It’s not uncommon to start a new Developer Relations or Community job at a company and either be their first hire, or you’re coming in after someone else (or a group) has left, or you’re coming in to take over the team (or any variety of these and others not mentioned). Usually during your initial …

Community is hard. It just is. There. I said it. That’s the blog post. Seriously though, building developer communities is hard work. It’s long hours of looking at stats, metrics, and worrying about if what you’re building is sustainable or, heck, interesting enough. It’s …

aka, “The early days of DevOps, from the perspective of a 20yr old” From 1995-1997 I worked at an Internet provider who was at the bleeding edge of the WWW explosion. We did the websites and e-commerce sites for the first Mission Impossible and Independence Day movies, and worked …

If a comedy improv troupe was running conference talks for a company, I imagine them setting this up a bit like this. Also, before we start, this happened to me recently - the names and situation have been changed to protect, well, everyone. Scenario: You’ve been saddled with giving a talk at …

Hi, I’m Jeremy. I’ve spent the last roughly 25 years in IT, with the last 12 or so being a part of technical communities and Developer Relations (DevRel). For those who are new to the term, DevRel is literally about building relationships with the developer community. It is being the …

So the year is 2008. My wife and I have 3 kids, 2 full-time jobs, and we’ve just bought a coffee shop. No one ever said I was the smartest pea in the pod. My wife and I, circa 2010. Over the next two years we rebuilt the shop from an exclusive, failing shop to a vibrant, inclusive, growing shop. We …

Open source is where true innovation happens. There. I’ve said it. The free exchange of ideas, the creative juices that comes from open source and open source communities is unparalleled in proprietary businesses and software. So now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about what open source is and …

Odds are good that your company currently markets itself in one fashion or another, from Social Media to E-Mail Campaigns to online ads, traditional forms of advertising from radio, to TV and print. Those outlets likely provide you with some substantive returns on your advertising dollars, however …

THE ROMANCE IS OVER — HEARTBREAK ANYONE? It was 13 years ago when I met my wireless carrier, Sprint, at a local Radio Shack. I had just been dumped by Nextel and was looking for a new relationship, someone willing to accept me. Arms were open wide and I signed on the dotted line and was handed a …