# Developer relations, why is it needed?

{% embed url="<https://seanfalconer.medium.com/what-is-developer-relations-and-why-does-it-exist-37bf4ee6d3db>" %}
Blog
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“*Let’s start with a round of introductions. Sean, why don’t you go first?*”, says the organizer of the meeting.

“*Sure thing.*

*Hey there, my name is Zeus and I work in developer relations.*”

![](https://media.giphy.com/media/lqAaMiMe2exuP6NDOu/giphy.gif)

## Summary:

* At the heart, DevRel is a people business
* Building real relationships with internal and external engineers
* 3C's of DevRel
  * Community
  * Coding&#x20;
  * Content

## Scribbles:

* Developer relations -- a variety of tasks and responsibilities that can vary from company to company.&#x20;

### Responsibilities of DevRel

* Now, like mentioned above ⬆️ can be a variety of tasks that can vary according to which category DevRel is focused on in an organization. <br>
* But below ⬇️  are a few tasks that are almost done by every DevRel. <br>

![Blog](https://4092089722-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MGLImtQm_x-rEH4_QQ-%2F-MfZG66ta2-IMRMVCt_I%2F-MfZGqga4JH5E6G9GB7L%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=159e65fb-fa5f-4a8c-a102-f7f98d99f92d)

> As you can see, developer relations is highly cross-functional, dynamic, and includes a wide breadth of skills and responsibilities. According to [Bear Douglas](https://slack.engineering/defining-a-career-path-for-developer-relations/), Director of Developer Relations at Slack, developer relations is “*an interdisciplinary role that sits in a border space between product, engineering, and marketing*”.

* Besides product management, DevRel is the only role that might be a part of various kinds of meetings.

### 3 C's of Developer Relations

#### Community&#x20;

* Building personal connections with developers
* Growing awareness of the platform

#### Coding&#x20;

* Creation of resources to be used by developers
* Great way to build trust
* Forms the foundation for demonstrations of your platform&#x20;

#### Content&#x20;

* Creating reference materials like documentation, guides, blogs and videos
* Helps in extending the reach and educating the community

### Difficult to define DevRel. Why?&#x20;

* Large breadth of tasks and responsibilities comes within developer relations.
* Responsibilities change within every company.&#x20;
* DevRel might be in different parts within the organization&#x20;
  * Engineering&#x20;
  * Product
  * Marketing
* DevRel is still a relatively new function for companies to have.
* Applicable to companies with developer-facing products.&#x20;
* Somewhat niche, makes it harder to define to people outside of the tech industry.&#x20;

### So, what is developer relations?

> ***The art of developer relations is to actually build authetic relationships within your community without selling or marketing to them.***

* The purpose of developer relations is to build relationships with and enable our technical communities.&#x20;

### Why does it exist?

* One of the ways to put it would be that it "always exists".
* Having a product where users are developers, you are already into developer relations then, even if you have a dedicated team or not.&#x20;
* So, even if your organization doesn't have a DevRel, there must be someone writing technical documentation, code samples, connecting with developers to solve an issue.&#x20;
* While developing a product, one of the first steps as a developer is to create documentation, samples, uses cases to get started.

![](https://4092089722-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MGLImtQm_x-rEH4_QQ-%2F-MfZG66ta2-IMRMVCt_I%2F-MfZH-o5tX4sRvhN_lS1%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=4d74d236-1d21-43bf-ba11-2f4361bc2b33)

* If you want to learn more about community flywheels you can check the scribble below

{% content-ref url="../community-management/building-community-flywheels" %}
[building-community-flywheels](https://scribbles.devrel.page/community-management/building-community-flywheels)
{% endcontent-ref %}

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