Issue 8

Welcome! 👋

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything takes longer than it should, or when no matter how many things you're checking off your to-do list, it's getting longer? The clock never slows down, and while it doesn't technically speed up either, it sure looks like it sometimes! Welcome to my week.

There are a lot of good things afoot, I promise! But with all of those good things comes the occasional sacrifice, and unfortunately, this week, finishing this newsletter was one such sacrifice. While I hate to make that choice, my health and relationships come first, which is a decision I'm sure all of you can relate to.

That being said, I've got a few teasers for you today, including suggestions on how to keep your avocados from becoming too tired, even if you're losing that fight. I hope these will tide you over to next week's issue!

All the best, my avocado- and community-loving friends!
-Mary Thengvall, @mary_grace

Tidbits 🕔

Tribalism is great, until...

David Spinks brings a thought-provoking perspective to the table (per usual) with this tweet:

Tribalism will deepen the beliefs and culture of any group. It's a good thing when the beliefs prevalent in the community are ethical, and it's a really bad thing when it's not.

Tangibles 🤓

Listen. Observe. Identify. 🔍

I've long said that your first priority at any new company is to watch and observe. Whenever new managers or colleagues would ask what metrics I thought I'd be able to show within the first month, I'd push back. I couldn't honestly tell them what I'd be reporting on until I understood the landscape, and I couldn't very well understand the landscape until I'd had a chance to learn, listen, and analyze the situations around me. In this article, Hootsuite Content Marketer Evan LePage walks through the first 8 things you should do during your first week as a Social Media Manager. But before you skim by the rest of the article, take note: These basic rules (e.g. understanding what the company is already doing and talking to the people you'll be collaborating with) expand far beyond social media -- they're integral to any new Developer Relations professional. Stop, listen, and learn.

Tangents 🐰

This 16-Year-Old Started Her Own Hackathon for Girls in STEM

All politics aside, I've been incredibly inspired by the young adults in our country lately. From speaking up about topics that they feel strongly about to coming up with actionable plans to make things better, they're doing everything they can to make a difference in this world. 16-year-old Catherine Yeo noticed the gender disparity in the tech industry when attending WWDC, and returned home determined to do something about it. 8 months later, PixelHacks -- Northern California’s first all-female high school hackathon -- was born, and she stood in front of "over 70 young women who were eager to learn to create innovative applications." TeenVogue posted a fantastic interview with Catherine, which ends with this quote from her:

Take control of your own path. Be brave, be bold, and don’t ever be afraid to reach out to the tech community for help. Never doubt yourself, and one day you may turn your ideas and ventures into reality.

Storytime 📚

Punk Rock DevOps & DevRel - Arrested DevOps Podcast

PagerDuty DevOps Evangelist Matt Stratton sits down with MongoDB Developer Advocate Jay Gordon in this episode of Arrested DevOps. Jay waxes philosophical about the change from being on-call to being a tech evangelist, what went wrong with the GitHub memcached DDoS, and the role of fast food in DevOps.

Events 📆

Developer Relations Events

Looking to meet up with some of your peers in person? Check out these upcoming events. Am I missing any? Let me know.

Jobs 👩‍💻

Developer Relations Jobs

On the hunt for a new gig? You're in the right place. Check out the new jobs that have popped up over the past few weeks. Noticing that some of them aren't available any longer, or wanting to make sure yours gets listed? Shoot me an email.

Developer Avocados 🥑

One of the great mysteries of life is how to get more than 24 hours in a day. Another equally big mystery is how to keep avocados from going bad. If anyone comes up with a solution to the former, please let me know. I'll sign up now. You can take my money! </tangent>

In other news... there are a few proven suggestions for the latter. It may not make your avocados evergreen, but it will at least prolong their wondrousness for a few more days. Let me know if you have any success with these, or additional suggestions! We've got to have each other's backs in this fight, after all.