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

Starting your advocacy work

Bruno Borges: Getting started is tough. As you mentioned earlier, sometimes there is an eternal fight to justify that role. That's actually a good way to start, but it's a painful way to start, just because you not only have to do the job, but you have to justify it. I think a good way to begin is simply by performing the expected tasks that a developer relations team would perform without being asked to do that. That would be a side job for sure.

Once you realize that you can actually do this role, that is the moment that you go with a business plan to your company outlining what you have done over a period of time and what the outcome of that was. Maybe the outcome was content, product feedback, customer support, community engagement, or all of that. Most importantly, you need to show what the value was. If you aren't able to convince the company that this work is important, then you should get a full-time job elsewhere.

"You have to...