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Sohail Pathan
Sohail Pathan

Posted on

Debunking Myths about Developer Relations

Contrary to popular belief, developer relations is not just about hosting hackathons and swag giveaways.

It's a strategic effort to engage and build relationships with developers to foster a strong customer base.

Successful developer relations require a mix of technical knowledge, relationship building, and empathy for the developer community.

So, the next time you hear someone say developer relations is just about freebies, let them know it’s much more than that.

Also, comment down your myths around developer relations.

Top comments (2)

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dennistobar profile image
Dennis Tobar

Hi, I think about how the devs can relate to an enterprise without a prize or hackathon. For example, a local bank organizes hackathons yearly to bring new capacities to the banking system. The event is a weekend hackathon... but the other 52 weeks remain silent. So how is the community working with the bank? No... they only generate a positive contribution using the prize. It's similar to "Friday pizza" to raise employee contributions: give something to reach more productivity.

How can we change this? If the enterprises raise awareness about free software, contribution and create a community to improve an idea. This is how some websites work (Wikipedia, Open Street Maps, etc...).

Excellent post, and thanks for creating this kind of "mini idea" =)

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iamspathan profile image
Sohail Pathan

@dennistobar I completely agree with the fact. First, I thought how can we change the persona towards these opportunities? People expect a materialistic outcome, which totally reduces the initiative's credibility.

What they don't see is the contribution of their skills will not only give them long-term feedback but also recognition. ( which does take time and effort, not materialistic ).