Editor’s note: Susan Mernit is directing the Knight News Challenge this year; her thoughts below on Tuesday night’s San Francisco gathering.

We had over 70 people at TechSoup for the last (we think) Knight News Challenge meet up of this funding cycle.

Being in my home base of San Francisco/Bay area was great and the turn-out was impressive–not only because of the size of the crowd but the keen interest in applying most had and the range of skills and interests they represented.

At least two people in the crowd were interested in applying internationally, with groups they work with in other countries; many others had ideas for ways to deliver news within communities, to visualize important data, or to chart and discuss “green” news and issues. Everyone was reminded (just like I am doing for you right now) that November 1st is the deadline and that to apply you need to go to newschallenge.org, register, and fill out the forms.

(Note: Thanks to All About George and rich the editor for the images above.)