Pidgin is the new name of the GAIM instant messenger. This plugin for Pidgin shows account status in AWN, and also shows the number of unread messages (if any). Currently the status icons from Pidgin are being used, so there is currently no blinking support, because there is no status icon to reflect blinking. If new tray-icons arrive for Pidgin, this plugin will get updated to use the tray icons again (assuming they are usable).

The package listed at attachments contains both the source and binary of this plugin. Of course you can also find more on this plugin on the awn-plugins Google code page.