Hey there, I'm Eric Van Johnson, powered by 16-year-old single malt Lagavulin Scotch and watching baseball. I have over 20 years of professional IT focus experience, and I'm a PHP Developer with a passion for working with the Laravel Framework. I am an advocate of Open Source and the PHP Community. I'm also one of the people who helps steer the ship at PHP Architect – a motley crew of frontend, backend, and mobile developers who are basically wizards with code. We're all about bringing the magic to web and app development. When I'm not wrangling code and herding developers, you can catch me orchestrating the PHP Tek conference, which is like Comic-Con but for PHP geeks (minus the capes, unfortunately). I'm also one of the masterminds behind PHPxSan Diego (aka. SDPHP), a local gang of PHP enthusiasts who gather to swap stories, tricks, and the occasional meme. We're basically the Justice League of the PHP world, minus the superpowers. And if that's not enough, I'm also a podcast guy. You can hear me gabbing away on shows like the PHP Podcast and PHPRoundtable, where I spill the beans on all things tech and have some seriously nerdy conversations. So, if you're into PHP, tech, or just a good laugh, you've come to the right place. Stick around, and let's dive into the wild world of coding and community together!