As you can imagine, we have been kept quite busy since Tom and Cheryl announced they were in discussions with a company that was interested in taking over Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter. We’ve had many emails that started with “Could you please look at xxx for me?” and ended with the real reason for their email – “And while I’m here, I was wondering who is going to be taking over the Tuning Letter?” ?.
It has taken a little while for us to be able to answer that question. All parties in the discussion wanted to be sure that Cheryl and Tom’s legacy will keep going, and that the transition will be as seamless as possible for our loyal subscribers (many of whom have been with us since the first year of the Tuning Letter). While Watson & Walker is a small company, Cheryl and Tom have built up a significant volume and diversity of materials that need to be carried forward, so lots of details to be investigated and agreed.
We are delighted to report that those discussions have now completed so we can announce that the new owner of Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter is Planet Mainframe. Planet Mainframe is a leading online resource for mainframe professionals, offering a wide range of articles, tutorials, research, Virtual User Groups, and other resources to help users stay current on the latest trends and technologies. The platform also provides a forum for networking and collaboration among mainframe professionals worldwide. That description is actually very similar to our description of our publications website, so this really is the ideal new home for the Tuning Letter, Cheryl’s CPU Chart, and all the other material that is available to our subscribers.
Rather than repeating the Planet Mainframe Press Release here, we will simply provide this link to it: https://planetmainframe.com/2024/07/planet-mainframe-acquires-cheryl-watsons-tuning-letter/.
One piece of news that should put a smile on the faces of your friends in Finance is that there will be no increase in the subscription price for 2025 – consider that our contribution to helping in the fight against inflation ?.
The acquisition should complete on September 1st. We’re sure you have many questions about what will change and what will stay the same. One thing I can tell you is that we will all still be involved to some degree as we continue to deliver the trusted quality content you have come to expect. We hope to provide answers to most of your questions in the next issue of the Tuning Letter, due out around the end of this month. Additionally, for subscribers that will be attending SHARE, Cheryl and the Planet Mainframe team will be at the Planet Mainframe booth at the Exposition, and I’m sure they will be delighted to chat about the plans for the future of the Tuning Letter. If you are going to be there, please drop by to say “Hello” and share your thoughts about how we can make the Tuning Letter even more valuable to you and your colleagues.