Over the last year, we’ve talked about virtual events quite a bit - from how to get started to bringing things together in a short period of time. That said, being a sponsor at these virtual events has been somewhat of a challenge. With no real “booth” or physical location for interaction, where can value be found in these events and how do we show the benefits to our sponsoring organizations. To discuss this, we brought together a few folks who have experienced virtual events from different points of view.

Jason, PJ, Wesley, and SJ sit down to discuss what they learned from our guest on moderation and some of the pitfalls they've experienced in being a part of moderated communities.

One of the most difficult parts of managing a community is ensuring everyone adheres to a universally acceptable system of behavior. With events, there is generally a Code of Conduct that makes it clear what behaviors are acceptable, what behaviors aren’t, and the consequences of operating outside of the rules. Sometimes it falls on an individual or a team to handle this in the online world. Today, we’ll be talking about moderation with a guest who knows exactly how it works.

It’s easy to say that Developer Relations and Community Management is not universal, but sometimes, we focus so much on what is being done in our part of the world that we can forget how things might be different in different places. 

In this episode, we decided to try something a little different. We reached out to folks around the world to tell their stories, to let us know what makes their experiences unique. We wanted to get a sense of what unites us in DevRel and what small or large tweaks need to made to adjust for geography and culture.

Creating a place for your specific community to gather online is a challenge every Developer Relations or Community team is likely going to address at some point, whether it’s because your executive team is asking you to create this space or you see a need for it. In this episode of Community Pulse, we talk to two specialists in the community industry about what to keep in mind when evaluating how to create a place for your community to gather online. 

The hosts sit down to discuss what we've learned from our guests on pushing limits, finding new ways to deliver content, and how the community can benefit from the larger amount of information flowing through the DevRel ecosystem now, and moving forward.

SJ, Jason, Wesley, and PJ sit down to discuss the most recent episode.

As the number of engineering and developer jobs continues to grow and the skillsets diversify, DevRel has seen a wave of people being let go, followed by a sudden growth in hiring across the tech industry. Taking a look at these trends over the last year or so, we decided we would go to the experts to explain how hiring looks from the recruitment side, what people can do to improve their hiring experience, and what’s different in today’s DevRel hiring landscape.

Our hosts sit down with Jill Wohlner of Underpin and Will Staney of Proactive Talent to see where things stand, and what to expect moving forward.

Hosts Wesley and PJ sit down to talk about Episode 55 and add some thoughts to what was discussed.

While DevRel holds some universal truths, there is at times a difference between how we handle our external communities as opposed to our internal communities. While we are still bringing people together, some of the approaches and interested parties may change. How do we foster communities and communicate feedback within an organization? Is it so different from “traditional” DevRel?

To find out more, Wesley and PJ sit down with Aja Hammerly, Davey Shafik,  and Kevin McIntosh to talk about the ins and outs of both sides.

It's been a long year in the world of DevRel! In this episode, our hosts take a look back at 2020, discuss the trends they noticed along a wave of change driven by outside forces, and give their predictions for 2021. Have a chat with Mary, Jason, SJ, Wesley, and PJ about everything community in 2020!

Host SJ, Wesley, and Mary discuss the big budget episode and share some anecdotes on things that have been successful and others that were a bit of a trip up.

As we’ve mentioned in previous episodes, budget concerns are an ever changing part of working in DevRel. Now more than ever, DevRel teams are expanding their functions and responsibilities while stretching the idea of how we do the things we do. In this episode, we sit down with Bear Douglas of Slack to talk budgets, what budget allocations mean to a DevRel and how do you calculate what you need vs what you want?

All five hosts jump in to add some notes and references from our awesome live episode. See what Mary, Jason, PJ, SJ, and Wesley have to say!

We’re almost 8 months into a global pandemic. The last time we gathered to discuss COVID-19, we were mere weeks in and scrambling to figure out how to adjust. Given how much has changed since then, it was time for another Community Pulse LIVE! Our questions include “What have we learned?” “How the pandemic has changed our perception of attending in-person conferences?” and “How does this uncertainty impact our budgets for the years to come?”. Guests Rahmona Henry (HubSpot Developer Advocate) and Floor Drees (Microsoft DevRel Program Manager) join us to discuss how they’re approaching their 2021 event strategy.

After chatting with our guests, Wesley, SJ, and Mary are joined by PJ to talk about early stage DevRel and their views on experiences in the startup world.

As companies are starting to realize that Developer Relations can be a competitive advantage, we’ve been noticing more and more job descriptions for Developer Advocates or DevRel Professionals who are the first non-engineering hire at early-stage startups. But when you’re an early hire working alongside the founder and a few engineers, what does your role look like? How is it different from joining a company as employee #30, 120, or even 1432?

Mary, SJ, and Wesley chat with David G Simmons, Taylor Barnett, and Aydrian Howard to talk about being DevRel number one.

Your hosts gather together to discuss tactics, goals, and to break down everything discussed in episode 50!

Developer Relations needs to be put into perspective for people outside the team or community. When your Developer Relations department comes under fire, how do we switch from advocating for our community to advocating for ourselves? When DevRel is new, how do you build on activities to show the importance of having a dedicated team working with the communities your organization is involved with?

SJ and PJ sit down with Elizabeth Ruscitto and Jaime Lopez to discuss the ins and outs of explaining DevRel to folks on the outside.

These past few weeks have brought us to what we hope will be an inflection point with regard to systemic racism in the United States. We’re now asking the question: How can we work as a community in DevRel to ensure we not only address this critical moment, but actively work toward eradicating systemic racism in our industry?

Mary, Jason, and PJ officially welcome new host SJ Morris to the show! We all take the opportunity to review what we've done this year, talk about some trends we've noticed within DevRel, and generally put our final thoughts on all things 2019!

Your hosts sit down to discuss the finer points of the episode - what does happen after DevRel? We take a look at some of the antecedents leading to leaving DevRel and the options we've heard folks consider in our travels and conversations.