I am old enough to remember when CB radios "went mainstream."  It happened suddenly, in 1975.  For the first few months, CB radio was very handy to have when driving, as it actually gave you vision a couple of miles ahead when out on the interstate.  However, it was not long before the channels were filled with all sorts of extraneous conversations.  It became difficult to acquire the information one wanted.  I lost interest.

Obviously if I am old enough to remember the CB radio phenomenon, I have been involved with the Internet for a very long time, too.  The history of the Internet parallels that of the radios--innocent and sparsely used in the early years, the Internet is now crowded with useful information you want and information you wish would just go away.

The good news about the Internet is that it allows you to reach your prospects and clients continuously.  The bad news is that bad content causes your customers and prospects to create policies that may block your message--a message they should want if you are providing valuable content.

More importantly, some of your clients and prospects have started severely limiting participation in live attendance trade events.  These limitations are not imposed for reasons of cost, but for legal reasons.  They simply do not want their employees influenced by social events.  Nor do they want any opportunity for their employees to become entangle in trade secret exchanges.  This is where your ability to use all the modern communications means become important.

Paperitalo Publications has adopted a primary goal of getting through to the pulp and paper industry worldwide.  We have accomplished this in some areas and are implementing plans and actions in others. As of this moment, we have and will continue to have a full blown Internet presence.  In some cases this is blocked by companywide policies, in others it is not. Fortunately, our content is so desirable that we receive requests from some individuals to put their personal email addresses in our files (which is one of many reasons that if you ask us to sell you an email list, we will not).  Another move we took several years ago was to launch Pulp & Paper Radio International, which can be accessed via the Internet or other popular portals on phones, tablets and so forth.  We are in the process of launching a major initiative to go mobile.  It is our intent to have our content available on any platform at any time.

A key to being allowed into people's lives, besides being available the way they want it, when they want it, is to maintain a reputation of quality content that people are comfortable with and desire receiving.  Towards this end, our brands are very important to us and we go to great lengths to protect them--so that we can continue to see requests to add personal email addresses to our lists.

Back in the age of the CB, receiving updates on the pulp and paper industry monthly via trade magazines was the norm.  In the times since then, the expectation has moved from monthly to weekly to daily.  Our drive now is to move to continuous news and information, anytime, anywhere.  We are not resting on today's technology and we are not daunted by the technology of tomorrow.  Over, under, around and through, we intend to deliver reliably the best content possible to everyone in the pulp and paper industry who demands it.

Jim Thompson is CEO and Executive Editor of Paperitalo Publications. He can be reached by email at jthompson@taii.com.  

 

For more information on Paperitalo Publications, feel free to contact:    

 

Curt Gifford  

cgifford@taii.com
770-367-4823

 

Helen Roush

helen.roush@taii.com

937-403-8602 

Jim Thompson
jthompson@taii.com
678-206-6010