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

Making a connection with revenue

Jono Bacon: I think it depends. There are some companies that I've worked with, and currently work with, that see community management or developer relations as having a direct connection to revenue. That's a red flag for me.

However, I don't subscribe to the viewpoint that this work shouldn't have any connection to revenue, because I think everything in a business should have a connection to revenue in some form. However, the questions are how direct that connection is, what the expectations that relate to it are, and how it is measured and quantified.

One company that I worked with didn't explicitly say this, but it clearly wanted to see the revenue connection between downloads of its product and customer sales. I said, "You really don't want to connect those two pieces of data; you're going to be ultimately dissatisfied."

Where the company needed to get to was an understanding that if you're focused on...