The Parachute Problem. Why Global DevRel Needs Local Voices.
One talk can inspire. Lasting trust needs follow-through. Why global DevRel needs local organizers, local speakers, and something that keeps working after you leave.
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Docs Are DevRel. Most DevRel Teams Don't Own Them.
Documentation is where developer trust is won or lost. Why DevRel needs a say in docs, and how to make them work for both developers and AI agents.
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Volunteers Don't Quit. They Fade.
Volunteer burnout rarely comes with a goodbye. How to spot the quiet signs, make stepping back normal, and build a community that gives back more than it takes.
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DevRel Without Metrics Fails. Every Time.
DevRel needs honest metrics, clearly labeled proxies, and documented stories to protect the trust and community work no dashboard can capture.
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DevRel Has One Product. It's Not Content.
Developer relations has exactly one product, and it isn't content. It's trust, it leads to adoption, and the content era of DevRel just ended.
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Staying Human Is a Decision
I build AI agents for a living and still cook badly on purpose. One question decides what I automate: is the output the point, or is the doing the point?
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Trust Is Built on Stage. It's Protected in Spreadsheets.
Nobody signs up for community building because of invoice checks and codes of conduct. But after nine years of running a global community, I've learned that this boring work is what everything else stands on, and that skipping it is how communities quietly rot.
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Think Big. Start Small. Grow Fast. How to Organize Your First Meetup.
Almost everyone who wants to start a meetup waits too long, because they think it needs to be big to count. It doesn't. Here is everything I wish someone had told me before that first evening in 2017.
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Your Next Developer Audience Isn't Human.
Developers ask an agent before they read your docs, watch your video, or come to your talk. If a model explains your product wrong, that's a DevRel problem now. Here's what DevRel for models actually looks like.
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Speakers Aren't Found. They're Made.
Great speakers do not appear fully formed. Communities create them by asking personally, offering small and friendly stages, sharing material, and making the next step clear.
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Developers Don't Trust Logos. They Trust People.
Developer relations has a built-in tension: you represent a company, but developers trust people. These are the practices that make authenticity and credibility hold up.
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You Can't Be Everywhere. They Already Are.
After nine years of building the Global AI Community, from a single meetup in the Netherlands to more than 190 chapters and 210,000 members across 70+ countries, here is what I keep landing on: you don't scale by being everywhere developers are, you scale by bringing them in and turning audience into owners.
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