The last month has been a big change in my life and in my career. I was hired as a Developer Evangelist at FusionCharts. It had been a quick interview, followed by a quick shift from Kolkata to Bangalore. The most interesting part of the whole deal was that I came to know about Developer Evangelism just a couple of months back. I had the good fortune of learning it from one of the leaders in the field, Christian Heilmann himself. The training showed me that I had the potential of being a bridge between developers, marketing and the world outside. This is the story of a birth of a Developer Evangelist.
Influence
I was highly influenced by the way Christian and Robert Nyman presented to the audience. They did not market or sell, but they got highly technical messages across to the audience. The audience, though composed of several non-technical people, could understand what they spoke of. There was a stylistic simplicity to their presentations. And by presentations, I mean the entire package, starting from choice of words to the body language. The slides were the least important part of the bit. They could attract the attention of the audience to themselves. This made me think, why can’t I? Surely, I can if I wanted to. I love teaching. This could be another way of pursuing a passion I had since my childhood.
Opportunities
I consider joining FusionCharts to be a turning point in my career. I had wanted to be something similar to a Developer Evangelist. But I had no clue of how to become one. Now that I am part of the amazingly fun team of FusionCharts, I can finally sharpen my skills in this field.
My involvement with Mozilla also opened up an opportunity to speak at public events, and write about things I love. I love the technologies that Mozilla powers, and I feel at home talking about them. In a way, my involvements with FusionCharts and Mozilla make each other better. Think of charging your laptop with a USB power bank.
New workplace
FusionCharts has given me all the tools I need to get started. I have a fresh new computer, I have access to books when I need them, and I have coffee on demand. The only thing missing is beer! Jokes apart, this has given me the perfect atmosphere to pursue my goals. Rarely someone gets to pursue a professional career of their choice. I think I have hit the right combination. I also have a new mentor.
Calling myself a Developer Evangelist
Meet Shamasis Bhattacharya. One of those few people who can beat me at being eccentric. My boss and mentor at FusionCharts. He was the person to insist that I should call myself a Developer Evangelist and not just-another-guy-who-talks-at-public-events. It took me a couple of days to get adjusted to the new term. (My new business card also boasts the title of Developer Evangelist, thanks to him!) The new designation sounds cool, but the tasks are cooler than that.
Being a Developer Evangelist means you are developer first. So my boss ensured that I put in a good amount of time actually writing code and understand how things work. The evangelism part comes next. For this he made sure that I write a good deal and things I do.
Road ahead
I have started seeing myself from a new perspective. I introspect a lot these days, trying to understand my goals. They seem clearer now. I want to play with new technologies and make others comfortable with them. I want to learn and in turn teach others who want to learn. A Developer Evangelist has born. It is time to face the world again, in a new light.