The Online News Association conference in San Francisco officially is rocking my world. I have met so many awesome people here and it has been a huge success in terms of networking.

On Wednesday, Sean and I spent the day seeing the sites and little hidden gems of San Francisco. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf and saw the rowdy sea lions at Pier 39, walked through Chinatown, stopped in City Lights Bookstore, and rode BART all over town.

Thursday, I started off with a nice breakfast at Honey Honey Cafe & Crepery where I enjoyed  a strawberry, kiwi and banana crepe with cinnamon and brown sugar along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This place was great and they offered free wifi.

Sean and I then ventured off to 826 Valencia, otherwise known as the pirate shop. It was full of tons of little pirate knickknacks like golden coins, black beards and eye patches. In fact, I even got mopped while I was there, a little joke among pirates.

Next stop was meeting the ONA Student Newsroom and touring the Current .com headquarters. Andrew Fitzgerald, the online producer for Current TV, talked to us about how Current has evolved, the different methods they’ve used to connect to their audience, the success of the company and the adaptations they use from citizen journalists.

I personally was interested in their Vanguard Journalism because I have been looking for a future in investigative journalism that would allow me to travel and provide a voice for people around the world on their culture, beliefs, and every day lives.

More posts will follow with all the excitement of yesterday’s sessions, who I met, the opportunities that arose and what I’m doing today.

Here is the Soundslides project I created with Ausin Fast, a student from Miami University in Ohio, called ONA ‘09 Word on the Street.