Joel Berger

These last few years have been just astonishing and so much of it is due to Perl and the Perl Community. In 2013 I ended my 8 year graduate experience (where I learned a lot of Perl) by defending my thesis (which used Perl extensively) right into the teeth of The Sequester. The US Government decided that they weren’t going to pay for science just when I was looking for a science job. The prospects were bleak.

I turned to my local Perl Mongers group (Chicago) begging for a job. In no time at all I had one. Although it actually quickly became a Python job, I was nonetheless employed and employed well at that. Then that PM group acted as a meeting place wherein I was lured away to my second job (my first real Perl gig). This job was due in part to Mojolicious, for which I am also very thankful.

Unfortunately, not long ago I was informed that that company would be closing its doors (nothing to do with the software) and I was on the hunt for a job again. This time it would be thanks to Perl and Mojolicious and #mojo on irc.perl.org which would have me talking to the person who was to become my new boss literally minutes after I had gotten the news. Less than two weeks later I had started at ServerCentral.com writing an internal api in Perl and Mojolicious and other open source technologies. I am very thankful to them for taking me in and I’m looking forward to working with and for them.

Incidentally, if you or your company are in need of top-notch server colocation, managed infrastructure, or VMWare managed virtualization, please give ServerCentral.com a look!

From trips to YAPC::NAs and YAPC::Brasil to MojoConf in Norway, Perl has also helped me see the world. And once I arrive I am always surrounded by such amazing people. It is you that I’m most thankful for!

The Perl language and Perl Community have been responsible for and a part of so much of my success and contentment and I just want to take a moment and say: Thanks!