DevRel Weekly - Issue 93 - Wrapping up 2019 and planning for 2020

Welcome! 👋

This is our last issue of DevRel Weekly for 2019, and what a year it's been! DevRel has made some enormous strides in the past year, from the number of upper management roles we've taken on to the amount of general recognition in the tech industry. 80% of company founders are now saying that building a community of users is important to their business, with 28% saying this community is critical to their success.

As we enter this holiday season, it's clear that 2020 is going to be a great year for Developer Relations! While this is exciting, it also means we need to make sure we're taking care of ourselves so that we're able to take care of our burgeoning communities.

I hope all of you will keep this advice from David Spinks in mind throughout the holidays:

Dear community teams,

Most of you don’t have to work on the holidays. Your communities will understand your need to take time off and your community can run smoothly without you there.

Take the time to recharge. You deserve it and your community will reap the benefits.

Before I leave you with the last of this content for 2019, let me say that I'm grateful for all of you and the fantastic content you produce on a regular basis! This newsletter wouldn't exist without all of you. I can't wait to see what we come up with together in 2020. See you back online in two weeks!

Best,
Mary (@mary_grace)
DevRel Weekly Patreon

Tidbits 🕔

Social Platforms != Community

Saying this again for those in the back: a social platform does not equal community. Platforms can host communities (yes more than 1). Some are better than others; it depends on the tools.

-Dr Jennifer Becektt

Step 1: Collect Data. Step 2: Extract Insights

So much of the work us community professionals is still driven by superstition or what we 'think' works.

We have enough data now to make a fairly educated guess. We just need to get better at extracting the valuable insights.

-Richard Millington

New Goal for 2020: Create a CRM for your Community

If you have a CRM but don't connect your #community to it, go ahead and add that to your list for 2020.

When you can combine multiple data sets, you really understand the power of community for your org. There are ways even if they aren't automated.

-Shannon Emery

The Best Kind of Community Guidelines

Community guidelines always tell members what not to do.

The best guidelines I've seen also tell members what they SHOULD do in order to be successful in the community.

Teach your members how to make contributions that other members will respect and value.

-David Spinks

Want more information about how to establish cultural norms in online communities? Venessa Paech has some great advice about how to be intentional with the words we use.

DevRel Advice Column

As the year wraps up, the two questions everyone is asking are "What are the best DevRel resources?" and "How do you track CFPs?" Got some good advice? Click through and help out your fellow DevRel professionals today!

Many of my friends and former colleagues are at #DevRelCon right now. 👋🏽

Which is nice if you can afford to fly to & stay in London.

For those who can't, what are the best online educational resources for folks getting into devrel, building teams, etc?

-Carter Rabasa

Hey #devrel , got any good reading pointers for building communities ?

-Patrick Debois

Hey #DevRel folx and frequent conference goers, how do you track what conferences you want to go to/submit for?

-Stephen Augustus

What tool(s) do you and your team use to track conference submissions and acceptance? #devrel

-Grant Shipley

Tangibles 🤓

How many developers did we help?

Max Katz suggests a new KPI for DevRel teams in this blogpost: How many developers did we help? As he mentions, this KPI gives us the flexibility to do our typical work (writing content, giving talks, answering questions) but also allows us to put a number behind the work, which shows the tangible value we're providing to our community members.

English Degrees are Relevant to STEM Careers

Rachel Happe took a stand on Twitter recently about the link between good writing and technology. As a DevRel professional, I couldn't agree more!

Good writing uses the same underlying logic & structure as good code, good design, and good construction.

If we think English degrees are not relevant to STEM careers, we’ve totally missed the through-line.

Looking for more ways to foster quality content in your community? Rich Millington has a few ideas in a recent blogpost.

Amruta Ranade also addressed the topic of quality content in her latest video, walking through the four-drafts method to write a technical blog post.

My Travel Habits

Looking to up your travel game for 2020? VM Brasseur recently released a round-up of her favorite travel tips and items to have on hand. From how to remember where your hotel room is to what the essentials are to pack, these may not be your standard travel tips, but they're definitely some of the most practical I've heard!

Tangents 🐰

The Secret to a Great Planning Process — Lessons from Airbnb and Eventbrite

If you're still finishing up your 2020 strategy, this article is full of great tips, frameworks, and templates to help you plan and execute in a way that will set you and your team up for success.

Storytime 📚

DevRel Podcasts

2019 Closing Thoughts: DevRel Trends and Year in Review with Mary Thengvall, PJ Hagerty, Jason Hand, and SJ Morris - Community Pulse
Producing valuable content for developers with Martin Gontovnikas - Under the Hood of Developer Marketing
Building A Career In DevRel With Jessica Rose - Technically True
The Power of Humor in Tech with Chloe Condon - Screaming in the Cloud
What Is a Community Manager? It's More Than The Title Suggests with Chris Detzel and Michael Sandoval - Peers over Beers
Crisis Communications for Online Communities with Kate Hartley - Community Signal

Events 📆

CFP-writing Season

As conference season comes to an end, CFP-writing season is spinning up. If you're looking for a few tips on how to level up your CFP skills, take a look at this tweet thread from Robin Moffatt.

DevRel Events

There aren't any more DevRel events left for this year, but there's a lot to look forward to in 2020! From meetups to conferences and online events as well, it's a great opportunity to get to know others in the greater Developer Relations industry.

Jobs 👩‍💻

DevRel Jobs

This might be the last DevRel Weekly Newsletter of the year, but there are still a number of open jobs in our DevRel Weekly Jobs Collection. Make sure to check it out if you're in the market for a job in DevRel or know someone who is. We're hoping the best for those of you that are on the job hunt. May new year bring something great your way!