DevGuild - Developer Evangelism Metrics

A talk that encourages the audience to ask themselves "Why?" when it comes to measuring the performance of their developer evangelism efforts. Why are you counting what they're counting? Are you counting things for the right (or wrong) reasons?
In just 7 minutes, this talk also explores the art and science of evangelism, and asks you to accept that certain things just can't be measured, and that's okay, and those things can still be very valuable.

Transcript

1. "Zz Glaser P1010007a retouched". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 de via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ #DevGuild “...explore the tactics and philosophies that inspire others to join a movement, rally for change and breathe life into what might otherwise just be code.” - DevGuild This is a quote from the organizers of this fine event, and I wanted to point it out to you because of its overwhelming relevance to Developer Evangelism itself. This truly speaks to the reason why evangelism has risen to such popularity and esteem over the past 4-5 years. Thank you to the organizers, attendees, and other speakers, for making this happen.
2. ? Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons #DevGuild @TimFalls Quick intro of myself: where I started (Techstars), where I was last (SendGrid), what I did there (briefly), where I am now (Keen), and what I’m doing now (even more briefly)
3. “Many of the things you can count, don’t count. Many of the things you can’t count, really count.” - Albert Einstein "Albert Einstein 1921" by Ferdinand Schmutzer. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons #DevGuild @TimFalls Opening SHARP This talk is about measuring, tracking, quantifying, and evaluating Developer Evangelism efforts. Long before DevAngelism was a thing, a smart man named Albert Einstein was quoted saying something that I find extremely relevant and important to keep in mind as we, as business leaders today, embark down the path of evangelism
4. ah-ah-ah #DevGuild @TimFalls There are many things that you *can* count: - events (# attendees, type of activity [talk, demo, workshop] - social (blog content, twitter, facebook, forums) - documentation (traffic, feedback, engagement) - adoption (signups, upgrades from free, usage) - open source (installs, forks, stars, contributions)
5. #DevGuild @TimFalls …ah-ah There are many things that you *can* count: - events (# attendees, type of activity [talk, demo, workshop] - social (blog content, twitter, facebook, forums) - documentation (traffic, feedback, engagement) - adoption (signups, upgrades from free, usage) - open source (installs, forks, stars, contributions)
6. #DevGuild sesamestreet.org @TimFalls Don’t count for the wrong reasons: Examples of bad reasons: • Investor appeasement — provide metrics to answer investors’ question of, “What’s the ROI on evangelism?” • Internal (coworker) justification — other employees might feel jealousy of the “glamorous” side of evangelism; metrics might attempt to address that jealousy, which is actually rooted in a lack of understanding around why evangelism exists • Because numbers — everybody has to produce numbers, right?!
7. #DevGuild sesamestreet.org @TimFalls Don’t count for the wrong reasons: Examples of bad reasons: • Investor appeasement — provide metrics to answer investors’ question of, “What’s the ROI on evangelism?” • Internal (coworker) justification — other employees might feel jealousy of the “glamorous” side of evangelism; metrics might attempt to address that jealousy, which is actually rooted in a lack of understanding around why evangelism exists • Because numbers — everybody has to produce numbers, right?!
8. #DevGuild @TimFalls And when you do need to answer questions for those “wrong reasons,” address them with experiences instead of numbers. Bring the experience of evangelism to them OR take them to the experience: - take others into the field — meetups, conferences, speaking engagements - bring the field to others — internal hackathons, etc - share stories from community members and evangelist experiences
9. #DevGuild sesamestreet.org @TimFalls Do count for the right reasons Examples: • Recognition & reward OR constructive/critical feedback • Compare efficacy, establish priorities (existing activities) • Understand & decide (new/experimental activities)
10. #DevGuild sesamestreet.org @TimFalls Do count for the right reasons Examples: • Recognition & reward OR constructive/critical feedback • Compare efficacy, establish priorities (existing activities) • Understand & decide (new/experimental activities)
11. image: http://www.erinmeekhof.com/ #DevGuild @TimFalls Art vs Science Developer evangelism is both art and science. It’s art, in that there is much improvisation. Therefore, it takes a creative, empathetic, quick-witted mind to execute in the moment. Highly dependent on the human beings who serve as the channel of evangelism. It’s science, in that there is much calculation: psychology, and the laws of physics...
12. “measurements of certain systems cannot be made without affecting the systems” “the act of observation will make [changes] on a phenomenon being observed” The Observer Effect http://wikipedia.org #DevGuild @TimFalls More on science The Observer Effect (source: Wikipedia) tell us that the simple act of measuring something can in and of itself affect the thing you’re measuring, thus changing the results of said measurement and leading to inaccurate and potentially less useful information. Real world, simple example: when checking the air pressure in a tire, one inevitably relieves the tire of some of its air, thus changing the pressure from what it was before measurement.
13. [street] cred: Banksy #DevGuild @TimFalls Observer Effect, as applied to devangelism A good evangelist has an innate ability to get the job done - this typically involves connecting with people on a level that inspires trust, loyalty, and genuine appreciation for the people behind a product, and in turn the same emotions toward said product in and of itself. To try to apply some instrument of measurement would be (a) improbable and (b) potentially disruptive to the natural human interaction between the evangelist and your community members.
14. > #DevGuild @TimFalls graphics: The Noun Project Hugs > Clicks In more traditional marketing, measurement works. You can measure click-throughs and conversions from ad or promoted post. However, you can not observe the transition from an initial handshake upon meeting someone at a hackathon, to the hug at the end of demos, to a paid signup for a $500/month plan when that developer gets back to their day job and integrates with your API for their company two months later.
15. #DevGuild Apple, Inc. @TimFalls Spend your time wisely If you can’t track, don’t try. Don’t ask your evangelists to spend their time entering the business card information of that person they met into a CRM, so the marketing team can follow up with them and encourage adoption and upgrades. Instead, ask your evangelists to spend that time following the person they met on twitter, establishing a clear line of communication via email, and ensuring that this new relationship invites future engagement that can turn into real business benefit. Evangelists, like all of us, are busy people; don’t bog them down with things that aren’t enjoyable and therefore suck the life out of them.
16. photo credit: snipview.com #DevGuild @TimFalls While I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of the title of Developer Evangelism (due to its religious connotations), it does have contextually legitimate relevance. And, in light of the fact that certain things aren’t trackable and quantifiable, to an extent we must believe that what we’re doing is working and is the right thing for the company, and we must let it happen without worry if/when hard numbers do not exist to “prove” the value. You gotta have faith that genuine human-human interaction is a more valuable (or more worthy) effort, as compared to ads, clicks, etc Supportive definitions: evangelism - 1620s, from evangel + -ism, or else from MedievalLatin evangelismus "a spreading of the Gospel," from Late Latin evangelium "good news, gospel," gospel - something regarded as true and implicitly believed.
17. #DevGuild photo credits: mic.com; sesamestreet.org; springfieldpunx.blogspot.com @TimFalls - accept the fact that not all things are measurable (Einstein) - know what is/isn’t possible to track (The Count) - track & measure things for the right reasons (Bert & Ernie) - understand the Art & Science of evangelism - believe in what you’re doing (George Michael)
18. “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” - Simon Sinek #DevGuild @TimFalls Call to action #1 As a company, sit down, reflect, and actively reevaluate what you’re tracking, by asking yourself, “WHY?” Why are you investing in developer evangelism? Why are you tracking what you’re tracking? What benefit(s) do the resulting numbers create for the business and/or the people involved? In the words of Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Shift your focus from what you’re doing and consider why you’re doing it.
19. #DevGuild @TimFalls graphics: The Noun Project Call to action #2 On an individual level, as an evangelist, a leader of an evangelism program, or someone who’s considering or aspiring toward the role of developer evangelist, ask yourself “Why am I doing what I’m doing; (or for the aspirational/considering) why would I want to go into evangelism? Also, give an evangelist a hug and a high-five...and tell her thanks for being the face of your company to the community and world around you.
20. #DevGuild "Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) 1889, May 23. Picture by W. and D. Downey". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons photoshop cred: @whateverdude “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” - Oscar (Bert) Wilde @TimFalls Closing SHARP: I leave you with one final nugget of food for thought: When assigning value to evangelism, consider things like developer retention instead of developer acquisition - there are many (and often times overlooked) instances in which people on the front lines (developer evangelists, and/or customer support as another example) and the relationships that they’ve worked tirelessly to establish are the key determining factors that keep other humans on board when things go wrong - e.g., product failures/service outages, security lapses, people failures/PR disasters. While it’s incredibly easy for us to imagine (and focus on) the [potential] costs of such occurrences, it’s equally easy to neglect the value of the efforts that mitigate the those costs. There are many angles to every story - keep your eyes open to as many as possible. As OscBert Wild once said…”Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”