We love it when iReporters sound off on current events, because they always have something interesting to say, and we know they aren't afraid to make their opinions heard. But here's something we love even more: When they do it face-to-face!

Yesterday, iReport commentators W.J. O'Reilly and Omekongo Dibinga did just that when they sat down in Alexandria, Virginia, for a confab that touched on politics, First Lady Michelle Obama, and why supermodel Gisele Bundchen may have been the downfall of the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

Watch some excerpts from their discussion below:

"African-American" no longer the preferred nomenclature

Why partisan politics won't let us be inspired by Eastwood ad

Hope for American schools hinges on teacher attitudes

If you're aching to get in on the fun, here's your golden ticket: Join in the discussion. Or, better yet, make like Omekongo and O'Reilly and meet up with an iReporter in your town, chat it up, and post a video on iReport! But if you feel passionately about any of the points made by these fine gents, don't wait: Sound off below in the comments section.

Please join us here in the blog for our weekly roundtable chat. We want to tell you about a cool new project called "Destination U.S.A." CNN's travel producers are going to be working with the iReport community to create an insider's guide to some of America's great cities.

We also wanted to talk about our latest joint assignment with our friends at Mashable. We're asking people to show us projects inspired by Pinterest, a popular social network that makes it easy to share images and ideas that you love.

And as always, we'll be happy to answer any questions, comments or concerns you may have.

Comments will open at 2:30 p.m. ET. We'll talk with you then.

It’s that time again! We’re looking for a summer intern to join our team at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. (You can meet our current intern here.)

One lucky intern will work with iReport’s editorial team helping lead CNN’s user-generated news content, participatory media, and community efforts. In addition to vetting iReports, producing content, and participating in brainstorming and editorial planning, our intern will also have the opportunity to learn from a host of CNN professionals across platforms. Plus, you get to take part in croquet tournaments and other fun stuff.

The full-time, paid internship lasts about 12 weeks and is open to college students currently enrolled in school. Course credit is available, and preference is given to candidates who have previously contributed to CNN iReport.

Interested? You can see more details and apply for the position here.

Those in the know will always find a lively political debate brewing on iReport between our super-savvy politics junkies as they sound off on the most pressing issues of the day. With 2012 election mania in full swing, we’re kicking off a new weekly series at iReport: The Pundit of the Week.

Each week, we’ll introduce you to a member of the iReport community — liberals, conservatives, and everyone in between — who frequently engages in political debate and discussion with our community. Then, we'll do a Q&A for a look at the person behind the laptop camera.

Our first-ever Pundit of the Week is Cameron Harrelson. He hails from Baxley, Georgia, and at has been a regular iReporter since he first joined the site in 2009. At age 17, he’s also one of our youngest political commentators.

Affiliation: Conservative / Independent — "I always tell people: I'm an American first, a conservative second, and a Republican last.”

How did you get interested in politics?
"I remember watching the results of the 2004 elections and becoming instantly interested in the American political process. I recognized that my parents wanted George W. Bush to win, and were excited for that, but there was something that appealed to me beyond just that. Pretty soon after that, I decided that I wanted to get involved in politics at the local level, and eventually run for office.”

Why do you share your opinion on iReport — why should people listen to what you have to say?
“In my own way, I want to help improve the political dialogue in this country. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Independent or Liberal. What matters are ideas, and how you express them. We all need to find a way to talk to each other respectfully, even if we totally disagree.

“Oftentimes, people tell me that I only have the opinions that I have because I'm copying my parents’ positions. I want everyone to know that's not the case. I do a lot of research on my own to arrive at these conclusions.”

Who’s your political hero?
“Honestly? Right now, and I know this is probably going to make a bunch of people write me off, but I have to say Sarah Palin.

“She took on some tough ethics issues while she was Governor of Alaska, she fought for her principles. And whether you love or hate her, you can’t deny that she made a huge splash when she arrived on the national scene. Sure, I do find some of her positions appealing, but the real reason she inspires me is because of her character and determination.”

What’s going to be the defining issue of the 2012 election?
“Far and away, the economy and jobs. There are other issues that are intertwined with this, like the runaway cost of healthcare, inflation, our huge debt and deficit, and wasteful spending. But when it comes to what’s going to be immediately on people’s mind, it’s definitely the economy.”

What’s something people might be surprised to know about you?
“I took maybe 2 months worth of piano lessons, and after that learned how to play music by ear. I taught myself some guitar chords by doing the same thing.”

Follow Cameron on Twitter at @Cam4573. If you’d like engage in spirited debate and throw your hat into the ring for Pundit of the Week, now’s your chance: Join in on the discussion at iReport.

Please join us here in the blog for our weekly roundtable discussion. We are looking forward to talking with everyone about what's going on in the community.

If you've got questions, suggestions or concerns, this is a great time to share them. We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET. If you can't make it then, feel free to private message anyone on the iReport Team or email me at david.williams@cnn.com

Please join us here at 2:30 p.m. ET for today's  iReport roundtable.

We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET and look forward to talking with you then.

We're excited to announce that the CNN iReport community has reached one million registered members.

This is a major milestone, so we want to start by thanking you for choosing to spend your time with us and for sharing your stories with the world.

It's really cool to think that our community has the population of a good-sized city and that iReporters have posted stories from every country in the world. It's even cooler that many of the first people to join iReport, like brixton, Pixel, jbjimbo (our first intern), WCNReporter, AlunHill, Artboy  and larena, are still active participants in the community after all these years.

We've got a lot of big projects in the works and expect to grow even more in 2012, but we want to hold on to iReport's "small town" feel. Thank you again for making CNN iReport a powerful newsgathering tool and a nurturing, kind and supportive community that we are proud to be a part of.

P.S. If you check out your profile page later today, you'll notice this new "one in a million" badge that's a token of our appreciation.

It’s a new year, and we’re looking for a new person to join Team iReport. We’re a team that regularly looks for creative and innovative projects to pursue, helps tell some of the world’s most important stories, and has fun while we’re at it. If that sounds like a group you’d be interested in being a part of, we’d love for you to apply!

Details for the position are below, along with a link to the online application.

iReport Associate Producer

iReport APs are responsible for vetting iReports and sharing those stories with the CNN audience. Candidates should have a solid news judgment and drive to share compelling iReports with the world. In addition to vetting, associate producers are responsible for producing original, iReport-driven content for CNN.com, interacting with iReporters, and conceptualizing original assignments to solicit participation from the CNN audience. This position is based in Atlanta.

See more details and apply >>

Please join us here at 2:30 p.m. ET for our first iReport roundtable of 2012. It will be nice to catch up with everyone after the holidays and we'd love to meet new members of the community.

We can talk about anything you want, but we'd also like to hear your story ideas for 2012. We'd also like to hear your thoughts about the future of the roundtable -- is the time good, should we change the format, are there things you'd like to talk about?

We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET and look forward to talking with you then.

It's been an eventful year for everyone involved with iReport. We can tell because we've seen nearly 185,000 iReports shared through this platform, of which nearly 15,000 submissions were approved for possible use on CNN.

With a pool of participation that large, we were inspired to take a closer look at the numbers.



On average, we received 511 iReports per day in 2011, but the actual number of iReports shared spiked and dropped to the tune of the news. The East Coast earthquake, a singular and rare event which affected millions of well-connected U.S. residents, provided the highest spike in contributions this year. Other events like Osama bin Laden's death, the Japan tsunami, and Hurricane Irene, also fueled an increase in submissions.

Assignments

Some assignments seem to work like magic. For example, iReporters end up documenting history in the making, or the submissions somehow tap into cultural zeitgeist. The number of contributions an assignment receives is one way to gauge what topics matter the most to our community, and to the CNN audience.

Let's take a look at the 10 most popular assignments of 2011.

Assignments with the most iReports submitted, in 2011:

iReporters

The "On CNN" stamp allows us to feature iReporters' original, well-produced, and relevant content on CNN. In 2011, veteran iReporter Kathi Cordsen had the most vetted contributions. Chris Morrow, another veteran iReporter, wasn't far behind. She was vetted 166 times and broke the mark of 1,000 vetted iReports, a first in our platform.

These iReporters were successful because they focused on specific beats, such as geographic or topical, and because they followed our assignment desk closely and made thoughtful contributions to iReport projects throughout the year, like iReport boot camp, Destination Adventure, Freedom Project, and the cultural census.

Most approved iReports in 2011:

A community like ours wouldn’t be successful without a steady influx of new iReporters. In 2011 we grew by an amazing 37%, to reach nearly one million registered users! We’ve had some standout additions in 2011. Fatima Puskar shared with us a steady stream of iReports from Cairo, Egypt, throughout a year that has marked history for the African nation. Rachel Cauvin and Craig Smith have done an exceptional job of documenting New York City happenings and globe trotting expeditions respectively. And one newcomer iReporter shined brightly from down under the down under. Jerry Gonzales has delighted us time and again with well-produced iReports giving us a glimpse into the sights and stories of his hometown of New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Rookies with the most "On CNN" iReports in 2011:

If an iReport story is generating a lot of conversation in the comments area, that's a fairly reliable indicator that it's resonating at some level in our community. We've already compiled a list of some of our most-commented stories. Tops was a story about a boy's love for his dad. We also took a look at the usernames who have commented the most in 2011. There's lots of ways to participate in CNN iReport that go way beyond uploading stories, and commenting is one of the most important ways users can contribute to the community. The most prolific commenter from 2011, iReporter NuYwk, regularly chimes in with opinions about issues in the news, and provides encouragement for other users.

Usernames with the most comments in 2011:

iReports

While our strengths lie in stitching tapestries of stories and ideas, we couldn't achieve that without strong, captivating, and sometimes controversial individual efforts. Our most-viewed iReports were about a surprising variety of subjects. We saw some big news stories represented, like the Japan earthquake and tsunami. But then, we also saw fun stories like Snake in the Christmas tree.

These are highly unique stories that were featured on CNN.com, and struck a nerve with our audience.

Most viewed iReports of 2011:

In just a couple of days we'll welcome 2012 and the new challenges and opportunities that it will bring. Help us say goodbye to 2011 and celebrate the New Year, wherever you may be.

We first met Chris Morrow during San Diego Comic-Con 2008, and soon she was iReporting, not just from her hometown of San Diego, but all over Southern California.

Last week, Chris had her 1000th iReport vetted for use on CNN -- the first iReporter to accomplish such a milestone.

Chris has returned to Comic-Con every year, getting a rarely seen look at preparations for the annual event. And it’s safe to say, she is the first iReporter to have a life-size cartoon image of herself present at the Con.

But her contributions have gone far beyond comic book conventions. Chris interviewed Olympians like Lindsay Vonn at the 2010 Winter Games, the late Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, and countless other celebrities, including like Adam Lambert, Tony Hawk and Paula Abdul. She even asked adult film actors what they thought of body scanning at airports.

She documented the artist Wyland’s journey to paint the largest picture of the planet earth atop the Long Beach Convention Center, as well, and her iReports became part of a documentary, for which she won an award at the San Diego Film Festival.

She has been there for breaking news as well.

Then there was her trip to Haiti, shortly after the earthquake in 2010. She ranks that among her most memorable experiences iReporting, along with posts on charities dealing with multiple sclerosis and autism. Food is also a frequent topic (she has posted videos on how to craft beer and make a vegan Thanksgiving, not to mention food charities). And she says her experience this year on the oldest active sailing ship “was also a major day for me.”

She may be the first, but Chris is sure she will be is far from the last iReporter to have 1000 iReports reach "on CNN" status.

“There are so many other great iReporters out there who give their opinions daily, document the world, capture a significant moment in history and who just want to share life,” she says. “This small town journalist uses CNN iReport to reach the world, and with the help from the talented and thoughtful iReport producers, I've been able to learn a new craft of storytelling with video … We are in a unique place to be able to be part of the world’s largest news source and to have a voice.”

Congrats to Chris Morrow on this achievement! Click here for more on what she iReports, and watch her 2009 HLN interview below.

Beautiful photography comes to iReport in multiple forms, whether it's imagery from professional gear or crafty cell phone cameras. With the boom in mobile storytelling, photography apps have given people a new way to share their stories. Instagram, one of these photo-sharing apps and social media platforms for the iPhone, uses photo filters to make unique Polaroid-style images.

For those of you who remember Tyson Wheatley, former iReport editorial lead and now CNN Digital's Senior Editor for Asia/Pacific, he’s become an influential Instagram user. He’s got a posse of more than 19,000 followers and he’s a budding mobile photographer. (Yes, this is my former boss, but I speak the truth.)

Wheatley moved to Hong Kong about a year ago and he’s been documenting his new life via Instagram.

"It was my first time setting foot in Asia. I didn't know the place or anyone in it," he said. "Not only could I share my photos with the friends and family I'd left behind, but I quickly connected with Instagram's incredibly supportive community, and made real, lasting friendships with local Instagramers."

A year later, he's seeing things in a new light. "I'm looking at the world in a new way, and experiencing Hong Kong's people, architecture, nature -- whatever catches my eye -- through filters, and the lens of a really smart phone."

A collection of Wheatley's "iPhoneography" is being featured on CNN Photos today. See his colorful images and read about how he does it in his full post here.

What you may not know is that CNN iReport also has a massive following on Instagram: We're almost 77,000 users strong. The Instagram community has used the platform to share everything from breaking news to slice-of-life moments in time.

For all of you on Instagram already, we invite you to join iReport and start sharing your stories. There’s a lot of powerful photography in the mobile world and we’d love to see more of it on our site.

If you've got a story to tell with Instagram photos, upload your images to the photo essay assignment. We're looking for a series of images that conveys a fascinating story. So, let the message be heard: iReporters and Instagramers unite!

Please join us here in the blog at 2:30 p.m. ET for the iReport roundtable discussion. We're looking forward to talking with everyone about what's going on in the community.

We'll open comments at 2:30 p.m. ET so you can share your questions, comments and concerns.

We'll look forward to talking with you.

Heads up: We're not hosting an official roundtable discussion this week, but we wanted to open a thread where you can ask questions and share your thoughts. Whether you want to know more about a CNN iReport feature or you would like to suggest a new project, we're all ears.

We did hear about some issues uploading files over 200 MB, and our techs are working on a fix that should be ready by Monday.

You've shared some remarkable stories, including a very personal and thought-provoking story about what it's like to be an interracial couple. We've also seen tales of a snake in a Christmas tree and cats leaping through fiery hoops.

We've also got a lot of new assignments you might want to check out. Here are some of the highlights:

* Stories from the Iraq war
* A holiday season without religion?
* Iowa voters: What's your number one issue?

Check out these links and share any questions in the comments area below. We'll be checking back here and responding to your posts. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Hello iReporters! Last Thursday we introduced some new features and fixes thanks in part to your feedback and comments. Unfortunately, it looks like we also introduced a new bug which is affecting uploads of files larger than 200 MB.

We've been informed by our development team that a fix will be introduced next Monday, December 12, which will raise the upload file size limit to its customary 600 MB.

In the meantime, if you're having trouble uploading files, we invite you to use this alternate upload mechanism.

As we look forward to making iReport better every day, we welcome your feedback always.