Dave Morris NewsOK.com Blogging Community

Tribune is redesigning the print edition of several of its newspaper properties. The Orlando Sentinel was the first to launch its new look.

Everyone likes to bag on the declining newspaper industry.

Actually, “everyone” is probably more like only those in the media business who can’t help but notice the emerging new technologies (Internet, cell phones, iPhones, etc) that make news more immediate and on-demand. Truth is, the every day guy probably doesn’t even care where he’s getting his news. I doubt he has loyalty to newspapers or the local TV news. It’s convenience and what topics he’s interested in.

Wednesday was not a good day for a few newspaper chains’ stock. But Thursday was a different story: newspaper stocks bounce back big time.

Went to the morning session of the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando.

Topic: innovation and new ad ideas. Here’s one for example: the Chicago newspaper and its niche pub for young peeps had a “roadblock” ad for one day. Advertiser was Gap. Here’s how it worked, they blocked out an entire newspaper or section with Gap’s Red ads from the front page stickie to the back page full ad. Effective.

Other good ideas to, like a Friday automotive section. Typically it’s Saturday. With a bonus radio buy.

I won’t lie. It’s cold today. Overcast, breezy and cold. How cold? iPhone weather reports 48, and I’m pretty sure it’s warmed up in the past 3 hours I’ve been up.

And what’s up with people’s dedication to Starbucks? Nothing against Starbucks, I’ve spent my share of cash on their brew. But here at the Marriott World Center, there is a Starbucks in the lobby. And people will line up 20 deep and wait forever for their drink. That’s crazy.

Maybe they don’t know there is a coffee shop downstairs that isn’t as busy. $2.50 for a large.

I know, it’s not the same.

Most of the sessions here in Orlando at the NAA Marketing conference have dealt with the future. Quit whining about the past, the good old days of the newspaper industry - whether you come from sales or the newsroom - and focus on the future. And its strengths.

Today, the message continued to be preached. One of the afternoon speakers had this to say, “Think of digital as the core product and print as the support product.” That’s a dramatic shift, but it indicates where the audience is trending.

Earlier this week, newspaper execs were warned to develop a high percentage of overall revenue from the digital side in order to survive.

Yes, a return trip to Bongo’s. But with a mission. Joe Hopper and I return to Downtown Disney to catch the U23D movie at the AMC. I tried to catch it in Washington DC last week, but it was only playing on the weekends. So we cab it over in the monsoon and run into the themepark. I manage to completely wipe out just as I reach the Bongo’s stoop, complete with a sliding stop in the rain. Nice.

I had steak last time here, I ordered chicken this time. More rice. More plantains. Slightly less garlic.

We ordered some appetizer that I can’t pronounce or don’t remember. Basically it’s a fried mashed potato with meat in the center. I’m telling you, this would be a smash hit in OKC.

It’s been a big news day in Florida. Tornado warnings up north. Massive power outtage in the south.

Also grabbed strong cigar from Sosa Family Cigars. Man. They recommended a “full bodied” cigar. And it was.

As someone who has spent the past decade in the online biz, that question seems a little obvious to me.

In the Tuesday afternoon session at the NAA Martketing conference in Orlando there was a session devoted to the online audience for newspapers. Simple business model: you must be relevant to your customer and show value to your audience. And you must differentiate, show you are different from the competition.

According to Scarborough Research, newspaper Web site users shop more online and spend more when they do than from other not newspaper sites.

Here’s more: when newspaper sites shopped for items such as clothes or travel items like airline tickets, 3 of 4 actually followed through with the purchase.

Scarborough went further. Seven days of newspaper Web traffic were equal to 80 spots on radio. That’s reach for you.

Here’s the real reason newspaper execs come to the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando - or any conference. To network. To meet, greet, boast, learn and most importantly ask questions.

Dan “Patio” Dalton. It you’re in the media biz, you probably get his emails. He is a one-man marketing machine, with a personal brand: an image of himself on his porch. I’m not kidding.

But everyone knows Patio Man. And he’s always at these conferences. So he runs into Kelly Fry, OPUBCO Communications Group Vice President for News and Information Center (now that’s a title!), and me on the trade show floor and demands we spend 30 seconds with him. He can be a pest, but that’s the mark of the good salesman I guess. He is tenacious. We give him the 30 seconds and his product is solid. In fact we have used Content That Works, his company, for a while now.

However, he convinces us to join him and his co-workers and the company CEO Paul Kamp for dinner. So now we have an adventure on our hands as they say we are headed to a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant located somewhere in an Orlando strip mall.

How could this go wrong, right?

Of course we roll in, nine strong, and grab a corner table. Place is packed. Mostly with locals I think. I’m not sure how anyone else would know about this place. Paul is a former restaurant/food critic outta Chicago, so we kinda trust he knows his pasta. In fact, he breaks down the difference between North side and South side pasta (alfredo vs tomato, sorta).

But we don’t get pasta. We order the special, the sea bass. I’ve never had sea bass. In fact, I’m not sure I want sea bass in Oklahoma. It’s great though. Really top notch fish. Served with potatos cut lengthwise. I usually try to include a price, but Paul and Dan ordered for the group so I didn’t get a good look at the menu.

The theme here is consistent: stop telling everyone how bad the business is and start doing something about it. Newspapers should start touting what they bring to the table: local, depth of reach and niche audiences.

Radio, TV and yellow pages have all suffered audience and revenue decline, but you don’t hear them talking about it. Or repeatedly reporting it. But newspapers do. Why?

The panel this morning had a good point: advice for the industry - get over it. Quit whining. Focus on the emerging digital opportunities and protect the core product for as long as it makes sense. Tell your audience your good news, not just your loss of audience.

Again the panel urged the audience to try something, even if you fail. Innovate.