
<p>When I started hearing about <strong>#DevRel</strong> I was intrigued. The opportunity to be able to not be in sales, but also the opportunity to use cool tech and teach others how to use cool tech. This is up my ally 100%.</p>



<p>It was about this time I was being asked by my friend <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.devocate.com/" target="_blank">Tessa</a> if I&#8217;d like to join a group she was putting together for <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://hiroy.io/tools/why-i-still-love-pantheon" data-type="post" target="_blank">Pantheon</a>, called <a href="https://pantheon.io/blog/pantheon-heroes-community-leaders-open-source-contributions-and-lovers-pantheon">Heroes</a>. I was sold. I had no idea it was #DevRel, Tessa never once said DevRel to me, she just saw my passion for using Pantheon and how I showed my appreciation (through trolling, as I do).</p>



<p>Aside &#8211; Tessa is one of the best DevRels there is out there, for every product she has been a community lead at, she has shown professionalism and got me as excited about it as she was. But more on that in another post series.</p>



<h2>What is DevRel</h2>



<p>Developer Relations, Developer Advocacy, or one of the other many terms you may hear, is something I&#8217;m in no way qualified to define.</p>



<p>So let me introduce <a href="https://twitter.com/tanoaksam" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam</a>, a newer developer who has gained my respect, and respect of many in the communities he associates.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What does a great developer advocate do? 🤔<br><br>🗣️ acts as the voice of the end user in internal discussions<br><br>📑 creates supplemental resources to educate users on the product &amp; optimize their experience<br><br>🤝 cultivates professional relationships on behalf of the company<br><br>What else?</p>&mdash; Sam Sycamore 🌲 (@tanoaksam) <a href="https://twitter.com/tanoaksam/status/1389345145712123905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption>This is what a developer advocate does.</figcaption></figure>



<p>Everything in Sam&#8217;s tweet (and more) is exactly right, and the stuff I love working towards and on. I am at heart a creative coder. My sweet spot is when I have the opportunity to look at requirements and kind of let loose on how its coded. Another part of me loves technology in all its forms, and talking about those technologies. It is why I love speaking at <a href="https://wordpress.tv/?s=roy+sivan">WordCamps</a> and learning what tech is being used, and how to build cool and fun stuff.</p>



<p>But back to Sam&#8217;s tweet. Before Tessa introduced me to Heroes, I was doing most of this already for Pantheon. I loved the product, talked about it, told people to go sign up without an affiliate link (shocker, I know), and talked about the projects I was working on using Pantheon. I even created Pantheon &#8220;Custom Upstreams&#8221; so people could easily take my work and start coding with it, on Pantheon.</p>



<p>I wrote <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://pantheon.io/guest-author/roy-sivan" target="_blank">blog articles</a> about what I knew best, and tied that into Pantheon since their product offering supported the things I wanted to be working on so well. Enterprise sizes requests needed enterprise grade hosting, it was easy. It was also easy to share my passion for the product as someone who was using it passionately themselves.</p>



<p>So that is where I started DevRel. Good story, right?</p>



<h2>I Started in DevRel at Pantheon</h2>



<p>No, and my answer would have been yes, but today Sam (again) tweeted something that I never thought applied to me.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’ve had so many convos like this but comparing personal freelance brand vs. personal<br><br>Does that mean every freelancer that posts and markets themselves. Is also a dev advocate? 🤔 <br><br>have I been one this entire time? 🤔 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/GBnMtihJbQ">https://t.co/GBnMtihJbQ</a></p>&mdash; 🟣☮ Roy (@royboy789) <a href="https://twitter.com/royboy789/status/1394762784500498439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption>Personal Freelance is DevRel</figcaption></figure>



<p>Literally, if I wrote this blog post 2 days ago, I would have a different answer.</p>



<h3>Freelancing is DevRel</h3>



<p>When I was doing strictly freelance, or actively taking on freelance consulting work, I&#8217;d go to WordCamps and let people know. I&#8217;d write <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/royboy789/" target="_blank">open source plugins</a> I&#8217;d think were cool or being used, and talk and write about them.</p>



<p>I was doing the 3 things Sam said a DevRel does, years before I had even heard the term. I was writing code, writing articles, and creating relationships for my business, for myself.</p>



<p>If you aren&#8217;t doing the 3 things outlined by Sam for your developer freelance business, you should be. You as a freelancer are your main, if not only advocate. Get out there and let people know you exist.</p>



<h2>Where I Go Next</h2>



<p>As the DevRel talent pool has gotten exponentially larger over the last year, it is hard to say. While I&#8217;d love to give up my full time &#8220;coding 9-5&#8221; type role, I am also passionate about that code, and those technologies I use.</p>



<p>However it is defintitely something I&#8217;m going to keep getting better at through advocating of my own. Advocating for tools, products, and services that I find the most useful for my daily life. </p>



<p>If you are reading this expecting advice for how to get into DevRel or how I made my big break, sorry. Go follow <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/tessak22" target="_blank">Tessa</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/tanoaksam" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam</a>.</p>


Hi.

Where I Started My DevRel Journey

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