DevRel Weekly - Issue 123 - Strategy, Goals, and Advocating for Advocacy

Welcome! 👋

Welcome to our last DevRel Weekly issue of the year... and what a year it's been! I have such an appreciation for this community and the content we've created together. We're finishing out the year strong with a lot of great Twitter discussions as well as excellent longer-form content (including a piece by yours truly!).

Here's hoping 2021 brings us health, a vaccine for all, and a chance to get together in person again. See you all on January 5th!

Best,
Mary (@mary_grace)
DevRel Weekly Patreon

Tidbits 🕔

Be as Transparent as Possible

Transparency is the key to maintain healthy communities.

Share whatever you can and explain why a specific decision was made and the rest will come.

-Ruben Vivanti

Don't Forget to Validate

Properly onboarding new members into your community is important.

Perhaps more important is how you reward and validate your members after they make their first contribution.

-David Spinks

Respect Your Community

No brand is successful without taking care of its people. So, if you wish to grow big someday, better take care of your community. Always believe & respect those who believe in you.

-Paras Pundir

Don't Preserve - Advance and Steer

If someone tells you that your job is to "preserve" culture as a #CMGR, run!

Culture is never stagnant. It is always changing.

You preserve things that are dead. For culture, you "advance" and "steer" it.

-Carter Gibson

Flexibility is Key

Developer Advocates wear a whole bunch of hats, you have to be super flexible if you are looking to become a developer advocate.

-Shodipo Ayomide

Should We Invest in a Community? (A Discussion)

If you're having an internal conversation about the business value of community, this thread is definitely one you'll want to read! Community Club shares insights from a handful of people around the industry regarding how to make a case for a community.

Tangibles 🤓

First, Understand the Company Goals

In order to successfully prove the value of our work in a way that the company understands and sees as beneficial, we need to attach the main goals of the Developer Relations department to the goals that are shared by the company as a whole. Unsure how to do this? Check out my new blogpost, complete with practical frameworks and exercises to help you define what your day-to-day work should look like.

Creating a DevRel Culture

Struggling to see over the amount of work on your plate as a solo DevRel professional? Take a tip from Alex Lakatos and scale your team by using the incredibly talented people around you and creating a DevRel culture.

Building A Community Roadmap

Feeling like you've built a good foundation for your community and looking for the next step? A community roadmap is likely next on your list, but what does that mean? Jeremy Ross gives a handful of tools to look at and questions to answer in this recent blogpost.

Building a Personal Brand while Staying Authentic

If you're struggling with how to build your personal brand while also advocating for a community, join the club -- it's a question I get regularly and a concept I often struggle with myself! Irene Bratsis wrote about this topic recently, giving advice around authenticity, imposter syndrome, breadth of knowledge, and more.

Storytime 📚

DevRel Podcasts and Videos

Overcoming Division by Bridging Our Differences with Scott Shigeoka - Masters of Community
Empowering Members with Esha Singh - Conversations with Community Members
DevRel Done Well with Matt Stratton - Screaming in the Cloud
Online Civility with Jeff Atwood - Developer Love (Twitter recap)
How Finimize Built Online Community with Max Rothery - Peers Over Beers
Waldek Mastykarz - Developer Advocate Stories (video)
Maximum Engagement – How To Drive The Highest Levels of Participation in Your Community (video)

Events 📆

Developer Relations Events

Kate here: The coming DevRel events are all about community! Check out the DevRel Weekly Events Collection to see what they are. As we roll into the new year, I think there's going to be a huge focus on community in all aspects of our lives. I figure we all should all consider attending more community events, especially the virtual ones. We need our peeps!

If you're involved in open source communities, don't forget that FOSDEM is happening online, Feb 6-7. CFPs for all tracks are now open. I'd like to call out two tracks in particular: Community DevRoom and Tool the Docs DevRoom. Enjoy!

Jobs 👩‍💻

Developer Evangelist

Did you know that you can recognize people by the way they type? This is what we do at TypingDNA, and are looking for a Developer Evangelist to join us in the mission of making the TypingDNA Authentication API the #1 choice at a BringYourOwnDevTool party. For this, you will attend and talk at events for devs, will technically help them on all the channels where they are, and also create various content (screencasts, videos, and the like).

Developer Advocate - Moovweb

The future of development on the web is Jamstack, and our jam is bringing these performance and simplicity benefits to large, dynamic sites where traditional techniques don't apply. We're seeking a passionate Developer Advocate who will blaze the trail for strategic community engagement and the growth of our developer base.

Jobs 👩‍💻

Developer Relations Jobs

Need help looking for a DevRel job? Check out the DevRel Weekly Jobs Collection. We can hope that there is something there that might interest you. We're wishing you the best of luck finding something that's perfect for you!