Carolina Code Cast™

In Greenville, our community is made up of numerous different meetup groups from around the area covering a multitude of different topics, getting together on Slack and Discord. Many of these groups are coordinated and supported under via Hack Greenville and RefactorGVL.Greenville is not unique in this either. Numerous tech communities exist in the southeast, particularly in our orbit around South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. At the Carolina Code Conference, we go out of our way to connect with other tech communities including making a special invitation video for you to share at your meetup groups to invite you directly. Our goal is to bring all of our communities together every year.None of these communities happened by accident. It all came from the efforts of numerous people who care enough about our community to work together to help us all thrive. Those people who freely give of themselves to make our communities possible often do not receive the recognition that they deserve.It’s time to change that.This year we created an Annual Award for Service to the Southeast Tech Community and named it in honor of Jim Ciallella, one of our hardest working and most selfless contributors for approximately 20 years. Adam Gautsch shared on LinkedIn how proud he was to see Jim recognized; excerpt below.“I couldn't be happier. Over the 25 years of our friendship, Jim has given more of himself than any sane human should. He's done this without expectation or desire for money, power, or awards named after him.…And over the last couple of decades, he's been the ballast of the Greenville tech community. OpenWorks, HackGVL, and so many communities depend on Jim's willingness to show up and not give up.” - Adam GautschWe also back filled the award, giving out one for each of the 5 years the Carolina Code Conference has existed: 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025.You can scroll up to watch the video of the initial announcement during the 2025 conference, recognition of Jim and all of our initial award winners as well. Smiles and head nodding was almost universal as we talked through the intention of the award with our crowd from Asheville, Augusta, Knoxville, Athens, Atlanta, Columbia, Charleston, Charlotte and more.Because this year’s award was a surprise we did not solicit public nominations so all of the winners were from the Greenville area. Going forward we want you to nominate the people in your communities who deserve to be recognized for their service. The nomination form was initially shared in our 2025 Recap post. You can nominate as many people as you like and there are a lot of fields. We want to enable you to make the best case possible for your candidate. These recommendations will be considered every year, so you can make a strong case for 2026 and that individual may end up the winner in 2028! You can begin Submitting Nominations for the Jim Ciallella Award for Outstanding Service to the Southeast Tech Community right now!The Jim Ciallella Award WinnersCongratulations to our first recipients of the The Jim Ciallella Award and thank you all for your service to our communities!* 2018 - Joel Taddei* 2019 - Christina Roberts* 2023 - Ben Acord* 2024 - Pamela Wood Browne* 2025 - Robert RoskamVideo Notes* 00:00 - Let’s talk about Community* 02:18 - Jim Ciallella Recognized* 08:12 - 2018 Winner - Joel Taddei Recognized* 09:59 - 2019 Winner - Christina Roberts Recognized* 11:44 - 2023 Winner - Ben Acord Recognized* 13:26 - 2024 Winner - Pamela Wood Browne Recognized* 16:21 - 2025 Winner - Robert Roskam Recognized* 18:08 - We want to hear from your communities!Stay on top of all the latest news about the Carolina Code Conference! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Inviting to Your Meetup to the 2026 Carolina Code ConferenceIf you run a tech meetup group and would like to showcase this 2 minute video ahead of an upcoming event, contact us for a 20% off discount code to share! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Inviting to Your Meetup to the Carolina Code Conference Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryIn this episode of the Carolina Codecast, host Barry Jones talks with Eric Weissmann, Executive Director of NextGEN, about his career journey from Cincinnati and the Walt Disney Company to Greenville. Eric discusses his work in entrepreneurial ecosystem building, his role at Cintrifuse, and his current efforts to foster innovation and startup growth in the Greenville area. They delve into the importance of startups for regional economic development, strategies for attracting venture capital, and the comprehensive interconnected support systems needed to nurture entrepreneurial communities. Don’t miss this one!“ There was an accelerator here, an incubator over there. Those universities were over here. It was like everybody was playing their own notes, but, but it wasn't making a song? You needed a conductor of the orchestra…” - Eric WeissmanEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* 02:23 - Understanding Ecosystem Building and Economic Development* 07:27 - Cintrifuse in Cincinnati, Union Hall and Startup Cincy* 18:54 - South Carolina's Venture Capital Challenge* 27:12 - Strategies for Retaining Startups* 32:07 - Disney College Program Experience* 41:33 - Teaching Entrepreneurship at Miami University* 49:49 - NextGen and Startup Greenville InitiativesLinks* Eric Weissmann on LinkedIn* NextGEN* Cintrifuse* StartupCincyCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryIn this episode of the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Ryan Edge, Software Development Lead with Uptech Studio. Get to know Ryan ahead of his 2024 Carolina Code Conference keynote as he recounts his journey, Uptech's support for startups with advancements in cross-platform development using Flutter and backend solutions with NodeJS. He shares his involvement with the Flutter community in Charlotte and his current project, Fan Inc, an app aiding college athletes in managing their NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) earnings. The discussion transitions to the broader dynamics of college sports, focusing on NIL deals, the equitable distribution of athlete earnings, and the balance between sports and education within institutions like Clemson. Personal anecdotes and team dynamics underscore the need to uphold the integrity of team sports while adapting to the evolving NIL landscape. “People always ask me, are you scared that Flutter's not gonna be popular five, ten years from now? And my response is always, well if Flutter loses, and we're not using Flutter ten years from now. That means that what we are using is so much better than what Flutter was and will improve our lives so much better. ” - Ryan EdgeEpisode Notes* Tech Talk: Flutter and Node.js at Uptech Studio (02:36)* Diving Deep into Flutter (03:52)* Community Involvement and Google Developer Expert (06:18)* Exploring Infrastructure as Code with Nitric (07:49)* Personal Insights: Family and Film Festivals (17:56)* Movie Buffs: Horror, Sci-Fi, and Nostalgia (19:21)* Moving Around: A Childhood of Change (34:44)* Life in Charlotte and Early Career (38:36)* Lockheed Martin: A Unique Experience (40:02)* Exploring Modern Cloud Providers (44:43)* The NIL Space: Empowering College Athletes (57:06)* The Impact of NIL on College Sports (01:00:23)Links* Ryan Edge on LinkedIn* Uptech Studio* Flutter* Nitric* Fan IncCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryIn this episode of the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones sits down with Gavin Coyle, Head of Growth at Enok Collective, to discuss his diverse career journey from biology to technology. Gavin talks about his role as a product manager and agile coach, and the mentorship culture he's developing through Mentorship in Tech, formerly EngineerKit. He shares insights into the challenges of breaking into tech, the importance of effective mentorship, and the integration of coaching techniques to foster growth. The conversation also explores parallels between biological ecosystems and organizational dynamics, and Gavin's involvement with the Agile Learning Institute. Get inspired to mentor!“So the analogy in my head, because of my, med school background…a good doctor doesn't want to see you again…because you're healthy. So in the same way, we don't want to see our clients again, not in a bad way, but just to make sure that they're independent and they can take care of their own teams and the product and the process.” - Gavin CoyleEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* 01:11 - Gavin's Journey into Tech * 04:37 - The Three Legs of Enok Collective * 10:47 - The Importance of Mentorship * 15:30 - Gavin's Career Pivot from Biology to Tech * 25:06 - Mentorship Challenges and Solutions * 30:16 - The Role of Coaching in Mentorship * 38:59 - The Importance of Humility and Growth Mindset * 43:03 - Creating a Supportive Mentorship Environment * 45:37 - Parallels Between Biology and Organizational Mentorship * 52:53 - Engineering Guild and Programming Languages * 56:13 - Involvement with the Agile Learning Institute Links* Gavin on LinkedIn* Enok Collective Website* Enok Collective on LinkedInCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chat with Pete Broderick, Co-Owner of Simply Binary and Co-Founder of Slipstream. During the episode Barry and Pete talk about moving from Virginia to Greenville, good habits, health, fitness and discipline to manage work and family life, the meetup experience in the area and Simply Binary’s commitment over the hears to help facilitate it, the experience of building startups and using the right tool for the job when programming. You’re going to want to get a gym membership, a better organized calendar and learn a new programming language when this one is all said and done!“I like the philosophy of betting the barn, not the farm. Take medium sized bets frequently but never put all your chips on the table.” - Pete BroderickEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Origin Story - Chantilly, VA to Greenville, SC (1:15)* Systems and Routines for Balancing Life (10:06)* Fitness Challenges, Journaling and Good Habits (14:20)* How to Slowly Build Discipline, Sleep and Caffeine (20:27)* HG Nights, Upstate Ruby and Upstate Elixir Meetups (33:02)* Building Startups: CaptureLife, Slipstream (38:09)* The Right Tool for the Job: Ruby, Python, Go, Node and Elixir (45:22)Links* Pete on LinkedIn* Simply Binary* Slipstream* The 20,000 Resident Neighborhood of South Riding, Virginia* HackGreenville Nights* Upstate Ruby* Upstate |> Elixir* Why We SleepCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Ben Trent, Senior Principal Software Engineer at Elastic. During the episode Barry and Ben talk about his journey into software from a math degree, extensive discussion of the Georgia Tech online Computer Science Masters degree, his time at Rackspace, working with Inference Systems at Elastic, dig deep into machine learning, information retrieval, how Vector data works, working with the Heirchical Navigable Small Worlds (HNSW) models and probabilistic structures, his experience speaking at the Carolina Code Conference in 2023 and what it’s like to work on a distributed team. This is one of our more technical deep dive episodes but Ben does a great job of breaking it down so that it’s easier to understand. You’ll learn a lot!“We’re gonna say Barry has a Napoleon complex.” - Ben TrentEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Journey from Math to Rackspace (1:31)* Georgia Tech online Computer Science MS…and toddlers (3:40)* Time at Rackspace (10:18)* Comradery during an online degree program (14:37)* AI Chatbot TA and the overflow of software into everything (18:28)* Rackspace stories: Upgrading from Rails 1.2 and “The Scream Test” (22:50)* Working on Inference Systems at Elastic (31:01)* Information Retrieval and Cool Sunglasses (37:54)* Teach me about storing Vector Data (43:42)* HNSW and Probabilistic Structures (50:20) * Making Java Faster, Conference Talks and Searching with Numbers (54:15)* Working in a Distributed Team (58:44)Links* Ben on LinkedIn and Twitter* Georgia Tech Online Master of Science in Computer Science* Java Must be Faster: Time for the Vector API* Elastic* Rackspace* What exactly are vectors * Neural Networks* The original HNSW PaperCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Bruce and Maggie Tate with Grox.io and the GigCityElixir Conference. During the episode they will talk about their grand adventure, buying a boat and taking it on the Great Loop from the Tennessee River, to the Mississippi, out to the Atlantic Ocean, up the coast, through New York to the Great Lakes and back down the Mississippi to get home. This incredible, life changing 9 month boat trip resulted in a book and an epic talk at the 2023 Carolina Code Conference. All of this was done while working remote. We’ll also hear about GigCityElixir, how it started, how it’s going and what is coming up on May 9th - 11th in Chattanooga back to back with NervesConf! This one is epic.“We named her Currently because we wanted to really pay attention to the trip, kind of just be present.” - Maggie Tate“More people climb Mount Everest than do the Great Loop and I understand why. It’s emotionally hard, it’s physically hard but it’s oh so tremendously rewarding too.” - Bruce TateEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* GigCityElixir helping out the Carolina Code Conference (1:56)* What was the origin of this Great Loop boat trip? (3:19)* Getting the boat and nearly wrecking it immediately (9:24)* Pocket Trawler: A boat that can handle this trip (14:21)* Lock Systems: Elevators on the water (17:13)* Returning from sea through New York (21:50)* 9 months on a boat, working remote the entire time with Peplink (25:57)* Rough water, bad weather and communications planning (29:17)* Bursts of travel, waiting out storms, planning your dock access (33:45)* Currently - Naming the boat and writing the book (37:50)* GigCityElixir: Nurturing Coding Communities (40:00)* Starting conference invites with…bourbon? (44:00)* What’s happening with GigCityElixir in 2024 (49:06)Links* LinkedIn - Bruce & Maggie* GigCityElixir and NervesConf on May 9th - 11th* Grox.io* Bruce’s Talk from the 2023 Carolina Code Conference - Loop* The Book: Currently Away on PragProg, Bookshop and Amazon* Peplink SystemsCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Luke Kapustka with DEF CON 864 (DC864). During the episode Barry and Luke talk about his work as one of the community leads for DC864, the origins and growth of the group, his experience in the security industry as a penetration tester and social engineer. We’ll learn about popular tools like Burp Suite, hear stories from work in the field and how to start your career. We’ll also hear about the experience of running a Capture the Flag event for programmers during the 2023 Carolina Code Conference. Check it out!“A hacker is not someone who's always malicious. They essentially repurpose something that was used for something else for their own means and their own needs. We look at a problem, we look at a system and find another way of interacting with it to do something that was unrelated to what it was designed to do, to somehow circumvent something. ” - Luke KapustkaEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Penetration Testing: Web Apps and Burp Suite (1:54)* Social Engineering to Access Building and Information (10:25)* Email Phishing: Simulating Attacks and Training Response (19:02)* Luke Net Diaries: Getting Past Security (27:37)* DC864 Meetup Group (32:35)* The Village People: Red Team, Blue Team, Lock Pick and Career (43:16)* Red Teams and Blue Teams (51:13)* Breaking into InfoSec (1:00:12)* Capture the Flag (1:04:26)Links* Luke on LinkedIn* DC864* DEF CON and Blackhat* Darknet Diaries* The LockPicking LawyerCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Olivia Evans, Community Manager at Flywheel. During the episode Barry and Olivia talk about her career path from Anderson to San Antonio to Winston Salem and finally coming back to Greenville. We discuss Flywheel Coworking, history, its foundation, events like Tech Slam’n Eggs, the Flywheel Cafe and open houses. We will also get an update on on construction of the brand new facility that will host the 2024 Carolina Code Conference! Big things coming!“That's us partnering with cities to help them develop their, entrepreneurial, organization, coworking space, right? That center, that hub where people can come and gather and work together and help start companies together.” - Olivia EvansEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Introducing yourself at the Carolina Code Conference (1:00)* Career path through the Anderson Chamber of Commerce (4:19)* Economic Development and Cybersecurity in San Antonio (7:51)* Running Home to Flywheel (12:01)* Winston Salem, Flywheel Foundation and eCommerce Bootcamps (20:09)* A Brand New Historic Building: Repurposing the Pepsi Plant (27:07)* Construction Progress Update, Sneak Peak Visits (32:42)* Flywheel Events: Tech Slam’n Eggs, Flywheel Cafe (35:36)* History of Flywheel Coworking (38:35)* Coming back to Greenville (44:38)Links* Olivia Evans on LinkedIn* Flywheel Greenville* Flywheel Foundation* Flywheel Events: Tech Slam ‘N Eggs, Pitch Space, Idea Expo, Open HousesCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Vincent Mayers, JUG Leader, Java Champion and Conference Organizer. During the episode Barry and Vincent talk about the upcoming Devnexus Java Conference in Atlanta on April 9th-11th, the journey from Boy Scouts, pottery and professional kayaking in London to tech recruiting in Atlanta turning into a multicity tech conference venture including VueJS and Connect.Tech. We’ll also hear about the Atlanta Java Users Group, getting involved with your local community, open source projects and what it takes to be successful! Check it out!“You have to have intentional consistency to be successful at anything in life and especially in these community endeavors.” - Vincent MayersEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Devnexus: Java Ecosystem Conference in Atlanta (1:26)* Tech Recruiting from London to Atlanta (9:06)* Coming to Tech Conferences from…Pottery? (13:59)* Vueconf US, Connect.Tech, Data Science and Blockchain Conferences (19:22)* Boy Scouts to Professional Kayaking (26:15)* Microprofile and Eclipse Foundation (30:55)* Atlanta Java Users Group (34:09)* What’s happening at Devnexus 2024? (38:24)* Intentional Consistency (48:53)Links* Vincent Mayers on LinkedIn, Twitter/X and Blog* Devnexus* Atlanta Java Users Group (AJUG)* Vueconf US* Connect.Tech Conference* Atlanta Java Users Group Meets Microprofile: An Open Source Love StoryCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chat with Barry Johnson, Trainer and CTO of Seek Quality. During episode, Barry Johnson talks about his career from early beginnings as a student at Clemson, through starting Carolina Online which eventually became Nuvox Communications and now Windstream, watching the formation of the internet at Clemson culminating with his position at Clemson’s CTO. They also discuss is current role with Seek Quality at CTO and Trainer, the process of transitioning into a technical leadership position and the upcoming The Family CTO podcast. It’s a great story and a journey that you don’t want to miss!“If somebody offers you leadership training that means they see potential in you and you should take it.” - Barry JohnsonEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* 34 Years at Clemson University: From Student to Clemson CTO (1:36)* Computer Science with AI in 1989 (3:20)* COBOL on Mainframes, Usenet, Hubcap and early Internet (8:56)* The 1st Online T-shirt Business (potentially) and the Podfather (21:21)* The Carolina Online story (28:18)* Back to Clemson: LAN Parties, Roommates and Building Clemson IT (40:58)* Auth systems, SAML and the CTO step (52:23)* Next steps with Seek Quality, GitLab and DevOps (59:08)* Early Years: SciFi, Commodore 64 and Apple II (1:06:06)* Being the Family CTO (1:08:25)* Transition from Technology into Leadership (1:11:18)Links* Barry Johnson on LinkedIn* Seek Quality* Clemson University* Coming soon - The Family CTO PodcastCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on a special edition of the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chat with John Warner…twice! Due to some technical difficulties that prevented his original interview from running as Episode 2 ahead of the Innoventures Futures Festival in September, so we had John back on the show in November to talk about how things went and what the future looks like. In this special episode, you get to hear both conversations as Barry and John talk about Innoventure past and future, the transformation of Greenville over the last few decades, advanced manufacturing, economic development, what it takes to attract and retain talent and much more. It’s a very insightful look from one of the upstate’s greatest advocates. “We’ve got best in class manufacturing and supply chains here. I think we can position ourselves as best in class in the world.” - John WarnerEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* November Interview: InnoVenture Futures Fest Recap (1:05)* Future of the Futures Fest (3:10)* Overlap of Advanced Manufacturing and Code (6:05)* Potential Spring Event (9:10)* Mechatronics (13:00)* Favorite Memories from InnoVenture (16:24)* September Interview Introduction (18:29)* How did InnoVenture get started? (23:09)* Trying things to see what works (28:42)* Structure of InnoVenture Futures Fest 2023 (31:42)* Scheduling around football season (35:51)* Greenville’s transformation wasn’t an accident (38:44)* Clemson ICAR’s off-road autonomous vehicles (44:59)* Attracting talented people to Greenville (49:49)* Benefits of the Swamp Rabbit Trail (55:34)* Warren Buffet and the Wright Brothers (59:21)Links* John Warner on LinkedIn, Twitter/X* InnoVenture* Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research* The Swamp Rabbit Trail and The Doodle TrailCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryIn this special Valentine’s episode of the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with his wife, Christie Jones, Owner and President of Therapy360. During the episode they talk about the journey of starting and growing Therapy360 over the last 17 years, balancing work life, family life, conference preparation and almost 20 years of marriage while enjoying their evening tea after a date night in Clemson. Happy Valentine’s Day!“You have to explain why there was a mattress in the office…” - Christie JonesEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Winding down with evening tea (0:44)* Pediatric Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapy (2:32)* News Anchor or Speech-Language Pathologist? (6:54)* Why did you want to start a practice? (10:24)* Groundhog Day (14:33)* Smokey, the therapy dog (18:35)* Deciding to hire & Working 3 weeks after a new baby (22:21)* Fighting the move to an administrative role (29:20)* New Offices, Locations, Buying Your First Building (32:39)* Surprises from a 4 day work week (38:26)* Balancing family, kids and vacation with a business (42:07)* Helping with the Carolina Code Conference (49:43)Links* Therapy360 - Website, Facebook, InstagramCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Don Sullivan, Senior Software Engineer at Simply Binary. During the episode, Barry and Don talk about traveling around the USA with a travel trailer while working remote as a software engineer, trying tacos in every state, family fun with uranium mines, a unique self-taught path into a programming career, getting into apologetics and some diversified investment advice. WARNING! Listening while hungry may be risky.“There’s an ethos about the food truck that says, this is what I would make sitting at my house, as a person who lives here. If I didn’t run a business, this is the way I would make tacos for my family.” - Don SullivanEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Less Travelled Roads to Programming (0:59)* Five Majors at Clemson in 2 Years…maximizing school rules (5:17)* Surviving The Beacon after 20 years in Washington state (11:49)* Travelling Around the US in a Trailer, Sampling Tacos & Food Trucks (16:18)* Uranium Mining: Fun for the Whole Family (28:50)* Starlink, Working Remote and Camper Stories (43:10)* Discovering Apologetics (55:31)* Investing, Coin Collecting and Precious Metals (1:00:16)Links* SimplyBinary* Thousand Trails* The Schafer Caynon Trail* Road to Hana* The Beacon Drive-In* Vasquez Seafood & Po-Boy in Covington, Lousiana for the ultimate Mufaletta* Starlink* Defy the GridCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Charles Nutter, Senior Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat. During the episode, Barry and Charles talk about his globe trotting conference tours talking about JRuby including Okinawa, Taipei, Brussels, San Diego, Detroit, Atlanta and of course Greenville as we get deep into JRuby and the JVM, new features, future plans and how you can get involved. We’ll also discuss his upcoming wedding (congrats!), life in Minnesota and bourbon too!“I’ve always want to do an implementation of Go that would run on the JVM.” - Charles NutterEpisodes NotesHighlights from this week’s episode include:* Promoting JRuby: San Diego, Taiwan, Brussels (0:46)* Minnesota Life and Wedding Planning (4:09)* Travel to RubyConf Taiwan (8:20)* Memorable Conference Trips (11:39)* New Features of JRuby and the Java Virtual Machine/JVM (16:37)* The Native Future of JRuby (25:12)* Android Development with JRuby (32:23)* JVM with Zero Warmup Time (34:31)* Upcoming Conferences and Bourbon Recommendations (39:41)Links* Charles on… Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, BlueSky * JRuby on… Website, Github, Matrix, Twitter/X, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Facebook* Bringing Ruby to the JVM: Making the Impossible, Possible (Keynote)* Red Hat* RubyConf Taiwan in Taipei* Devnexus* RubyConf San Diego* Ruboto * FOSDEM 2024 in Brussels - European OSS Conference* RailsConf in Detroit* Ruby Kagi in Okinawa, JapanCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Lelia King, Executive Director of Build Carolina. During the episode, Barry and Lelia talk about Build Carolina, its multiple programs such as the Carolina Code School, the Develop Carolina Apprenticeship Program, SC Codes, her journey to getting here, history with The Iron Yard and what’s involved with supporting the tech community. Check it out!“When you really break it down, this is just another puzzle that we're trying to solve.” - Lelia KingEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* The Iron Yard to Carolina Code School (01:51)* Student Stories, Career Changes and Cohorts (08:24)* The Develop Carolina Apprenticeship Program (15:16)* MVP Studio (23:19)* Supporting the Tech Community (32:18)* Raising your hand to help (40:24)* State of the Tech Talent Ecosystem (51:24)Links* Lelia King on LinkedIn* Build Carolina* Carolina Code School* Develop Carolina* SC CodesCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Hunter Hodnett, CTO and Co-founder at Chipp.AI. During the episode, Barry and Hunter talk about his journey from San Francisco to consulting with startups in Austin’s snowpocalypse, starting a meetup and getting involved Greenville as well as co-founding an AI company based out of Fargo, North Dakota. There’s even a brief visit to New York along the way!“I love being surrounded by people with that zero to one mindset. There’s so much bravery that comes with taking a big leap into the unknown and making it up as you go.” - Hunter HodnettEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Chipp.AI’s origin and pivot (1:07)* Vectors and Chatbots (5:07)* San Franscisco to Austin to Greenville (8:37)* Fractional CTO consulting with startup MVPs in Austin (21:33)* Starting a Meetup in Greenville (27:23)* NEXT Upstate & Networking by Helping Out (37:15)* Fargo…not the movie (47:46)Links* Hunter Hodnett on LinkedIn* Chipp.ai* NEXT Upstate* HackGreenvilleCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Joey Loman, Shopmaster at SynergyMill. During this episode, Barry and Joey talk about the building things, fabricating prototypes, 3D printing, robotics, Ham radio, dialing into Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), making TV studios, running telecom companies, hacking stories (allegedly) and community building. “I have one expectation of people who work with me. Show up and don’t do worse than last time. Incremental improvement.” - Joey LomanEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* SynergyMill - Fab Lab, Makerspace, Community Workshop (0:47)* The World of 3D Printing (8:04)* TV Studio and Telcom War Stories (15:20)* Dialing into BBSs (23:15)* h@Ck3r stories…allegedly (27:52)* Getting into Ham Radio (33:27)* Robotics too…why not? (42:59)* Community: Beer & Napkins, Hack Greenville Labs and SynergyMill (45:13)Links* Joey Loman on LinkedIn* SynergyMill* SynergyMill on Facebook* HackGreenville Labs* Beer & Napkins MeetupCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Christina Roberts, Chairwoman of the Board at the Agile Learning Institute. During this episode, Barry and Christina talk about opening technology careers via mentorship from the Agile Learning Institute, the Persevere program helping people learn to code from prison without an internet connection, local Women Who Code meetups, qualities of great programmers, the value of internships and Christina’s remarkable backstory. You won’t want to miss this!“What that experience really taught me, being in nursing homes, seeing people's experience at the end of their life, you know, what they had wished they had done, what they're glad that they did, what really mattered. It was never a job. Not one single time.” - Christina RobertsEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Agile Learning Institute - Mission of Mentorship (0:52)* Persevere: Learning to code from Prison (5:27)* Getting involved with a Women Who Code Meetup (10:37)* Going through Build Carolina’s Carolina Code School (16:39)* Curiosity and Persistence (23:42)* Changing the World with Code (27:17)* SELECT * FROM internships WHERE exists = true (30:19)* Making Christina: On your own at age 15 in South Texas (43:38)Links* Christina Roberts on LinkedIn* Agile Learning Institute* Persevere* Women Who Code* Women Who Code - Greenville* Build Carolina* Coagio ConsultingCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Jake Hennett, Software Engineer with Lima One Capital. During this episode, Barry and Jake talk about all sorts of things from “No Code” solutions with MuleSoft, Create React apps, the value in learning unpopular things, software in the finance world, balancing work, family and education, focus and motivation for developers, as well as the complexities involve with making good technology decisions where everybody buys in. Check it out!“Nope, we tried though. This is the one we want. Everybody worked together to come to the decision. It works better for team integration. It works better for morale.” - Jake HennettEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* MuleSoft for “No Code” APIs, Create React (1:12)* Learn unpopular things…BPM, COBOL (9:05)* Fun with Finance (17:38)* Finishing that Masters Degree: Theory and Practice (21:42)* Next.js and Psychological Buy In on Technology Decisions (28:59)* Holiday Plans, Family Dynamics at Work (37:38)* Late Nights and Learning Hungry (43:55)* Focus, Context Switching and the Art of Motivation (48:47)* Assembler and efficiency constraints (59:04)Links* MuleSoft* Create React App* Next.js* Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates UsCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Liz Johnson, Staff Software Engineer with Silicon Hemisphere. During this episode, Barry and Liz talk about her talks at PyCon and PyData around Python, AI and data science as well as her experience with PHP+Laravel and Ruby on Rails. Liz explains Vectors and TFIDF (Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency) in a manner that even Barry can understand. We learn about family and tech life in Dallas, as well as getting into writing and publishing tech content in the first place. Great and informative episode!“I've always told people who are considering publishing more content, do it because it's a really good learning experience. To try to teach someone something, you have to know it really deeply yourself.” - Liz JohnsonEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Python data science, PHP + Laravel and Ruby on Rails (1:24)* How did Skynet find the Carolina Code Conference? (9:05)* Explaining Vectors and TFIDF (15:28)* Family, Meetups, and Dallas Tech Community (22:34)* PyData Conference: TDD with your CICD (35:12)* Writing and Publishing Tech Content (44:59)Links* Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course* PyCon Talk: Skynet 101 - How to Keep Your Machine Learning Code from Getting Away from You* Liz’s articles on freeCodeCamp, Medium and Silicon HemisphereCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Eric Burden, IT Senior Principal Consultant with NTT Data Services. During the episode, Barry and Eric talk about moving from Memphis to Pickens, plugging into the local tech community in the upstate with Hack Greenville, the Code Connector community in Memphis, teaching with a heart for service, getting into R for data analysis, learning new languages like Kotlin during Advent of Code and learn about falling in love with iterators at the Carolina Code Conference.“There is technology out there for everyone to do the thing that you love to do with technology and to make a career of it that you can enjoy.” - Eric BurdenEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Memphis, TN to beautiful Pickens, SC (0:24)* Memphis Code Connector (8:47)* Coding Dojo: Preparing for Whiteboard Interviews (11:30)* Career Journey: Chemistry to Social Work to Programming (14:57)* Diving into R for data analysis…plus Excel, Python, Julia and SQL (27:22)* Learning languages during Advent of Code (39:48)* Picking up Kotlin (44:22)* Falling in Love with Iterators: Slides with R (53:30)Links* Pandas* PolarsCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Jās Eckard, YAML Engineer at VMWare/SaltStack. During the episode, Barry and Jās talk about Salt Stack, Ansible, YAML configuration management, Terraform, ToFu, the IDEM Project, Southeast Linux Fest, Upstate Carolina Linux Users Group (UCLUG) and Columbia too, benefits of speaking at local meetups and how we learn more when we share, open source tools for event management like Get Together Community and Jitsi. Plus the next UCLUG meeting on November 14th where we’ll learn about Hacking Low Orbit Satellites…because reasons.“Be kind to the next programmer, it may be you.” - Jās EckardEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Secret Agent(less) Man - Salt, Ansible, YAML, Puppet, Chef (0:38)* Perl, Regex, TCL over SSH (9:18)* Southeast Linux Fest (13:29)* Upstate Carolina (and Columbia) Linux Users Group (19:26)* Perks of giving talks at local meetup (27:29)* Using screen to serial connect to modems, multitail and pairing (30:47)* Hacking Low Orbit Satellites at UCLUG on Nov 14th (37:42) * Open Source Events Management with Get Together Community (40:45)Links* Salt Project* IDEM Project* Southeast Linux Fest* UCLUG on Get Together* Get Together Community - Open SourceCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Jeremy Smith, Owner, Designer and Rails Developer at HYBRD. During the episode, Barry and Jeremy talk about Ruby on Rails, unexpected challenges of freelancing, starting the Blue Ridge Ruby Conference in Asheville, NC, visting Friendly.rb in Bucharest, Romania followed by Rails World in Amsterdam and the upcoming Rails World: Greenville watch party on November 9th.“I decided last year to start going all out and doing a lot of conferences. That was an intentional choice to start investing that way.”- Jeremy SmithEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Ruby on Rails since 2009 (2:08)* Challenges of going freelance…twice (6:16)* River tubing and the Blue Ridge Ruby Conference (21:11)* Conference planning energy, doing the next one (34:00)* Friendly.rb in Bucharest, Romania(40:15)* Rails World in Amsterdam (51:25)* Upstate Ruby Meetup - Rails World: Greenville (57:18)Links* HYBRD* Jeremy Smith on… Web, LinkedIn, Twitter/X* Indie Rails PodcastCarolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chat with Robert Roskam, Engineering Manager at Pantheon. During the episode, Barry and Robert talk about Refactor Greenville (Refactor_GVL), Emoji Driven Development™, Yak shaving, HackGreenville Nights, Flutter, Dart, React Native, DNS hacks and…a lot. We talked about a lot. Just listen.“There’s no such thing as best practices but there’s context to discovering what’s best for you.” - Robert RoskamEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Pantheon and WebOps (0:38)* How was the 1st HackGreenville Nights? (2:40)* Flutter, Dart, React Native and getting under the abstraction layer track (13:00)* Emoji driven development…in Swift…WHY? (21:14)* Refactor_GVL’s mission…and cool SVG web effects (24:10)* CRDT hacks in your DNS…because reasons (28:32)* Refactor_GVL, HackGreenville and meetup support systems (35:16)* Just ask ChatGPT? (49:16)* Advice with Contextualized Experience (57:20)* A History of the Origins of …“Yak Shaving” (59:29)Carolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Kevin Dees, Partner at Robojuice. During the episode, Barry and Kevin talk about WordPress, Typerocket, the ancient art of development before version control, the 17 year journey to making a trading card game that will come out this year, the Business Website Leader and Podcast as well as the experience of the Carolina Code Conference this year and in the future.“It took me 17 years to make this thing…it releases March 19th, 2024.”- Kevin Dees, on the making of Six FormsEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* TypeRocket the WordPress MVC Framework (2:06)* Come back to PHP (7:30)* Prehistoric Version Control (12:21)* You have a game company?! Talk about Six Forms (18:20)* 2023 Carolina Code Conference (27:17)* Business Website Leader & Podcast (34:00)* Ticket Price research for 2024 (39:32)Carolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Sean Reid, Lead Instructor at the Carolina Code School. During the episode, Barry and Sean talk about Carolina Code School, Designers and Developers speaking different language, scented candles, theme parks, UGA, Neurelo, really old school web development, cheerleading and spelling. Writing a summary for this one isn’t even possible.“The programmer’s biggest enemy is…spelling.”- Sean ReidEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Just started with Carolina Code School (0:51)* Design Language vs Developer Language (3:05)* Theme Park Pulse and…scented candles? (7:47)* Mouse Dining app for Disney Food Reservations (14:08)* Ellen’s Energy Adventure of the Galaxy (17:57)* Disney World and NASCAR (21:36)* If you drive through Athens with your window down… (24:43)* Oh yea…code stuff. Btw, Neurelo is awesome (29:54)* The most absurd conference website ever created (33:10)* jQuery, old school web dev and soccer moms (36:23)* Space Jam’s 1996 website is still online (41:55)* When middle school IT and coaching cheerleading collide (48:27)* Boomkarks! (52:35)Carolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

Episode SummaryThis week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Chris Merritt, Managing Partner of Atlas Local. During the episode, Barry and Chris talk about Grok, the unconference, making its return to Greenville, SC on October 4th-6th this year. Where did it come from, how much fun will you have and what does Grok even mean!“We wanted the conference to be about the people that are there and the conversations that we would all have together.” - Chris MerrittEpisode NotesHighlights from this week’s conversation include:* Mill conversions and Atlas Local history (1:25)* Let’s talk about Grok (6:20)* Memorable presenters like Jeremy Smith (11:22)* What…does Grok mean? (15:01)* What are you excited for this year? (19:09)* The weirdest thing that ever happened at Grok (25:43)* Methodical Coffee is really good (30:19)* Heard Media, remote life and coworking (33:11)* Yes that is a 1st generation iPhone (38:39)* Greenville is growing fast (41:08)* Final thoughts on Grok 2023 (42:06)Carolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at carolina.codes.Developed with assistance from Heard Media.Subscribe to stay informed of the latest developments, new podcast episodes, event tickets, as well speaking and sponsorship opportunities! Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe

This week on the Carolina Code Cast, host Barry Jones chats with Joel Taddei, Senior Backend Engineer at Zapier. During the episode, Barry and Joel talk about the origin of the Carolina Code Conference. They discuss how the conference has grown from an idea in 2018 to being what it is today, the challenges and successes of organizing the conference including the selection process for speakers and finding suitable venues, memories from past conferences, how people can get involved, and more.Highlights from this week’s conversation include: • The founding of the Carolina Code Conference (0:04) • Seeing the need for a conference like this (2:17) • The challenges of organizing a free conference (10:03) • Lessons learned from the early days of the conference (11:07) • Securing a venue (16:25) • How the conference has grown in popularity (19:11) • What’s next for the conference in the future? (23:45) • The speaker selection process (27:44) • Networking opportunities (33:21) • Memories from past conferences (42:32) • Reviving the conference and building momentum (47:27)Carolina Code Cast is a podcast that covers a wide variety of topics in the coding and data space. Learn more about this year’s Carolina Code Conference at blog.carolina.codes. Get full access to Carolina Code Conference™ at blog.carolina.codes/subscribe