Hi Joshua! Thanks for letting us get to know more about you! Let's get started!
1. What’s your role at Mediacurrent, both internally and client-related?
I am a Senior Drupal Developer, which means I am responsible for the planning, management and execution of web development tasks. I mainly lead Drupal 7 support clients at this time, but I’ve also recently been involved in development on a Drupal 8 build.
2. Give us an idea of what professional path brought you here.
I have a degree in Digital Media and Business Administration from Albright College, Reading, PA. I have also acquired an Advanced Web Development Certificate from Piedmont Technical College, Greenwood, SC.
Starting around 2007, I was working for a large landscape retailer, Park Seed, as a customer service representative. At that time, they were also working to expand their digital reach. One day, my manager asked if I’d like to join their web team as a special projects web designer. That was my foot in the door into web development.
After that role, I worked for a Jeep parts retailer, Quadratec, and supported their home-grown e-commerce website. Then, the hour commute to work caught up to me, so I found an opportunity with a small, local advertising agency that was 15 minutes from home. There was then trouble between the two managing partners so I decided it was time to move on. While I didn’t like having the hour commute again, landed a developer job at Olympus. And then along came a remote work opportunity with Mediacurrent that aligned with my career goals, and the rest is history.
3. How did you first get involved with Drupal?
I was first introduced to Drupal around 2008, I think it was Drupal 6.
Funny story - in the special projects web designer role, I was tasked to build some microsites that would be used to be very SEO heavy and potentially drive more traffic to their ecommerce platforms.
While looking into a platform to use for these microsites, we looked at Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress. We ended up picking Joomla and started building sites, but I often think about it and wish we had picked Drupal knowing what I know now.
But, I first used Drupal in 2013 while working as a web developer for Olympus.
4. Is there a go-to Drupal module that you like to incorporate whenever possible?
I would say Views module, as I typically lean towards a Panels + Views setup on Drupal 7.
My favorite part about Views is the deep integration with Panels, the ability to quickly and easily build queries, and the robust API it provides for more complex queries and templates.
5. Do you have any recommended reading or books that you would suggest to others?
Packt publishers, https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning, offer a different free technology ebook every day. They often have books that capture my attention.
6. Any mobile apps that you use regularly?
I enjoy using the Udemy app to learn other technologies, such as iOS app development.
7. What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy the outdoors with the family, listening to music and trying to learn the guitar.
8. What do you like about Mediacurrent?
The thing I like most about Mediacurrent is the culture and the ability to work from anywhere.
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