Book Image

Developer, Advocate!

By : Geertjan Wielenga
Book Image

Developer, Advocate!

By: Geertjan Wielenga

Overview of this book

What exactly is a developer advocate, and how do they connect developers and companies around the world? Why is the area of developer relations set to explode? Can anybody with a passion for tech become a developer advocate? What are the keys to success on a global scale? How does a developer advocate maintain authenticity when balancing the needs of their company and their tech community? What are the hot topics in areas including Java, JavaScript, "tech for good," artificial intelligence, blockchain, the cloud, and open source? These are just a few of the questions addressed by developer advocate and author Geertjan Wielenga in Developer, Advocate!. 32 of the industry's most prominent developer advocates, from companies including Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, open up about what it's like to turn a lifelong passion for knowledge sharing about tech into a rewarding career. These advocates run the gamut from working at large software vendors to small start-ups, along with independent developer advocates who work within organizations or for themselves. In Developer, Advocate!, readers will see how developer advocates are actively changing the world, not only for developers, but for individuals and companies navigating the fast-changing tech landscape. More importantly, Developer, Advocate! serves as a rallying cry to inspire and motivate tech enthusiasts and burgeoning developer advocates to get started and take their first steps within their tech community.
Table of Contents (36 chapters)
34
Other Books You May Enjoy
35
Index
36
Packt

Navigating technical failures

Geertjan Wielenga: The bane of a developer advocate's life is when you somehow can't connect your laptop to the projector. What do you do in those unexpected situations?

Simon Ritter: I've been faced with a few issues in the past. Going back to the #speakerfail Twitter story, Stuart Marks said that he arrived for one presentation that he was going to do and nobody turned up for it.

"Nobody turned up to my presentation."

—Simon Ritter

I actually had that happen early on in my career: nobody turned up to my presentation. I also had one day where one person turned up to my presentation, which was kind of nice because we then just had a chat about the subject. I think, in that case, the most important thing is not to let it worry you. If it happens repeatedly, then that probably indicates that speaking is not for you.

But if it happens once and you've only just started out, then I wouldn't let it put...