Where am I going?
Well, geographically I am staying put. I have taken a position with Telerik as a Developer Evangelist. Telerik is one of the leading 3rd party control vendors for ASP.NET, Windows Forms and more. I expect this to be an eye opening experience as I have never worked in the products sector. Even more, this is a totally different role from traditional development, so I expect some challenges.
How will this affect my community involvement?
I hope this move will serve to enhance my contribution to the community. I will have more opportunity to blog, speak and perhaps some more creative endeavors. Most important, Telerik recognizes that the devLink Technical Conference is an independent event and understands my desire for it to remain so. So other than my hope that they will be a regular sponsor, my ability to work on devLink will be unchanged.
What are you going to be doing?
The Developer Evangelist role is different for each company, but I can say that I will be doing at least the following:
- Coding - Yes, I will still be coding. I have to stay current on the latest technologies and be up to speed with Telerik's controls. You cannot do that by reading books, well maybe you can, but I absorb more information through action.
- Speaking - I will be speaking more than in the past. Now I can actually travel a little farther without spending my own money. My wife is happy about that one.
- Blogging - I have tried to post more regularly lately anyway, but this will ensure that I am blogging on a consistent basis. I hope to share some of my experiences not only with Telerik, but also whatever technology I am working with at the time.
Of course, I am positive this is not all I will be doing. I will try to share more as I traverse my new role. I need to update my LinkedIn profile so that is enough for now.
