Re: Sad news

Jon Paris wrote:

On Feb 13, 2010, at 11:01 PM, midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Penton Media filed bankruptcy.

I'm not sure what exactly this entails for the publications but it's a
sad sign of the times, the economy and our industry.

They've always been one of the premier teams of i talent and I wish them
the best.

Not really Joe.

It is actually good news in that this is a pre-arranged Chapter 11 filing and the creditors are all already on board with the new financing. Including pumping in some new cash - which doesn't sound like trouble to me.

Been over this in the other posts, but it IS sad news that Penton felt it necessary to file bankruptcy. No matter how you spin it, it's never good news when a company finds it necessary to not pay creditors. Because remember, not necessarily ALL the creditors are on board. Actually, from what I've read, this sounds more like a pre-negotiated rather than a pre-packaged Chapter 11, in which case only the major creditors got any say in the matter.

But anyway, that's speculation. I guess I'm just not a believer in "bankruptcy is good". It is sometimes necessary, and companies sometimes come out of bankruptcy and become healthy, but it is always better if you can meet your obligations.

In the end, though, I hope they do well. They're good folks. They've always paid me promptly, and they are indeed one of the great sources of technical information for the i community.

Also don't forget that Penton are a big company. IBM i is just one small part of their market and as I understand it the IBM i bit was profitable. It was the other parts of the company that were in trouble.

If you're implying that i magazines or i training in general are doing well, I'd respectfully differ with you. But that's a different topic.

Let's just wish Penton the best and we'll see how things go for them.


Joe