✨ Series: Getting to know the wonderful Continuous Delivery Community
Jeremy Meiss
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Kansas City, USA
Who are you?
I have been in full-time tech for almost 30 years, touching just about every IT role during that time, and have spent the last roughly 15 years involved in tech communities and Developer Relations. I have been at some well-known startups like Auth0 and CircleCI, and some large enterprises like Sprint (before they became T-Mobile) and Hallmark Cards.
I feel the most alive when I am connecting with others, and helping people learn about, and hopefully understand, core technical concepts and principles, like Developer Experience, DevOps, and CI/CD.
What are your hobbies?
I love coffee, community, music (I play guitar, both electric and acoustic, bass, piano, and percussion), concerts, movies (Marvel over DC), am a husband and father, and love the mountains and hiking whenever I have a chance.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
At first, it was the typical garbage truck driver and fireman, then when I came in contact with my first real computer in the early 1980s, I was hooked. I knew then that I wanted to work with computers.
What led you to a career in tech?
My uncle gave me a computer in the early 1980s, and from that point on it just came naturally, and I became everyone’s personal helpdesk, pro bono of course. My first full-time role was at an Internet provider in Kansas City in 1995, and the rest was history.
Do you remember your first open source contribution?
I do, but it was more from the non-code side. I was the Head of Developer Community for a mobile tech community, that had a company backing it, called XDA-Developers. It was the early days of Android, and it was the Wild West with companies like Samsung and HTC dominating. The hacker/hobbyist community that had formed around Android was constantly struggling with the OEMs not fulfilling their obligations around the kernel source and GPLv2. I spent months in close conversations with those OEMs, both their technical and legal teams, helping them understand open source, and why GPLv2 mattered and applied to them. Eventually, Samsung understood but HTC never really did, which I believe is one reason why their market share decreased very quickly after that as the community abandoned their phones.
How did you get involved in the Continuous Delivery Foundation?
Soon after I started at CircleCI it was suggested internally that I would start getting involved in the CDF, so I dove in to see where I could contribute, which included speaking at the past few cdCon’s and Mini Summits, and on the Program Committee for 2022 and 2024.
What is the best connection you’ve made through open source?
Friends. I have been able to meet people from all over the world, at first virtually and then many of them in person eventually, through being involved in open source.
What is your #1 top tip for getting involved in the community?
Dive in. See where the needs are, and what you’re able to do. Find the areas that aren’t being met, like documentation or issues or support, and do what you can.
What’s your favorite open source conference?
It’s a tough one, but it would come down to Open Source Summit and KubeCon.
Where can we find you?
Jeremy is currently on the Program Committee for cdCon 2024. Catch him in Seattle!
