John Mark is an experienced veteran of all things open source and a self-described agitprop, agitator and advocate for those who volunteer countless, unpaid hours for a particular project or community. He first fell down the slippery slope of open source as a web developer at VA Linux Systems and eventually switched to the community team, beginning a career that has now lasted over ten years. Along the way, John Mark made stops at young, up-and-coming startups, such as Groundwork, Hyperic and then Gluster (later acquired by Red Hat). In between, there was a brief interlude at IDG World Expo, where he was the conference director for LinuxWorld, GridWorld and OSBC. His advice for companies who want to "do community" is to trust your community and give them the space to "just try s***." John Mark loves to perform community karaoke, and is available for weddings, funerals and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.