Dear ChannelPro readers,
First, thank you for taking the time to read a letter from the editor. It’s a vestige of a bygone era, like cassette tapes and rotary telephones. But I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Hopefully, keeping it short will make it a worthwhile read.
When I started thinking back on my career, I saw so many commonalities between ChannelPro and the IT industry itself. I want to share a bit of that for context.
I was 17 when I started my first real job, at a Japanese restaurant in Augusta, GA. It’s within driving distance of the Augusta National Country Club, where the Master’s Golf Tournament is played every year. I worked my way up from the bottom — host, busboy, dishwasher, cashier, and eventually waiter. I loved solving problems and helping customers.
Because my dad was an early adopter of technology, I was immersed from a young age. When a computer needed debugging at the restaurant, they counted on me to fix it.
When I met my then-girlfriend Katelyn, I realized quickly that she was never going to move to Georgia. Unlike me, she had deep roots in her home state of Massachusetts. So, I agreed to move to the Baystate, find a “temporary job,” and eventually pursue a career in journalism.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that “temporary” meant 15 years. Again, I worked my way up from the bottom, eventually moving into a marketing director position with a managed services provider.
It was in the channel that I found a home professionally. I was surrounded by customer-first tech geeks who weren’t afraid of change; they thrived on it. They seemed to get my weird jokes and I got most of theirs.
My first boss impressed upon me that MSPs don’t sell products or services, they sell “solutions.” In a world of technological problems, that’s a godsend. Regardless of whether or not I stayed in the industry, I came to understand that both the economy and my livelihood are dependent upon IT.
I was a pretty good marketing director, eventually growing my employer to the point that it was acquired. After the acquisition, I started looking for jobs in channel media. That was the brass ring for me, marrying my love of tech with my passion for news.
This summer, The ChannelPro Network entered my life’s story. Like me and the industry itself, the organization was reinventing itself. I found out the company was committed to building a new website, retooling its live events, adding staff, and reimagining strategy and workflows.
ChannelPro’s ownership team made it clear that although the “house was getting a makeover,” that foundation was never going to change. We will remain, they said, an educational hub that truly supports IT businesses and the channel partners that they depend on.
It mirrored the industry itself — constantly changing, but deeply collegial and rooted in a common purpose. With that in mind, I embraced this exciting new chapter in my life.
We are more than a great digital magazine with a storied past. We’re a peer-based community. That means to succeed, I need your help. I want to hear about the topics, technologies, and challenges that you’re facing. ChannelPro’s editorial team will listen and work to bring value every single day. I’m available at jonathan.browning@channelpronetwork.com.
Together, we will make the world a better place, one solution at a time.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Browning
Editorial Director, ChannelPro Network
