
<p>When I first being what I guess would be called a &#8220;Developer Advocate&#8221; for Pantheon, they didn&#8217;t even have a community for developer relations. However I talked about Pantheon so much, and included Pantheon in steps in my dev talks / slides.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-twentytwentyone-border"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="525" src="https://arcctrl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-1024x525.png" alt="Pantheon Slide - i was not an employee" class="wp-image-2898" srcset="https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-1024x525.png 1024w, https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-300x154.png 300w, https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-768x394.png 768w, https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-1536x788.png 1536w, https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide-1568x805.png 1568w, https://roysivan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pantheon-slide.png 1863w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>A slide from a talk I gave about Gutenberg before it was in WP core. I wasn&#8217;t a HERO yet, heroes weren&#8217;t a thing yet.</figcaption></figure>



<p>The disclaimer at the bottom of that slide was born because I was having actual encounters with people that would ask me things like &#8220;How long have you worked for Pantheon?&#8221; or &#8220;What is your role at Pantheon?&#8221; </p>



<h2>Humbling Compliment</h2>



<p>As soon as I started getting those kinds of questions, I started to talk to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/tessak22" target="_blank">Tessa</a> (who was employed there at the time) and we turned it into a joke, I started adding notes in my slides and disclaimers for fun. I got a kick out of it, and still to this day laugh whenever I see an old slide on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://wordpress.tv" target="_blank">wordpress.tv</a> with it.</p>



<p>To be honest, I always took it as a compliment. As an aspiring developer advocate (wasn&#8217;t a thing in my mind yet), I loved the idea of people associating me with a product I found very cool. It also gave me a drive to become more knowledge with how to use it. To be honest, at the time I never thought I&#8217;d be good enough to work at Pantheon so it was truly humbling.</p>



<h2>Advocacy Done Right?</h2>



<p>Pantheon was not the only time this has happened. As I learned more about DevRel and wanting to do it more, I got it a few more times. Most recently with my love of <a href="https://arcctrl.com/2021/05/15/how-polywork-fits-into-my-developer-brand/" data-type="post" data-id="2796">PolyWork</a>, getting folks asking if I work for them or am involved with the project. I am not, I just find it cool.</p>



<p>I have to give credit to any company that would allow their dev relations to be put into this spot. While it may not be for everyone, I think it shows how confident and comfortable a developer advocate may feel about the product. I&#8217;d imagine any company would love to have a drove of enthusiastic employees going out and talking about how awesome their employer&#8217;s products are. </p>



<h2>A Fine Line to &#8220;Too Much&#8221;</h2>



<p>While I typically do enjoy this encounter, it still will make me think about how I am portraying myself. Similar to affiliate marketing, there is a fine line between trying to show credibility vs. sales pitch.</p>



<p>I never want to be sales-y, I always go out with the intent to be genuine with the stuff I find cool. </p>



<p>If I do go across the line I try to keep it as a joke (like the note in the slide) to amuse myself. If I do it unintentionally, I rethink how to not be &#8220;too much&#8221; in future interactions.</p>



<h2>How would you take it?</h2>



<p>My main point of posting this was to see how other developer advocates take this. Is it a sense of pride or something you&#8217;d rather not hear? </p>


Hi.

Mistaken for Employee

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