PR Squared: Wire Services Need a Swift Kick into "PR 2.0"

A key lesson learned from the debut of the Social Media Press Release template: the wire services are woefully(!!) behind. It's still "horse & buggy" time at the wire services.

24+ hours turnaround, and only during business hours? Responsiveness? - slug-like.
Very poor knowledge or utility when it comes to Web 2.0 stuff like del.icio.us, Technorati, etc.
Formatting nightmares.
The multimedia nature of these Social Media Press Releases = more $$$. This will be a deal-breaker for some clients.

Interestingly, Mr. Buffett's pet, BusinessWire --- with whom we've enjoyed a warm relationship for years --- was worst of all. PRWeb was pretty good, but clearly not as up-to-snuff as they'd have you believe. Ultimately, PR Newswire was the acceptable middle ground in terms of funtionality and breadth. Their MultiVu was the best of the bunch. I wouldn't hold them up as a shining example, though (mostly due to their 24-hour, business-hours-only policies, which seem out of step with today's 24/7 culture). You can argue that this is "bleeding edge" stuff, but, c'mon --- it also ain't rocket science. Everyone has some hard work to do in this arena. Giddyap!