Payara Podcast – Java User Group Spotlight – Garden State JUG

We are kicking off 2025 with the new series of Payara Podcast dedicated to the Java community, which means that over the next couple of episodes, I will be talking to quite a few Java User Group Leaders, representing JUGs all around the world.

For this January episode, I had a great pleasure to talk to Mike and Barry from Garden State Java User Group.

During our conversation, we explored the importance of Java User Groups and their role in maintaining, supporting and educating Java developers within their local communities. Mike and Barry shared what’s coming to Garden State JUG this year that they are excited about, and the challenges their user group is facing.

Mike Redlich has been an active member within the Java community for the past 25 years. He founded the Garden State Java User Group (formerly the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey Java Users Group) in 2001 where he serves as one of the directors. Mike is a Java Champion, InfoQ Java News Editor, published book author and a very active member of Payara Community.

Barry Burd has been a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey since 1980. When he’s not lecturing, Barry leads training courses for professional programmers in business and industry. He has spoken at many industry conferences around the world and published several articles and books on Java.

During this episode, we discussed the shift to hybrid and virtual-only JUG meetups, importance of networking and keeping the local community engaged. We also talked about how Barry and Mike work with their local university and inspire their students to learn about Java and other languages.

The episode is available on Spotify and on YouTube.

Enjoy!