New media evangelism in the direct response industry begins to remind me of biblical tales of woe, the Old Testament tales where prophets are slaughtered or exiled or something along those lines. Or at least roundly mocked. It’s part of my personal story and also part of the state of the industry, and it’s truly unfortunate.

For those of us who embrace risk and are joyful and passionate in our approach to new media, evangelism can be the most grueling, frustrating part of the game. Trying to make a twitter proselyte out of someone who can’t figure out e-mail attachments? Yeah, it gets old.

Time after time when talking to DR agency folks, I’ve run into an impenetrable wall of mythology about new media. It’s fear-based, it’s preventing progress for all the worst reasons, it’s causing forward-thinkers to be punished, and it’s simply untrue. The mythology includes the ideas that mobile commerce isn’t functional, that social media isn’t measurable, that R&D can’t lead to ROI, etc.

Recently, an agency CEO quipped about media/tech adoption, “You can lead a horse to water…”

Alright, so publications such as Electronic Retailer are leading the DR horse to water through education. Firebrands such as Marty Fahncke, Dana Todd, and a slew of others are leading the horse through sometimes-rabid evangelism. Research firms publish data saying that consumers are ready for new media. Clients are beginning to ask for more creative digital solutions.

I do begin to wonder: What’s it going to take to get that horse to drink…Damn it.

Jolie O’Dell is a mobile, social and evolving search enthusiast.

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