<style> .reveal { font-size: 24px; } </style> # Developer Relations at Aleo ---- ## 1. Introduction Hi! I'm Craig Johnson Today's Objective: Share insights about the current and potential future developer relations strategy at Aleo ---- ### Overview We'll be covering the following topics - What is Aleo? - What is Developer Relations? - Analysis of Aleo's current Developer Relations efforts - Strategic Recommendations - Implementation and Execution - Measuring Success and OKRs - Q & A --- ## 2. What is Aleo? Aleo is a privacy-focused blockchain application platform that uses zero-knowledge cryptography. Its mission: To be the go to platform to build Zero Knowledge Applications --- ## 3. Understanding Developer Relations What is Developer Relations anyways? ---- ### What is Developer Relations? Developer Relations is the practice of building and managing relationships between an organization and its developer community. The goal is to create a positive ecosystem and culture where developers can thrive, which in turn benefits the organization by fostering innovation, quality, and growth. ---- ### The Role of a DevRel Team A Developer Relations team typically has a diverse set of responsibilities. They serve as advocates for both the developers and the organization, bridging the gap and facilitating open lines of communication. Their tasks might include: 1. Engaging the developer community through events, forums, social media, etc. 2. Creating and maintaining educational materials, such as tutorials, documentation, and sample code. 3. Offering technical support and guidance. 4. Gathering feedback from developers to guide the future development of the organization's tools, services, and platforms. ---- ### Why is Developer Relations Important? DevRel is vital for several reasons: 1. Engagement: A good DevRel team can significantly increase the level of developer engagement, which can lead to an active, vibrant community. 2. Feedback Loop: Developers are often the first to identify bugs, request features, or spot trends. A strong DevRel function can facilitate this feedback, improving products and services. 3. Trust: By building relationships with developers, a DevRel team can earn their trust. This trust is essential for long-term success. 4. Growth: An engaged and satisfied developer community can contribute to the growth of the organization, whether through word-of-mouth, direct contributions to projects, or usage of the organization's services. ---- ### Developer Relations Maturity Model Where are we now? Where do we want to be? - Level 0: No Developer Relations - Level 1: Informal - No official dev relations staff, but some efforts handled by other business functions. - Level 2: High touch - Focus on developing relations with partners directly, usually behind the scenes - Level 3: Evangelism - Proactive effort to recruit large amounts of developers via large scale promotion (conferences, online media, patnerships) - Level 4: Advocacy - A platforms staff advocates both for the platform itself and the developers who use the platform. - Dev Rels play an active role in feeding bugs and feature requests and building support tools for DevEx. - Level 5: Quantified - Metrics-driven approach where ROI for develoepr relations is well understood and measured. --- ## 4. Current Dev Relations Efforts An analysis of the existing landscape of Aleo Developer Relations. ---- ### Community Outreach - Conference Workshops - Ambassador program - Recurring Community calls, salons - Developer office hours - Aleo Blog - Social Media (twitter, subreddit, etc) ---- ### Aleo YouTube Channel - Informative videos covering all aspects of Aleo. - Improvement areas: - Better organization and discoverability. - More structured educational content and collaborations. ---- ### Developer Documentation + Github - Detailed and well-structured coverage of everything technical about Aleo + Leo. - Lots of tutorials and example programs found on Github - Improvement areas: - Feedback mechanism for constant updates. - FAQ section for common queries. - Consider moving to a documentation platform like mdBook for a better flow and improved clarity ---- ### Discord & Telegram Dev Chats - Instant feedback, organized channels, and direct access to the Aleo team. - Improvement areas: - Singular, dedicated support channel for devs having issues. Currently there is also a Dev Telegram, we should really have one place for all dev support. --- ## 5. Strategic Recommendations Ideation and strategies to accelerate Developer Relations efforts ---- ### 5.1 Developer Onboarding Aleo. For developers, by developers ---- #### Youtube Video Series - Launch an educational video series that focuses on Zero Knowledge concepts and Leo Development. - Impact: High - Provides accessible and comprehensive learning resources. - Feasibility: High - Primarily relies on knowledge production rather than technical development. - Alignment: High - Complements Aleo's education goals. ---- #### General Developer Outreach and Engagement Efforts - Target specific programming communities that are larger than Aleo, e.g. Python or Rust. - Expanding our outreach channels to platforms such Substack, HackerNews, Reddit - Continuining existing outreach via Conferences, Ambassadors, incentive programs and bug bounties. - Impact: High - Can significantly increase the total market of potential builders. - Feasibility: High - Many of these efforts are already underway, requires continuation and further effort. - Alignment: High - Boosts Aleo's visibility and popularity among developers. ---- #### Development of Technical Content Our aim is to ease developer onboarding through clear, concise, and technical content: - Documentation: Thorough, up-to-date, and easily understandable instructions on using our technology. - Tutorials and Guides: Simple, step-by-step instructions on specific tasks, enriched with code examples. - Code Samples and Libraries: Pre-made code for common tasks, promoting effective API usage. - Video Content: Visual guides that cover different concepts and tasks. These resources, available on platforms like our website, GitHub, and YouTube, will expedite the learning process for developers new to our technology ---- #### Interactive Learning Platform/Game - Main Idea: Make learning complex things fun - Create a learning platform similar to CryptoZombies or CodeAcademy, specifically tailored for educating on ZK Apps and Leo. - Impact: High - Attracts and retains new developers, provides a unique, enjoyable learning experience. - Feasibility: Medium - Requires dedicated resources and time for development. - Alignment: High - Directly supports Aleo's goal to expand its developer community. ---- ### 5.2 Contributor and Partner Support Giving back to our most dedicated community members. ---- #### Live Chat / Forum Support - Use existing channels like Discord or the Telegram Dev Chat to provide quick, time-efficient support. - Impact: High - Solves developer problems in real-time, preventing potential blockages. - Feasibility: Medium - Requires dedicated staff and potentially new technical infrastructure. - Alignment: High - Fosters a developer-friendly and responsive environment. ---- #### GitHub Discussions - Use GitHub Discussions for collaborative communication and transparency. - Impact: High - Supports developers who contribute to the Aleo platform, increasing transparency. - Feasibility: High - Requires enabling a feature in Github and fostering participation. - Alignment: High - Encourages the principles of Open Source Software. ---- #### Dedicated Partner Support and Regular Check-ins - Offer proactive, personalized support to partners, grant recipients, and important contributors. - Continue efforts such as office hours - This may take the form of recurring calls with Dev Rel, setting up partners with developers for complex problems and more - Impact: High - Enhances partner satisfaction and retention. - Feasibility: High - Primarily relies on good management and communication. - Alignment: High - Supports Aleo's goal of maintaining strong partner relationships. ---- ### 5.3 Community Building It's all about the community. ---- #### Aleo Allstars - Recognize exceptional community members regularly. Highlight their contributions, applications, etc. This could be via official blog posts, social medias, or both. - Impact: Medium - Increases engagement among developers. Creates a flywheel effect. - Feasibility: High - Requires recognition rather than significant resources. - Alignment: High - Reflects Aleo's community-centric approach. ---- #### Hackathons and Coding Challenges - Organize regular hackathons with specific themes. - Impact: High - Promotes community engagement and product development. - Feasibility: Medium - Requires resources for hosting, organizing, and providing rewards. - Alignment: High - Directly supports Aleo's goal of expanding its developer community. ---- ### 5.4 Developer Certification People love sharing their achievements, let's give them something to be proud of ---- #### Leo Developer Certification Program - Partner with a MOOC platform like Coursera or edX to develop an official educational course and certification program. - Impact: Medium - Formally recognizes developers' skills and could attract more developers. - Feasibility: Medium - Requires creating a curriculum and administering the certification, possibly difficult to partner with MOOC platform. - Alignment: Medium - More about formal recognition than community building or product development. ---- ### 5.5 Developer Relations Team More people, more power! ---- #### Expanding and Training the DevRel Team - Invest in expanding and training the Developer Relations team. - Impact: High - Enables quicker implementation of the strategies and ideas. - Feasibility: Medium - Contraints primarily include difficulty of hiring and budget. - Alignment: High - Directly supports Aleo's overarching goals. --- ## 6. Implementation and Execution Great! We have a some ideas, what now? We plan! ---- ### 6.1 Short Term Goals (1 - 6 months) Things we can get started on right away ---- #### Developer Onboarding ---- - *YouTube Educational Video Series* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Outlining topics and detailed contents for the video series. 2. Recording the sessions (may involve internal experts or external contributors e.g. video producer). 3. Editing and uploading the video content. - Difficulty: Low - *Developing Other Technical Content* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Identify common areas of confusion or particularly complex topics. 2. Create tutorials, blog posts, etc to explain these topics 3. Periodically revise and update such content as needed - Difficulty: Low ---- #### Community Building - *Aleo Allstars* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Setting criteria for recognitions. 2. Implementing a system for monitoring and rewarding contributors. - Difficulty: Low ---- #### Contributor and Partner Support ---- - Improving Forum Support - Steps to Implementation: 1. Assigning dedicated staff or volunteers to actively monitor and respond on forums. 2. Implementing a system for ticketing to ensure all queries are addressed. - Difficulty: Medium - Dedicated Support and Regular Check-ins with Partners/Grant Recipients - Steps to Implementation: 1. Setting up regular check-ins. 2. Addressing partner needs and concerns in a timely manner. - Difficulty: Low ---- ### 6.2 Medium Term Goals (6 months - 1.5 years) Achieveable goals that require reasonable effort and some resources ---- #### Developer Relations Team - *Hiring More Team Members* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Determining needed roles and responsibilities. 2. Conducting a recruitment process. - Difficulty: High ---- #### Community Building - *Online Aleo Hackathons and Coding Challenges* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Planning the themes and rules of the events. 2. Coordinating and marketing the events. - Difficulty: Medium ---- ### 6.3 Long Term Goals (1.5+ years) Stretch goals that may be difficult or require signficant resources ---- #### Developer Onboarding - *Interactive Learning Platform / Game* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Designing and programming the platform. 2. Regularly updating with new content and challenges. - Difficulty: High ---- #### Developer Certification - *Leo Developer Certification Program* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Developing a comprehensive curriculum. 2. Partnering with a MOOC platform. 3. Administering and maintaining the certification process. - Difficulty: High ---- #### Community Building - *In-Person Hackathons and Aleo Dev Conference* - Steps to Implementation: 1. Event planning, including location, schedule, and logistics. 2. Attracting participants and providing rewards. - Difficulty: High --- ## 7. Metrics and OKRs How do we determine if our Developer Relations efforts are succeeding? ---- Our most important, key metric? Monthly Active Developers  ---- ### Community Growth - Measure the number of new developers joining the community, number of active developers, and the retention of these developers over time. ---- ### Engagement Metrics - Measure participation in online forums, number of code contributions, and engagement in hackathons, webinars, workshops, etc. ---- ### Product Usage - Track how many developers are using your tools and technologies. This can include the number of downloads of your SDKs, the number of projects created using your platform, the number of issues raised, etc. ---- ### Content Consumption - Track how many developers are consuming your content. This can be measured in terms of page views, time spent on documentation, tutorial completion rates, video views, etc. ---- ### Feedback and Satisfaction - Use satisfaction surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS), or other feedback tools to measure how satisfied developers are with your platform, documentation, tools, and overall support. ---- ### Educational Outcomes - Measure the number of developers who have completed training or certification programs, the number of certificates issued, etc. ---- ### Impact on Product Development - This could include the number of bugs identified by the community, the number of features requested, and even the speed of resolution of these issues. --- # Q&A Before we start Q&A, I wanted to provide some humor [👏 developers 👏 developers 👏 developers 👏 developers 👏 developers 👏 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhh_GeBPOhs) and ... that's all folks! 🥕🐇