Techies, journalists and everyone else attending the online news industry’s annual conference gathered at Microsoft’s New England Research & Development (NERD) center Thursday night for the kick-off reception. Christine Montgomery, ONA president and PBS.org managing editor, welcomed attendees to the “biggest party in journalism.” In an interview, Montgomery said that journalists’ tools are constantly changing in all digital media, but at least one constant remains. “Journalists still need to have a strong curiosity about everything,” she said.

The reception drew hundreds of people into a cozy space that allowed for easy networking and face-to-face socializing. Hester Riches of CTVnews.ca called the conference a “nerd paradise.”

This year’s conference sessions cover topics from crowd-sourcing news stories to a mini law session on how to navigate copyright and other issues online. Michelle Johnson of Boston University, a conference co-chair, said she looked forward to starting a dialogue on diversity and women in the media with Saturday’s keynote talk “Race, Gender and Technology: The Third Rail?”

Tickets to the 2011 conference sold out on September 1 and this year’s organizers confirmed that the more than 1,200 registered attendees set a new record for the digital journalism event.

Conference updates continue here and be sure to follow #ONA11 and @ONAConf on Twitter for more coverage.

MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE BY Daniel Gamberg, Matt Nelson, Adam Perez, Kathleen Raven and Frank Yonkof