I make no secret of the fact that I love my job. Whether you call it “technical evangelist,” or “developer relations advocate,” or even “head geek,” the work I get to do – writing, recording, and speaking about technology (or, more fancifully, living the life of an itinerant wandering I.T. talespinner) allows me to channel so many skills that bring me joy.
But it would be hubris of the highest order to say I do these things in a vacuum, or completely on my own. My gratitude begins with the ideal expressed by Mister Rogers – that everyone has “…special ones who have loved us into being.” But it goes beyond that. The work, including the essay you’re reading right now, could never happen without a team of amazing folks who help me every day.
Today, I wanted to take a moment to recognize the people who make it possible for me to imagine, explore, create, and share. This post might not be the most exciting to read – it’s essentially the blog equivalent of the award show acceptance speech that always goes on too long and gets cut off by the “you’re done now” music. Nevertheless, it’s incredibly important for me to express the gratitude I feel, and to be sure the people I’m talking about hear me say them.
One caveat: this essay is work-centric. I am blessed to have friends and family who support me in very real, very significant ways. But for today, I’m focusing on recognizing the colleagues in the industry who make it possible for me to keep going.
Always first and always most is my wife Debbie. Yes, I just said this list was work-centric. Even in that sphere, she is my greatest asset, my most insightful advisor, and my most significant co-contributor.
David Hallinan is my manager at Kentik. I have long said that dealing with DevRel Advocates is like trying to manage a group of overcaffeinated toddlers in a room full of puppies. Along with boundless energy, infinite creativity, and unbridled enthusiasm is utter chaos, biting, crying, and if you look away for even a second, someone will be peeing in a corner. Literally, nobody in the history of ever has said (at least, without sarcasm) “You get to manage them?! You are SO LUCKY!!”
David matches all of that with calm realism, patient kindness, and supportive enthusiasm which allows me to explore new ideas and try new things, but also remain on track relative to the company’s needs and goals. When I’m going off the rails or flying off the handle, David is there to pull me back down and ensure a safe landing in the process.
One step above David Hallinan (aka “DH”) in the managerial ladder is “the other” David – Kentik CMO David Klein (aka “DK”). In business terms, DK is the executive producer, taking the pure creativity that DH provides and finding ways for it to enable business outcomes. Where the overriding message from DH is, “That sounds exciting! Let’s explore it!” DK takes that and refines it by pushing us to consider how that asset will help us grow. In someone else’s hands, this might end up being “the department of NO.” But DK makes the question collaborative. While it’s always fun to do work that is fun, it’s far more rewarding to do work that has an impact. As a team, DH and DK ensure that both are happening.
This job is pretty rare in the industry, and even more unique within a company. Most organizations will have just one or two of us, and by definition, we’re pretty well known – both inside the business and to the public at large. Despite this, at my previous two jobs, the CEO was conspicuously absent from my work. That changed with Avi Freedman. Part of that is because Avi was a friend first (for almost a decade) before I joined the team. But it’s also because that’s simply who Avi is. As much as possible, Avi eschews the normal distance that the “CEO” title engenders. When he asks you, “How is it going?” he’s asking as a colleague and caring coworker. The difference between your typical stuffed suite sitting in the C-suite is impossible to understate.
Kentik is fortunate to have three technical evangelists. But even more incredible is that in Phil Gervasi and Doug Madory, Kentik has formed a team with a wide range of interests, skills, and predilections that complement rather than compete. For every brief exploration of a feature that I write, Phil is there to offer the detailed deep dive. For every passing mention of a world event Phil or I make on a podcast, Doug shows up with the full report. I couldn’t ask for a more inspiring set of teammates.
An old joke goes something like, “A smart person knows they can only believe half of what they read. But a wise person knows which half.” A similar thing can be said about technical evangelism in that being able to create content (write, record, speak) is only half the job. The other half is knowing which topics will do the most good and help the most people. I couldn’t do that without an amazing set of colleagues on the PMM team: Lauren Basile, Eric Hian Cheong, Rosalind Whitley, and Josh Mayfield.
If half of the work is creating the content, and the other half is knowing which content is worth creating, then the third half is getting everything posted in a form that’s both coherent and visually pleasing. Jordan Sloop, Laurie Kellogg, Xengyeng Xiong, and Keith Crosley are a veritable force of nature here at Kentik, planning and deploying our work with breathtaking skill and efficiency.
Possibly the most thankless, invisible, and critical job involved in the process of getting content out of your head and in front of other people’s eyeballs is editing. While I can thank David Hallinan for doing the lion’s share of the dog’s work of wordsmithing and grammar checking, that leaves a gap when it comes to audio and video. This is where James Blake steps in. I have had the joy and privilege of working with James across two different companies. His work is unbelievably polished, and he executes at a rate that puts other video teams to shame (no, literally. I was at one company and showed examples, and the team completely froze me out because it was making them look bad).
I know this will cause much pearl-clutching and several readers to call for their fainting couch, but I have to, in the name of honesty and transparency, admit that I do not, in fact, know everything. I’ll wait for someone to revive you with smelling salts before continuing.
I’m humbled by the fact that I get to work with folks that have the rare combination of incredible intellect and experience coupled with both the patience and generosity to share them with others. That group includes Chris O’Brien, Mike Krygeris, Steve Meuse, and Tim Danner, just to name a few of the people I rely on daily to both gut-check my work and help me learn technologies that are either new or just new to me.
As we move into the new year, I didn’t want a single day to pass before expressing my deep gratitude to these folks (along with just about everyone else I get to work with). If, as you read through my list, you begin thinking of colleagues that you are thankful to have in your orbit, take a minute to reach out and let them know.