I do not know Wayne PacPhail, but I'd like to have a beer with him one day way up there in Canada to talk about this article he wrote. It's about the days now past when newspapers mattered and still could have made a difference to the community if they embraced the new media technologies. Like Mr. MacPhail, I once worked at a newspaper, too.

This article he's written is in my opinion one of the finest, most insightful, best written, most personal and touching obituaries for print journalism and newspapers I've ever read. I hope you will take a minute to read it, even if you're not particularly interested in newspapers and their fate. Why? Because much of what happened to newspapers was and is still rooted in their attitude toward the Internet and the related new technologies for social media. What happened to newspapers can happen to any industry or institution that pushes back against the new; that forgets what its mission is really all about. Newspapers forgot they were about helping to get stories told… they were about covering newsprint in ink.

You know, you read Mr. MacPhail's article and you feel sorry for the fate of print journalism. But you somehow feel worse for the living, for the friends of print journalism like Mr. MacPhail, who miss the passing of something that meant a great deal to them and yet died needlessly, senselessly and way before its time.

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More and more new media advocates of late have been saying that establishment corporate types, the over 40 crowd let's say, and traditional PR firms and practitioners, are responsible for the lag in social media adoption among businesses. Earlier this week, for example, Hollis Thomases, the President and Founder of Web Ad.vantage, Inc. sent me this item. By Mike Grehan, it is about his astonishment upon learning, after checking around, that a lot of traditional PR firms aren't up to speed with social media. Responding to a reader comment to an earlier column he wrote, Mr. Grehan says:

What struck me particularly was her comment: "I think traditional PR firms may be on their way out as well."

How many traditional PR firms are embracing new style strategies such as the ones Mettler describes? I started looking at how many PR firms are up to speed… I was stunned at how few I came across that actually had search and social media in the mix.

Then just yesterday I came across this piece. By Janet Driscoll Miller, and entitled, "Can We Close the Marketing Generational Gap," I found it a rather astute assessment of why reluctance to social media still runs high in established corporations principally run by establishment, older middle and upper management types. I hasten to add there are exceptions. We have clients who are exceptions, in fact. Age isn'talways the defining factor, of course. But speaking generally…

Ms. Miller writes: I’m 36, and I can tell you that with a few noted exceptions, most of the marketers I know over the age of 40 don’t really seem to understand the cutting edge of online marketing, much less the basics.

You'll really want to read both of these posts.

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Of all things, a local daily newspaper report was the initial source of information for me about this interesting start-up in my hometown. In fact, so far it seems that the local daily newspaper, according to my Google news search, is the first and only one to report on this new company.

But I have a feeling you may be hearing more about it. FLIMP stands for Flash Interactive Media Platform. It is a new offering from a company called Flimp Media, Inc. Here, from their web site, is what they say about their technology:

Flimp Media Inc. (FMI) develops next generation hosted and installed software platforms for rich media direct marketing, sales and communications. The integration of rich media (flash), web video and automated analytics is the foundation of the FLIMP microsite marketing platform. Using the FLIMP platform, users can quickly and easily manage digital assets, and create, distribute and track rich media marketing campaigns deployed through email marketing, search marketing, weblinks, websites and advertising. FLIMP microsites combine an interactive audiovisual experience with targeted distribution, viral messaging and comprehensive viewer tracking.

Check it out. I particularly liked the FLIMP video campaign examples they offer on their site.

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