by David I | Aug 7, 2017 | Developer Marketing, Developer Relations, DevRelate, Webinar |
This week I am presenting a DevRelate webinar, “Developer Marketing & Developer Relations – Similarities & Differences“, on Tuesday (August 8, 2017) and Thursday (August 10, 2017). This month’s webinar will focus on the background, education, roles, responsibilities, audiences, metrics, ROI and other aspects of developer marketing and developer relations team members. I will also cover how both teams work separately and together to create, manage and grow a developer ecosystem. This blog post contains links to additional resources and information covered in the webinar.
Evans Data Tactical Marketing Reports
Developer Marketing Survey – A survey of software developers’ attitudes about the marketing tools and programs used to promote and sell products to them. This report provides invaluable insight for your developer marketing campaigns, including:
- What are the psychographics that compel developers?
- What are the demographics of the typical developer?
- What web sites and search engines do developers visit most?
- How do contests and gamification fit in the mix?
- What are the natural price points and pricing elasticity of dev tools?
- What is the most powerful influencer for developers?
- Which marketing methods do they like most?…Which do they hate?
Essential for product promotions, pricing and forecasting, media planning, and all your developer marketing needs.
Developer Programs Survey – This comprehensive study of software developers examines issues and elements of developer programs. This report provides invaluable insight for your developer program, including:
- Which revenue model do developers prefer?
- What are the most important features of a developer program?
- For which elements of a program are developers willing to pay?
- What motivates developers to share knowledge and experience on developer community websites?
Get answers to these questions and more in this survey report. Consider this a key resource to help you build and maintain a successful developer program, community website, and training sessions.
Blog Posts with Additional Information and Resources
Developer Marketing Summit – September 19 & 20, 2017 – Burlingame, CA
Don’t miss the first ever Developer Marketing Summit – sessions, panels, workshops and networking events for and by the top developer marketing professionals from the top companies in the industry! Burlingame is very close to San Francisco International Airport. Developers are at once a unique target market and a diverse one. Learn from the experts at the top developer facing companies in the world! Go to the Developer Marketing Summit website for complete details including speakers, schedule and location.
Developer Program Workshops and Assessments
Evans Data’s Developer Program Advisory provides expert program guidance through workshops and assessments from proven program leaders to help make your program the best it can be. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Presenter
David Intersimone “David I”, Vice President of Developer Communities, Evans Data Corporation
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidi99/
by David I | Jul 11, 2017 | Developer Marketing, Developer Relations, DevRelate |
On the road to my August 2017 DevRelate webinar, “Developer Marketing & Developer Relations – Similarities & Differences“, August 8 & 10, I am putting together background research and information about several high level aspects for each team member. In this blog post I am starting with a focus on education, skills and organizational reporting. Take a look at each of the aspects and let me know what you think about the details related to your own experiences and knowledge of industry experts you interact with. In subsequent blog posts I’ll drill down into roles, responsibilities, work done, audiences, metrics, ROI and other aspects.
Education
In looking at a wide range of Developer Marketing and Developer Relations practitioners active in the technology products, devices, platforms and services, I’ve found common characteristics, degree attainment, and focus areas. Of course there are many journeys that we take to get to a specific Developer Marketing and Developer Relations position. Do these educational backgrounds resonate with you and others you know?
- Developer Marketing: BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA and/or PhD in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, Economics, Public Relations, Journalism, Computer Science, Software Engineering, International Business, Management, Finance, Creative Writing.
- Developer Relations: BA, BS, MA, MS and/or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mathematics.
Skills
In the wide array of skills and experiences, you can often find some of the following listed for Developer Marketing and Developer Relations team members. There can be a wide range of past experiences, job history and interest areas. Some differences can be traced to the industry, product, service, device, platform or other positions held by each member of the developer outreach team.
- Developer Marketing: Messaging, Writing, Demand Generation, Marketing Campaigns, Go To Market Strategies, Budgets, Branding, Social Media, Events, PR, AR, Advertising.
- Developer Relations: Programming, Public Speaking, Demonstrations, Webinars, Videos, Developer Advocacy/Evangelism, Technical Writing, Blogging.
Ideal Report To
Depending on the size and complexity of the company, products, services, devices, platforms and other technology areas, Developer Marketing and Developer Relations leaders and team members would ideally like to report to one (or more) of the following executive level members and organizations.
- Developer Marketing – report to the CMO as part of the Corporate Marketing organization.
- Developer Relations – report to the CTO and be part of the Software Engineering organization.
Are there other education, skills and organizational reporting aspects that you’ve experienced or found?
There is never a college degree, experience level, job history and organizational structure that fits neatly for all Developer Marketing and Developer Relations professionals in each industry and company for today’s software, devices, platforms and services world. In looking at my network of friends and job requirements postings, I’ve found any number of additional aspects that could be (should be) included. Send me an email with your own experiences and history and I’ll consider them for the upcoming DevRelate webinar in August.
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidi99/
by David I | Dec 21, 2016 | Coding Boot Camps, Developer Relations, DevRelate, Education |
Most tech companies have university outreach programs to connect with students who will enter the workforce when they complete their studies. Getting connected to students during their computer science, software engineering, computer engineering and IT studies can cement longer lasting relationships for your company. With the rise of Coding Boot Camps (also known as immersive coding schools), developer relations programs have a new place to reach out to developers who will join the tech workplace. This blog post gives an overview of the rise of coding boot camps. I also point you to resources for finding some of the many Coding Boot Camps that have grown up in the tech capitals of the world. Finally, I highlight seven developer relations tips you can use to stay in close contact with the camps and their students.
The Rise of the Coding Boot Camps
The problem – we need more developers. Universities can’t graduate them fast enough to meet the need. Coding Boot Camps are a modern phenomenon, but we’ve had “Trade Tech Schools” for decades. Back in the early 1970s when I was a real time assembly language programmer at TRW in Los Angeles, we hired a number of graduates from Los Angeles Trade Technical College (founded in 1925).
The need for computer technology expertise has matured way beyond those early computer years. We now have many industry and de-facto standard platforms and technology “stacks” that make up the backbone of a company’s technology infrastructure. With the growing need for software developers in every corner of our modern software driven economy, companies are looking far and wide to fill open positions. Even with more than 21 million professional developers worldwide, there are still unfilled job openings in tech. To prepare for new tech careers, some job applicants with college degrees (of all kinds) are also going to the camps to learn specific programming languages, frameworks, runtime libraries and development skills.
Where in the World are the Best Coding Boot Camps?
You will most likely find a coding boot camp wherever there is a large concentration of technology companies and tech businesses. For sure, you’ll find them in cities and areas like Austin, London, New York, Paris, Portland, Research Triangle Park, Seattle, San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Stockholm, Toronto, and Tel Aviv.
You can use search engines to find the coding boot camps in your region, country and local area. There are also sites that provide search links and “report cards” to locate coding camps that are preparing developers for technology areas that have a good fit with your products, services and platforms. Here are just a few of the coding camp directory sites:
Seven Developer Relations Tips for Working with Coding Boot Camps
Here are seven tips you can use when approaching coding boot camps that match your developer evangelism and technology focus. I may be stating the obvious when I remind you that you’ll want to ensure that the products, platforms or services your company delivers matches what the camps are teaching.
- Contact coding boot camps in your city, state, country and ask if you can come to one of their “ask me anything” sessions to answer industry questions from the students.
- Reach out to a coding boot camps in your area and have one of your engineers or developer evangelists attend the “job fairs” that usually take place at the end of the “course”.
- Give free access for your products, services and platforms to coding boot camps cohorts that match what they are teaching. The graduates will bring their experiences along to their first job.
- Offer your engineers and developer evangelists as co-teachers for portions of the courses/topics for technologies that match the camp’s focus areas.
- Suggest a “lunch and learn” session for the code camp students with a topic area that matches what they are currently learning. Students have to take a quick break to eat and so do you. Who says “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”?
- Offer Developer Relations team members as mentors for their students. Your team members and the students will benefit in such a productive learning environment.
- For evening and weekend Coding Camps, offer paid internships or co-op opportunities for the code camp students with skills that match what your company is involved in – helping with open source projects, writing blog posts, reviewing documentation or code, etc.
Are you already evangelizing at Coding Boot Camps?
Let me know if you are already reaching out to coding boot camps in your region, country or city. It will be great to hear how your evangelists and engineers are interacting with the students and faculty.
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
by David I | Nov 15, 2016 | Computer Science, Developer Outreach, Developer Relations, Education |
Each year in early December, our industry celebrates the birth date of Admiral Grace Hopper (December 9, 1906) with a week long celebration called Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek). This year CSEdWeek take place during December 5-11, 2016. CSEdWeek focuses on inspiring kindergarten thru 12th grade students to take an interest in computer science. One of the BIG activities during CSEdWeek is the “Hour of Code” (even though it can be hosted anytime). The Hour of Code shows how you can teach a child a little bit about programming in one hour. More than 80,000 CSEdWeek / Hour of Code event will be taking place in December. Is your company’s Developer Relations Program involved in CDEdWeek?
Computer Science Education Week (December 5-11, 2016)
Here are links to information about CSEdWeek activities, resources and how to participate:
Hour of Code
The Hour of Code is a global movement to help teach programming. From the web site: “The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 45 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.” I received an email from ACM saying “Over the past three years, the Hour of Code has introduced over 100 million students in more than 180 countries to computer science.”. Here are some resources and tips for your developer relations program and yourself to take part in, help a local school or host your own Hour of Code:
I received an email today from Hadi Partova (Founder and CEO, Code.org):
If you did the Hour of Code last year with your class, you might have used our Minecraft tutorial. Since launching, it’s been used over 31 million times by students—thank you for making this fun and exciting introduction to computer science so popular!
For 2016, Code.org, Microsoft and Mojang are announcing the all-new Minecraft Hour of Code Designer, a tutorial that lets students code their own Minecraft rules. This year, students can use code to control how animals and other Minecraft creatures behave—they can create a totally unique Minecraft experience, and then share it with friends or play it on their phones!
The new tutorial begins in a Minecraft world where sheep don’t move, the chickens don’t cluck, and nothing attacks: it’s a blank slate without movement or defined action. Over the course of an hour, students will bring this world to life using computer science. At the final level, they get to define the rules of Minecraft however they wish. If they want, the cows can lay eggs, sheep can explode, and zombies can run away from players!
If you used last year’s Minecraft activity, the new one provides a perfect way to expand your students’ knowledge of computer science. For new teachers, we are pleased to offer both tutorials, which require no experience to teach.
We’re thrilled to add Minecraft Hour of Code Designer to our list of activities for this year’s Hour of Code. If you haven’t checked out the expanded list yet, there are tons of new activities that you can filter on our site based on grade level, experience level, subject area, and more. Find the perfect activity for your class at https://code.org/learn.
Computer Science Education Week (December 5-11, 2016) is almost here! Sign up your Hour of Code event here if you haven’t yet and get ready to do the new Minecraft tutorial with your class!
Hadi Partovi, Code.org
Companies and Organizations that are Involved in CSEdWeek 2016 and the Hour of Code
Microsoft and Code.org – “Microsoft and Code.org announce free Minecraft Hour of Code tutorial for Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 5–11”
Amazon – “Amazon Pledges Support for Young Coders”
Learning.com – “Go Bananas with Easy Code” – “Learning.com has taken the pledge to support President Obama’s Computer Science for All initiative by providing free access to our computational thinking and coding lessons from December 5th – 9th, 2016.”
Disney – “Moana: Wayfinding with Code” – “a free online tutorial to teach kids the basics of computer science. The tutorial features characters from Moana, Disney’s upcoming animated feature film.”
Apple – Free Hour of Code workshops December 5 through 11 at every Apple Store – “register for Hour of Code workshops at all 487 Apple retail stores worldwide”
What is your Company and Developer Relations Programming doing for this year’s CSEdWeek and Hour of Code?
Send me an email and I will update this blog post with information and links about what you are doing this year.
—
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
