When you arrive at V3con, you’ll receive a gift bag with, among other goodies, a sample box of Jelly Belly jelly beans to (quietly) munch on during panel discussions.

It’s a special treat — first-time V3con sponsor Jelly Belly Candy Co. is contributing an assortment of its well-known sweets, including a green tea flavor and Jelly Belly Beanaturals, neither of which is sold in the United States.

Jelly Belly understands the importance of the Asian market. The company built a manufacturing plant in Thailand, which distributes to the rest of Asia, plus Europe and Africa, and it opened a corporate office in Shanghai last year.

“Jelly Belly beans have become a global brand with strong name recognition,” said Tomi Holt, director of communications for the company, headquartered in Fairfield in the San Francisco Bay Area. “And, of course,” she said, “good taste is a universal experience.”

At the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, the public is invited to take tours and view candy making in action. Fun fact: Before a new flavor hits the market, employees are invited to a tasting party to rate the texture and flavor. How do I get that job?

Marsha Takeda-Morrison, a Los Angeles-based writer of eight years and a third-generation Japanese American, is V3con’s next featured early registrant. Before diving into writing, she was an art director and designer in the entertainment industry, running a design firm she started at 22. These days, she is an active blogger, documenting her family’s life on Sweatpantsmom, as well as writing for the lifestyle site Mom.me and a celebrity site.

Marsha has interviewed Paris Hilton, Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian and Mila Kunis, among other celebrities. She has also written for Babble.com and The Uptake.

Here’s what Marsha has to say about her daily passions and V3con:

How did you get into blogging, and why?

I started blogging quite by accident in 2005. I was burned out with my design business, and I wanted an outlet that had nothing to do with layouts, fonts and picking out Pantone chips. I started my blog Sweatpantsmom to tell stories about my husband and kids — and was surprised when I began to get a small following. This led to some job offers — my first paying job was writing for Babble, and then I wrote for Uptake travel for a few years.

I love writing, and I get more satisfaction from it than I ever did from design.

What advice do you have for your fellow bloggers?

Write about what you know, and write often (I don’t always follow the “often” advice). I have to always keep my audience and subjects in mind — since I am almost always writing about my kids, I have to make sure I don’t say anything that will hurt or embarrass them (although with teens, almost everything their parents do embarrasses them). A sense of humor is essential!

What was your favorite part of last year’s V3con, and why do you want to come back to V3con?

I had a great time going to the breakout sessions. Besides being involved in the lively discussions taking place, I got to meet and network with a lot of people I’d only known online and from Twitter, Facebook, etc., and [I got] to see a lot of friends and colleagues.

I have a junk drawer brimming with, yes, the usual twist ties and dry pens but mostly with the flotsam of aging technology. Nestled among the blank CDs, a baggie of USB drives and a solar panel (long story), is a 6-year-old cell phone.

When I upgraded, part of me knew I shouldn’t chuck it in the trash. It could come in handy one day, if not for me, for someone else. But how?

Verizon has stepped in and bridged the gap between wanting to help and delivering that help with the program HopeLine. Started in 2001, the program’s goal is to help victims of domestic violence. HopeLine collects wireless phones and accessories we’re not using and refurbishes them. Those are either sold, with the proceeds funding the program, or they’re given to governments and agencies who in turn hand them to women and men as emergency means of communication.

This year, Verizon is continuing its support of the Center for the Pacific Asian Family by donating $5 for every phone collected at V3 con. By bringing your used cell phone to V3 con, and putting it in the HopeLine box, you’ll be helping victims of domestic violence in two ways — through HopeLine. Last year, V3con’s HopeLine drive raised $1,300 for CPAF.

The Center for the Pacific Asian Family is hoping to replace the vans at their emergency and transitional shelters.

“Our clients usually are low-income and don’t yet have cars of their own, so they rely on our vans to get to appointments at court, medical clinics and social services; to conduct grocery shopping; for family outings and field trips; and for emergency transportation,” said Esther Lee, CPAF’s development manager. “Our vans are more than 10 years old and we’re excited to have the opportunity to replace them through donations to Verizon’s HopeLine program.”

Lee also said CPAF’s goal is to collect 5,000 cell phone units by the end of June.

“With the efforts of community partners such as AAJA-LA and V3con, we are hopeful that we can meet our goal,” Lee said.

A mother of two, early-bird V3con registrant Julie Kang is a clinical data programmer by day and a blogger for Kimchi Mamas and Geisha School Dropout by night. She studied computer science at Stanford University and has held a variety of jobs, including waitressing at Disneyland, writing and editing for Amazon.com and teaching high school students.

Learn more about Kang and her blogging experiences here:

Name your favorite book and quote.

Oh goodness, if you talk to me for even five minutes, you will discover that everything is my favorite! “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie is a perennial favorite, as well as “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut.

Quote: “Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.” — Kahlil Gibran.

How did you get into blogging, and why?

I started blogging in 2005, when my son was 18 months old, and everyone was on MySpace. I wrote a post describing a scary experience with my son which the MySpace audience diagnosed as a night terror. I was hooked by the community aspect immediately! I also read a lot of mom blogs at the time, and I felt the big ones were painting an unrealistic portrait of parenting: I wanted to write about my experiences, including the embarrassing and undignified moments, and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people, especially other Asian Americans. I joined the Kimchi Mamas in 2009, and that’s when I really felt like I had found my community and voice.

What advice do you have for growing journalists and bloggers?

The most important thing is to keep writing, in your own voice. Also, keep your day job.

What do you hope to learn at the conference this year?

My loose agenda mostly revolves around relaunching Kimchi Mamas with an updated look and feel, more content, and a renewed mission. I’d like to learn what the big journals and blogs are up to, how content and reader engagement have evolved in the past couple years, and how Kimchi Mamas can further serve the general community.

Why do you want to come back to V3con?

I had so much fun at “Beyond the Bad and the Ugly,” but was too shy to introduce myself to the more famous people there. Not this time, ha ha!

In all seriousness, I aim to learn a lot from some of the best people out there, see some old friends, and make new ones! I’m so excited!

Like many V3con attendees, you will probably bring one of your mobile devices to the digital media conference, June 14-15. Whether it’s your touchscreen mobile phone or tablet, it will eventually need a wipe-down. To help with a clear view, ABC7 is donating microfiber screen cleaners to all V3con attendees.

These reusable, non-static wipes help keep your media device fingerprint and dust free. “We wanted to give attendees something that they would need and that also related to digital media,” said Diane Medina, vice president of diversity and community relations at ABC7.

In addition to the donation, ABC7 Eyewitness News anchor David Ono and Eyewitness News Health specialist Denise Dador will moderate some of the programming, and  Director of Digital Operations, Kevin Boie, will participate on a panel. Ono and Dador have been longtime members of AAJA-LA and stay involved with the organization as much as they can.

ABC7 officials are happy to support V3con for the second year because of AAJA-LA’s continuing efforts to bring people involved in digital media together. “As a company that is very active in digital media ourselves, we are proud of what AAJA is doing and look forward to participating in this media conference with them,” Medina said.

Ono could not be more proud to be a part of V3con. “V3con is the sharing of brilliant ideas and techniques used by trailblazers in the industry,” he said. ” You don’t have to be a journalist to benefit from V3con.  You can be a student, artist or anyone who wants to have a voice. V3con is a marquee, must-attend event if you want to be that person at the very front of the industry.”

V3con isn’t the only AAJA-LA event Ono is excited about. He is also anticipating hosting the chapter’s annual, signature fundraising event, Trivia Bowl.

“It was more than a dozen years ago when I first emceed the event.  It was small.  We were using a chalk board to tally the score. To see how far Trivia Bowl has come gives us all an enormous sense of pride.  I’m so thankful to be able to play a role in the process. I can’t think of another event that allows journalists, major media organizations, big corporations, college students, law firms and guests to gather in our ABC7 studio and have a great time for a good cause.”

For the sixth time, ABC7 will host AAJA-LA and nearly 500 guests in the station’s Studio B. Trivia Bowl XVIII will be on October 18, 2013.

Here’s a “clear view” of the ABC7 screen wipes , which can also be viewed with this Vine.

V3con’s next featured early-bird registrant, VIZ Media video editor Eric Ignacio, was also among the first 10 to sign up for V3con last year. He holds a B.A. in Asian American studies and a master’s degree in instructional technologies from San Francisco State University. He has worked for a variety of advertising and entertainment companies, among them TBWA/Chiat/Day, Thud Rumble LTD, Sony PlayStation and 72andSunny.

Here’s more about Eric and his past experiences with V3con:

Name your favorite book and quote.

Hmm… favorite book… too many to name, but I recently started reading “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.” I’ve only seen the anime, but the manga got me hooked. My favorite quote is (heard this from the documentary, “Hoop Dreams”): “People ask me, will I remember them if I make it? I tell them, will you remember me if I don’t?” by William Gates.

How did you get into journalism and blogging, and why?

My first job out of college was as a TV cameraman for ABS-CBN International’s news department. I got the hang of telling stories using visuals and had a personal blog for my behind the scenes work: http://www.eignaciofilms.com/blog.

What advice do you have for growing journalists and bloggers?

Oh, I’m still learning myself! I guess one thing that I try to do is to keep telling stories. The more you do it, the better you’ll become. I know the money in this business is tough, but if you love it, somehow it’ll all work out.

Why do you want to come back to V3con?

My first time attending was when it was called the Banana 2 conference. I was a freelance cameraman who was hired to shoot interviews for a Banana 2 video segment. I really enjoyed what I was hearing and seeing so I decided to register as an attendee for 2012. I had a lot of fun so I thought I’d register for 2013 (with a push from Frances Kai-Hwa Wang. Haha).

I like V3con because I’m actually a fan of a bunch of folks attending and speaking. I usually attend film/video conferences where I’m surrounded by a bunch of tech heads or filmmakers. V3con is fun to me because I find myself learning from random folks who have a variety of interests and experiences.

By Gracie Zheng

Were you among the lucky 2012 V3con attendees who were able to access Union Bank’s sponsored discussion on “Blogging as a business: Monetize your efforts”?

The panel room was packed with participants, many crowding in, some standing against the walls, others couldn’t get in after they closed the doors due to fire marshal regulations.

“The AAJA/V3 Conference is a unique meeting place for everyone in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities who is interested in journalism, social media, communications and all kinds of digital platforms,” said Nancy Okubo, assistant vice president and project specialist from Union Bank.

This year Union Bank returns as a valued V3con sponsor. “Union Bank is proud of our strong partnership with local communities and organizations as ‘giving back to the community’ is one of the priorities for our bank,” Okubo said.

Union Bank values the educational components of the event and encourages people to “get inspired” and take home something meaningful for the future, according to Okubo. Union Bank was a major sponsor of AAJA’s 2010 National Convention in Los Angeles, and the Union Bank Foundation is a long-time sponsor of AAJA-LA’s signature “fun-raising” event, Trivia Bowl.

The V3 Digital Media Conference (V3con) highlights multi-platform communications in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community by connecting journalists, bloggers and creative social media communicators. It will be held on Saturday, June 15 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. An Opening Awards Reception will be held Friday, June 14 at the Pacific Asia Museum.

Follow Union Bank’s twitter handle @unionbank.

Here’s more about Carrie and why V3con continues to be a draw for her:

Name your favorite book and quote.

“When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.” — Khaled Hosseini, “The Kite Runner.”

Why did you attend V3con last year?

I thought it was a great way to network and also get exposed to the different kind of blogs out there and meet some of the people behind some popular blogs.

What was your favorite part of V3con 2012?

My favorite part of V3con last year was meeting a lot of people and also the effort put in to try to get the different discussions to trend on Twitter.

Why do you want to get back into broadcast journalism?

I would like to get into broadcast journalism because I think it is fascinating how mass media works and how information is spread. I would like to help give light to the news that deserves more attention and try to make a difference.

Networking is an important part of any career, especially journalism and digital media. So why not get some tools for free?

MOO is a business card company that helps you brand yourself creatively. In a special partnership with V3con, MOO is offering conference registrants 50 free business cards! This isn’t the cheap stuff either. They are matte-laminated, on premium quality, 16-pt paper stock. You can easily upload your images, details and logo(s) directly on moo.com. You can also print up to 50 different images in one pack with “Printfinity.”

But this deal won’t last forever. You need to order by 11:59 p.m. (EST) June 2 (June 5 with a rush fee). You can pick your cards up at the V3 conference. You must select “United States” as a “ship to” country and select pick-up at “V3 Digital Media Conference.”

You’ll be able to pick up your cards on June 14 at the registration table at Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, or June 15 at registration at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave., Los Angeles.

Only one pack per person is allowed. A shipping and handling fee may apply. For more information, visit http://moo.com/link/h9sp.

Here are some more details about MOO and what they offer:

There are hundreds of templates and sizes to choose from and even ones you can create on your own. If you already have business cards, don’t worry — trivia cards, stickers and crafts are available too. Seriously, they’ve got it all.

Check out their blog for more ideas on how people have designed and used their cards.

By Irene Marie Cruz

Southern California Edison (SCE), a sponsor of last year’s V3con inaugural event has confirmed increased sponsorship for 2013 V3con.

SCE is a strong, long-standing partner of the Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles (AAJA-LA) chapter activities, including sponsorship and team support for AAJA-LA’s signature event, Trivia Bowl, which funds grants and scholarships for journalism students and professionals.

Sponsorship and support of V3con is important to Southern California Edison because they, alongside AAJA, recognize the incredible importance of digital media in the modern age.

According to SCE representative Mashi Nyssen, “Southern California Edison is committed to staying connected and engaged with its customers and the community through social media. Through Twitter, Facebook, and even a mobile app, residents can instantly report outages, receive money saving tips, and stay informed on how to stay safe around electricity.”

With 9,700 followers on Twitter and 35,593 likes on Facebook, it’s easy to see that SCE’s emphasis on social media is crucial for business and keeping consumers connected.

“In partnership with AAJA’s V3con, SCE strives to continue to support the AAPI community’s growing presence and influence in all digital platforms,” Nyssen said.

You can follow them at www.sce.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sce?fref=ts, and on Twitter (Twitter handle: @SCE).