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). His advice for companies  who want to "do community" is to trust your community with its own  identify and give them the space to try new things with the freedom to  fail. John Mark loves to perform community karaoke, and is available for  weddings, funerals and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.