Issue 201

Welcome! 👋

hi DevRel Weekly fam! I missed you all during my time away from my computer! 🤗 I'll be honest -- the return to "normal" after a month off of work has been rough. I started off strong, motivated to accomplish a few projects and wrap up the quarter, but instead, these last two weeks have been interrupt-driven, with priorities seemingly changing with the weather. That's just the way it is sometimes! But we buckle down, try to focus as much as we can, walk away from our computers when we can't, and keep plugging away.

In other news, I've been finding more things that replenish my energy (and get me away from my computer at the end of the workday 😉). For me, that's been getting outside, researching backpacking ideas for the fall and spring, and working on projects around the house, as well as finding my local community. This "oldie but goodie" tweet from Brian Solis has reminded me that doing things with other people can sometimes accelerate the feeling of community even more. How about you? What are you doing to balance out the stressors in your life right now?

Speaking of stressors... part of the reason why this newsletter is so much later than intended is because all of you produced such great content while I was out. 😜 It was difficult to narrow it down to my favorites! But lucky for you, that means that even if this issue is slightly longer than usual, it's jampacked full of fantastic content for you. 🤩 In fact, I even created a whole separate collection of links full of white papers, reports, worksheets, and more that were produced in the last month. So sit back, make sure you've got some time to click through on all of the links that catch your eye, and enjoy the amazing content your peers are creating!

Best,
Mary (@mary_grace)
DevRel Weekly Patreon

p.s. I've decided to occasionally post casual "thinking out loud" videos on Patreon, highlighting some of the topics I've been thinking about lately and how I'm working through them. Think of them as short, unfiltered glimpses into my brain (which may or may not be a terrifying prospect to you 🤪😅). I'm hoping these will get me back into the mode of producing content, even if it's not 100% polished. If you're interested in any particular topics, be sure to let me know!

Tidbits 🕔

What Sets DevRel Apart from Marketing?

This Twitter thread is a fascinating look at what sets DevRel apart from Marketing, as well as other departments. What you're measuring matters. Are your metrics all outbound-focused? Or are you looking at your team's internal impact as well? Unnati gives tips on what to look for as well as what alternatives to consider.

Looking for more content on a similar topic? This blogpost from Ben Greenberg really resonated with me and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What's the Main Motivation for Ambassadors?

Career is indeed the #1 driver of value for program members. A few that work:

Exclusive networking opportunities

Speaking opportunities

Onsite feedback sessions (access)

Convos with executives

Content co-creation to build public portfolio

Make them a hero in their org

-Brian Oblinger

You're a Bridge

As #devrel always remember that you are a bridge between the company and the community.

If you have the interest of the company alone in mind, your community will not grow. But if you have the interest of both in mind, your #community will grow and your company will also grow.

-Victor Fawole

How to Improve your Community Experience?

1) Invite 10 people to interview.
2) Give them real tasks to do in the community like "You want advice on the best equipment to use to [achieve goal], how would you do it?”
3) Watch what they do and where they get stuck.

You'll learn so much so quickly.

-Richard Millington

How to get Quality Feedback

One of the most powerful skills you can develop as a #devrel is asking for quality feedback. Rest assured that the quality of feedback you receive is a direct result of who you ask, and what you ask them for.

Knowing the type of feedback you need should help you figure out who to ask. If you need grammar feedback, go to the best writer you know. If you need topic expertise reach out to someone with that skill set.

Try not to overburden folks with requests for feedback, especially if it's not a reciprocated relationship where they are also asking you for feedback.

Providing feedback takes a lot of effort, and you can hurt relationships by inviting friends to do too much work for you!

-Victor Fawole

Keep the Conversations Healthy and Productive

Community guidelines are a reminder that member discussions are supposed to be healthy and productive.

No matter what the end-goal is, you're gonna face a tonne of hurdles if conversations are halted due to a lack of clear instructions.

-Glynk

Tangibles 🤓

How Can DevRel Enable Engineering?

We talk often about how Developer Advocacy teams can collaborate cross-functionally with marketing, product, and sales, but we don't always touch on the collaborations with Engineering, which is odd, considering this function of DevRel tends to be the most technical! This article from Aditya Oberai touches on some of the ways his role has overlapped with Engineering in the past.

Less vs. More: The Battle for Better Communities

What do you do when you live in a world where "more is more" but in reality, you know that quality is better than quantity? Jono Bacon tackles this topic in his latest article. As he points out, when you're more clear about the quality you expect from your community members, you may find "better results, more focused and collaborative members, and deliver a much better community experience."

Time Management Skills for Community Managers

I'm always looking for tips on how to use my time better, particularly with weeks like this one, where many of my tasks are interrupt-driven. Noele Flowers has put together a handful of tips and tricks that have worked for her over the years. I'll definitely be implementing some of these in the near future!

Storytime 📚

Dev Spotlight

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Storytime 📚

DevRel Podcasts and Videos from August & September

There were so many podcasts and videos released while I was out! 🙌 Get your listening ears ready to take in all the great information included in this collection.

Events 📆

Learn DevRel

Expand your DevRel knowledge through self-paced courses & peer groups. With new cohorts beginning every month, we’ll cover key areas of Developer Relations, such as Fundamentals, Strategy & Metrics, Leadership, & Career Success. Each program contains many templates & resources to get you started!

Events 📆

DevRel Events

Conference Season is here again! There's lots happening this month and next; be sure to check out our Event Collection so you don't miss anything!

Jobs 👩‍💻

Head of Developer Relations – Paladin Cloud

Paladin Cloud is the leading open source, Security-as-Code platform to help developers and security teams identify and eliminate risks in their cloud environments, while improving their cloud security posture. We are looking for a Head of Developer Relations to build our developer community through content, engagement, forums, webinars, training and enablement. The ideal candidate will have experience building an open source community with DevOps and SREs in the cloud, security or enterprise software space. Check out the full job posting here or email [email protected] to apply now!

Now Hiring: Developer Advocacy Manager

Camunda is the leader in process orchestration software. Our software helps orchestrate complex business processes that span people, systems, and devices. With Camunda, business users collaborate with developers to model and automate end-to-end processes using BPMN-powered flowcharts that run with the speed, scale, and resiliency required to compete in today’s digital-first world.

As the Developer Advocacy Manager, you'll be the direct people manager for a team of 4 Developer Advocates, responsible for career growth, performance evaluations, setting of priorities, and overall strategic guidance. You'll also be responsible for strategic planning for the Developer Advocacy function, including quarterly OKRs and annual goals as well as documentation of team responsibilities, goals, and success metrics.

Jobs 👩‍💻

Developer Relations Jobs

We've done a fair amount of house keeping recently in our Jobs Collection so that only the most current jobs are available. Hopefully this makes you job hunt a little bit easier!