We’re fortunate this year to have none other than John James Jacoby (otherwise known as JJJ or Trip-J,) the creator of BuddyPress as our keynote speaker this year. Let’s get to know him!
What drives you to speak at WordCamps?
My 2013 Subaru BRZ. Oh, you didn’t mean that literally? Well… it’s definitely all about people, but mostly I want to help everyone be their best, and usually I do that by telling stories about how I’ve screwed up.
What would you like to see change about the WordPress platform in the next 5-10 years?
I’d like for the threat of net neutrality going away to end, as without it, WordPress will continue to have a very uncertain future ahead of it.
Who do you think is under represented in the WordPress community?
The obvious answer here is everyone who isn’t a white-dude. Because this is pretty much the answer everywhere, I think it’s losing it’s importance. Instead, I’ll emphasize that database technicians are underrepresented, because everyone is afraid to change the database schema, most qualified MySQL technicians don’t even consider it anymore. There’s just so many problems that need solving in that area, and not enough minds to actively participate in the discussions that need having.
What was the most challenging WordPress project you’ve worked on?
This has to be BuddyPress. Challenging in a good way, as it’s also been the most educational project I’ve worked on in my entire career. Y’all should work on it too!
What’s a problem you recently solved creatively using WordPress?
I have 2. One is a secret (ask me about it in Ann Arbor!) and another was using WordPress and Homebridge together to send alerts to my home when events occur on my website. Some friends at Automattic got WordPress running on a Raspberry Pi, which really helped make that possible to prototype quickly.