Get To Know Jason Cosper
Jason Cosper is currently employed as the WordPress Evangelist for WP Engine. Honestly, that’s just a fancy way of saying “I get paid to chat with people about WordPress.” Nice work if you can get it.
We’re thrilled Jason will be speaking at WordCamp Sacramento 2016 on Scaling WordPress With Load Testing!
Speaker Q&A With Jason
To help you learn even more about Jason, we asked him to answer a few questions for us, some WordPress-related, and some others we think you’ll appreciate 🙂 Be sure to give him a shout out on Twitter and don’t forget to use our hashtag #wcsac.
What inspired you to give this talk at WordCamp?
I’ve spent a large part of the past year studying user behaviors on different types of sites (media, ecommerce, blogs, etc.) to build load tests that put servers under as close to an accurate amount of stress as possible. I’ve learned a lot along the way and am looking forward to the chance to share my newfound knowledge with folks.
How did you discover WordPress?
I found WordPress in 2005 after growing tired with Blogger and struggling to set up Movable Type. While the UX was rougher around the edges than I preferred at the time, I liked the hackable nature of WordPress. I also was enamored with the fact that I didn’t have to depend on a third party to add a feature if I needed it.
How has WordPress Or WordCamp impacted you?
Over the past 10 years, I’ve built a career out of working with and knowing WordPress.
Initially, I became the “resident WordPress nerd” at DreamHost because I was the only person in technical support at the time (2006) who had actually installed and used it. That means that every support ticket that had even a whiff of WordPress got forwarded to me. As new problems were presented to me, I taught myself how to take care of them and my knowledge expanded.
Five years later, I went to work at WP Engine as their second support employee and started dealing with new, even harder problems. After a series of promotions, I’ve ended up with the enviable job of playing with and talking about WordPress all day long.
Going from someone who was only able to say “Oh, I’ve installed that…” about a piece of software to providing a comfortable life for my wife and two dogs with that same software is pretty great.
How do you primarily work with WordPress?
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work around scaling and implementation. I’d like to find more time to do actual development work — I’ve got a running list of plugin ideas that needs attention — but I prefer having a social life, you know? 😉
What does the WordCamp theme Discovery mean to you?
The explosive growth of the WordPress community over the past few years means that there’s always something new to learn. I love that.
There’s no shortage of things that you can get into (ecommerce, membership sites, social networks, etc.) as soon as you’re ready to stop thinking of WordPress as “just a CMS”.
What is the latest book you read?
I’m currently working my way through Neon Green by Margaret Wappler.
What is your favorite restaurant? Favorite menu item?
The Tacos de Papa at Loncheria Otro Rollo (Bakersfield, CA) make me incredibly happy.
What TV series are you current binging on/into?
Mr. Robot!
What do you do for fun?
I spend a ton of time with my wife Sarah and our two chihuahuas, Rowdy & Gomez. We watch a lot of bad TV, scary movies and premium cable programming.
I also enjoy hanging out in musty record stores, drinking whiskey, smoking meats, and sampling craft beers.