potentially unpopular opinion (for reals): unlike being an engineer, you can't be a developer advocate/evangelist without being employed as one.

there are too many things that are specific to "working at a company" that are a fundamental part of the job.

I know this probably seems gatekeeper-y as shit and I hope that most people who follow me would know at this point that I want to help more people get into DevRel not exclude folks.

I think the profession being upfront about this is actually important to its continued growth.

Because of that it's something I've thought about a lot and only talked about with a couple of people for the last year or two and I still feel it's true.

Specifically, there are a *lot* of things that developer advocates/evangelists do that *anyone* can do. Run a meetup, write excellent blog posts, contribute to open-source, make demos, teach people, run workshops, and so much more.

all that work should all be held as foundational bits that qualify someone as an advocate/evangelist before actually joining a company as one, 100%.

I'm *extremely* disappointed at companies that don't see that as valuable experience in qualifying someone to be a DevRel.

however, there's *so much* more to advocacy/evangelism than those things. We *do* talk about this, so I don't think I really have to qualify this much.

having to have relationships with product teams, marketing, and sometimes sales is a fundamental part of keeping both your own job and the DevRel org.

straddling the line of being a voice for users/community while also representing the company and making sure it's going in the right direction is a unique challenge that can't exist outside of being employed and having your motivations questions constantly.

those parts, I think, are the real hard work of advocacy/evangelism. They're (non-exhaustively, I'm sure) the parts that keep you employed.

I could be wrong on this all and I'm not hyper-attached to it, but it is something I think a lot about and something I've not actually seen discussed at all (I may have missed it!).

I think the biggest thing is that I can't really see how someone can exist as a developer advocate/evangelist *without* existing in the role.

There have been some really good points made in the replies about how this is/can be inaccurate and I just want to make sure they’re included in the original thread.

Appreciate folks who’ve been willing to put time/energy into sharing their perspectives:

https://twitter.com/abbyfuller/status/1309203603689582592?s=21 https://twitter.com/abbyfuller/status/1309203603689582592

(thread) https://twitter.com/iancoldwater/status/1309201412337946626?s=21 https://twitter.com/iancoldwater/status/1309201412337946626