Guerilla Developer Relations - How to start DevRel in an enterprise company?

Many developers care about the end-user experience, especially when those end users are fellow developers. But do their companies really care? Despite the product-led growth buzz, not everyone has a DevRel strategy beyond slides. “Top-to-bottom sales for the win,” “Let’s work with VPs,” they say. Can a single contributor turn around the culture and introduce developer relations in a big company? Maybe! Can they burn out in the process? Well, let's talk...

We'll talk about setting up developer relations and an open communications culture in a rigid enterprise environment. How to get started without any resources? How to find allies and avoid making foes? What could possibly go right (sic!)? And how to actually make a difference and prove it? What is InnerSource, and how is it even related to this talk?

Transcript

1. DevRelCon * see below * V1.1 - 2024 Minor Update * without burning out
2. https://twitter.com/devrelcon/status/ 1457155856726962181
3. https://twitter.com/dian asoyster/status/14572 44555909103620
4. Guerrilla Gorilla https://btr.michaelkwan.com/2010/08/19/ grammar-101-gorilla-or-guerrilla/
5. TL;DR: • What is Guerrilla Marketing? • How about enterprises? • Tips & Tricks • What can you do after the talk? Ask me later: • How do we adjust as a company? • My burnout and depression • My projects and how that’s related to the previous bullet :) Opinions are my own, happy to discuss. The talk does not represent opinions of my employers or communities. Your mileage may vary
6. > whoami @oleg_nenashev oleg-nenashev Dr. Nenashev / Mr. Jenkins Developer Tools Hacker Serial Community Builder #RussiansAgainstPutin #StandWithUkraine
7. My Open [and not so] Communities Time * Once a contributor, [almost] always a contributor
8. DevRelCon DevRelCon 2021 / Online *
9. Some changes • Burnout and depression in winter 2021 - 2022 • Partially related to DevRel and Church & State • Got great support from the CloudBees team, CSO, my manager and the Swiss bees • Tried to change things • Left but still a grateful
10. Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions to promote a product or service investopedia.com/terms/g/guerrilla-marketing.asp
11. Guerrilla Gorilla https://btr.michaelkwan.com/2010/08/19/ grammar-101-gorilla-or-guerrilla/
12. https://twitter.com/gAmUssA/statu s/1397255447720177665?t=n4n3 otyTvtRfltH5if8GFQ&s=19
13. “Classic Enterprise Companies” • DevRel processes are not there • No Developer Advocates • No InnerSource • No management support • No marketing budget • .... • But there is still a community https://barbaraburgess.com/2018/5-ne arly-free-guerrilla-marketing-tactics/
14. And there is you! • Want to help the product adoption? • Want to work directly? • Have no budget? • Mostly spare time? http://www.glyfx.com/news/image/ty pe/large/news_id/163/
15. There are no enemies, just different cultures https://www.cultofmac.com/318994/king-kong-ain t-got-nothing-on-this-drone-fighting-chimp/
16. “Classic Company” politics • End users are not decision makers • Top-to-bottom sales for the win • Rigid approval process • NDAs and non-competition • Embargoes • ... Source: www.redbubble.com/people/artpolitic/shop
17. Showing the Value “One of the most difficult to do in DevRel is to prove that the investment is worthwhile (If it were easy, the book would not exist)” - Mary Thengvall Mr. Denis Nenashev, used with permission :)
18. Showing the Value. Keywords • Bottom-to-up sales • Growing top of the funnel • Developer experience • Product Led Growth • Shift Left • ...
19. Take a(!) high road https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=M4g1H_-2o-A
20. TED Talk Gorilla https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ted-talk-gorilla Do talks, internally and publicly
21. https://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/gorillas-hand shake-lobo-loco/14173404 Build relations… with your kind or not
22. Build a tribe https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-gorilla-king-gorilla-family-dynamics/735/
23. https://imgflip.com/meme/40288152/Hot-Gorilla • Do not go alone • Find other champions • Help them • Give credit publicly
24. Source: www.standard.co.uk/business/markets/reddit-s-armchair-traders-invest-350-000-in-gorillas-b924894.html Mentor / Influence Juniors and Newcomers
25. Do not burn out! https://theconversation.com/the-amazon-is-burning-4-e ssential-reads-on-brazils-vanishing-rainforest-122288
26. Change the company or change company https://www.koko.org/kokopix-photo-blog/3245/is-th at-captain-ndume-at-the-wheel/
27. Takeaways • There are no enemies, just different cultures and background • Think open source, act InnerSource • Do not go alone. Give credit, publicly and internally • Avoid politics, pick your battles • Not every company can change, you are not married* to it • Prioritise your wellbeing * and one can divorce, even if difficult food for thought
28. And be careful with typos... • Relations are easier to build than to fix • Escalations are not fun
29. Check out the materials InnerSource innersourcecommons.org OSPO todogroup.org
30. Contacts: E-mail: o.v.nenashev@gmail.com GitHub: oleg-nenashev Twitter: @oleg_nenashev QUESTIONS?