John Cocking was in middle school when he discovered the joy of using technical skills to help people deliver their messages. What started backstage at the local ballet and community theater spread quickly throughout his life. John completed an honors degree in English and French at Guilford College, and while he may have forgotten both languages at this point, he certainly hasn’t forgotten the pleasures of copy-editing and of putting the college newspaper online back when frames were the hot new technology.

From there, John only fell deeper down the rabbit hole of technology-powered support. For most of his career, he’s helped faculty within The University of North Carolina system, completing a Master’s in Computer Science along the way. During his time at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he had the pleasure of building the underpinnings of an online program with an initial budget comprised of a disused server and a fast internet connection. For fun, John designs games that help people spend time together around a table, talking.