My First Month in DevRel
Overview
I am a software developer turned developer advocate. Every day when I wake up, it seems like a dream to me. I am a lifelong learner. Having the opportunity to share what I learn with the community is truly important to me.
I’m completing one month working as a Developer Advocate at Vonage. I thought I would share some resources and insights on what the journey has been like so far.
What I have been up to in this first month
During this first month:
- Onboarding
- Talked to HR
- Chose Benefits
- Met the team (virtually)
- Set up hardware & software
I have been:
- Learning the internal processes and the APIs
- Learning how to use new pieces of software
- Supporting events, answering questions in the chats
- Understanding challenges
- Participating in developer communities and forums
- Giving talks and workshops
- Updating blog posts and documentation
- Creating content in different formats. One example of what I’ve created: Send and Receive SMS Messages with Firebase Functions | One Dev Minute
- Giving and receiving code and content review 💖
Working Remotely
Working remotely with people with different timezones works indeed. To me, the secret is making the best use of everyone’s time; to make sure that the discussed topics are available, may it be via notes or recorded meetings. Whilst everyone is online and talking synchronously, the calls should have an agenda.
Resources to share
I have gathered some resources that have personally helped me understand better what Developer Relations are. Let me share them with you:
Books
- Developer, Advocate! — Geertjan Wielenga
- The Business Value of Developer Relations How and Why Technical Communities Are Key to Your Success — Mary Thengvall
- Guide to Tiny Experiments — Sam Julien
- Getting Started in Developer Relations — Sam Julien
Newsletters
Other resources
Conclusion
My goal is to bring awareness and create relationships with the developer community. I would love to have constructive conversations, communicate and get feedback from the community.
I am a curious and avid learner. It has been an absolute joy to work as a developer advocate. When I learn something, I think to myself: how can this turn into a nice demo?
If you have recently started a Developer Relations position or are interested in doing so, please feel free to reach out!
If this post has been useful to you, feel free to tweet it.
