tweets during college basketball or football games.

• The NCAA said there would be no change to existing policies on photo positions at the basketball tournament.

ONA at SXSWi // Awesomest Journalism Party. Ever. III.
Are you headed down to Austin for SXSW Interactive next week? Join us at the Awesomest Journalism Party. Ever. III. from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. We’re getting together with journalists and tech folks at Palm Door, 401 Sabine St., just two blocks from the Convention Center and featuring awesome Austin food, awesome Texas beer and an awesome photobooth from SnapFiesta. Say hi to ONA’s Jeanne Brooks and Jen Mizgata at the party and while you’re at SXSWi.
RSVP for the Awesomest Journalism Party. Ever. III.

We’re hiring!
We’re taking applications now for Manager, Sponsorship Sales and Partnerships. We’re looking for a full-time, creative and tech-minded sales manager with an entrepreneurial edge to drive revenue and relationships for ONA. If you are a sales expert with deep ties to and understanding of new technology and the potential it has for digital media — or know someone who is — we’re interested in talking to you. Check out the full job posting and submit your application on LinkedIn.

ONA joins letter to NCAA on media restrictions
ONA joined nine media organizations, including the American Society of News Editors, in sending a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert raising concerns about the actions NCAA member institutions have taken to restrict journalists from fully covering local teams, including issues regarding access to facilities, players and coaches, as well as restrictions on the publication of blog posts and use of social media, including Twitter and Facebook. As Tim Franklin and Andy Alexander of ASNE wrote, “the letter reiterates our view that the NCAA and the media should be partners in sports coverage with an eye toward producing stories of maximum interest and information to the public. We have used strong language that we feel is absolutely necessary to get the NCAA’s attention.”

As part of our effort to offer better benefits to ONA members, we’ll be experimenting, researching and partnering to bring you discounts on interesting resources, tools and opportunities. We’re delighted to announce our first, below.

Not a member? Become one today! And if you or your organization have a benefit you’d like to offer to our members, fill out this form.

Lock in beta pricing for Spundge PRO for a year

Are you looking for a better tool to follow issues and collect material about topics that you’re passionate about? Our friends at Spundge are offering ONA members the chance to lock in the beta pricing for a PRO account for the rest of the year. Spundge is a tool to collect content, letting you search news, blogs and social media and organize your material by topic, event, date and more. Going PRO gives you the ability to publish, letting you seamlessly post from Spundge to social networks, blogs, CMS and newsletters. Spundge PRO is used by journalists at Digital First Media, Quartz, National Journal, the Vancouver Sun, and other news outlets.

• ONA members can sign up until March 31 for a 12-month subscription to Spundge PRO and lock in the beta price of $9 per month.
• ONA members who sign up after March 31 (or when the beta period ends) will receive a special discount rate of 15 percent for a 12-month subscription.

Just one week left to apply for the AP-Google Scholarship!
AP and Google are funding six $20,000 scholarships for undergrad and graduate students working at the intersection of journalism and technology. Applications are due Friday, Feb. 8. Don’t wait to get your project proposal together. We want to see creative and innovative projects that show how you’ll expand the boundaries of journalism. Apply now.

And for inspiration, be sure to check out our first scholar's blog — Kevin Schaul kicks off a series of guest posts by the 2012 AP-Google Scholars, with background and resources focusing on why open source is so important to journalism. Each of the six scholars will be blogging on journalists.org over the coming weeks about their experiences with digital journalism and their award-wining projects.

Takeaways from AAN Digital conference
Check out the resources from ONACamp at AAN Digital, a series of workshops ONA hosted at the Association of Alternative Newsmedia conference on Jan. 26, with the support of the Gannett Foundation. We’ve pulled together presentations and more resources from Tumblr’s Mark Coatney, Google’s Vanessa Schneider, NPR’s Doug Mitchell, CIR’s Meghann Farnsworth, Stanford Knight Fellow Latoya Peterson and Deborah Petersen of the San Jose Mercury News.

Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief, Digital First Media, was re-elected as 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, re-elected Vice President; Jody Brannon, Editor, Next America, The National Journal, and former Treasurer, now Secretary; and Josh Hatch, Senior Editor for Data and Interactives, Chronicle of Higher Education and chair of both the Online Journalism Awards and Legal Affairs Committee, newly elected Treasurer.

At Digital First Media, Jim oversees the 75 daily newspapers, 292 non-daily publications and 341 online sites that are owned by Journal Register Company and MediaNews Group. He also oversees DFM’s Project Thunderdome, which is providing new products and services to its properties and centralizing the production of non-local content so that local papers can focus on their local communities.

“I truly appreciate the board’s support in allowing me a second year as ONA’s president,” said Brady. “Last year was one in which we continued to expand the services we offer to our members, and we capped it off with a phenomenal ONA12 in San Francisco. I’m honored to get a front-row seat to watch how we’ll evolve in 2013, led by ONA’s amazing and expanded staff.”