If you are like me a few months ago then you might be unfamiliar with the role of a “Developer Advocate” or what “Developer Advocacy” even means to a project or company. This role within the tech industry is actually quite new in relation to many others. Similar names you may have heard in the past might be something such as a “Developer Evangelist”. Companies like Google and Microsoft were largely responsible for bringing this role to the forefront of the industry. After all, without developers, none of this would exist. We wouldn’t have many of the things we take for granted today such as televisions, computers, smart phones and… well…. everything that requires any sort of software. Developers are one of the most important parts of Kin’s future success. Their ideas and visions are what will drive it all and we want to do everything we can to help them be successful!

The role of a Developer Advocate can vary greatly from company to company. At its core the role is intended to be “the voice” of the developers. Specifically for Kin it is to get developers excited to build with Kin, stimulate their imaginations of what can be done with Kin, educate and support them AND grow our outreach by expanding our boundaries!

There are many things that I’m thrilled to work on and here are just a few of them!

Support!

The migration to the new Kin blockchain is going to be amazing but it’s also no easy task. Everyone across the ecosystem is bursting with anticipation to solidify ourselves as our very own “One Blockchain”. Blood, sweat and tears have poured into this effort [way before I joined the team] and as a developer advocate I need to make sure that everyone is happy and ready to make the move. Lots of coordination will be required but the Kin team is extremely supportive of each other and we are ready to make it happen. We want to give our developers all the tools and information that we can provide to them to make this as seamless as possible.

Educate!

As a developer advocate it is my responsibility to know the ins and outs of the entire software architecture. This includes understanding the iOS, Android and Python SDKs. I’ll also be working with the Blockchain and KRE teams to get a deeper understanding of the entire project. I will use this knowledge to educate the ecosystem apps in many different ways. One way is educating them on the SDKs with tutorials and code samples that show them the amazing possibilities of building with Kin! Another way will be sharing blog posts with a wide range of ideas and guidance on things such as best ways to implement security in their apps. Knowledge and education is our key to success.

Building The Community!

Building the developer community is one of the most exciting things for me! Currently the app developers have access to us via Slack but this is only temporary as it is not scaleable, easily searchable or sustainable over time as the ecosystem grows. I’ll be looking into developer forum solutions such as Discourse that allow the community to grow, ask questions, get answers and eventually become self-sustainable. Alongside the forums will come code samples, tutorials, blog posts and an assortment of tools to help developers be successful in their overall integration experience. The ultimate goal is a massive open source ecosystem of developers helping developers! It is my responsibility to build relationships with the developers and to help facilitate this growth.

Growing Our Outreach!

One of the top priorities for us this year is to get the word out to developers on a large scale. The best way to do this is to get out there and meet them. We need understand what they are building, what their challenges are and get them excited about developing with Kin. We recently had a successful visit to San Francisco for Developer Week and we learned a lot. Personally, this opened up my eyes to the possibilities of gaining some attention and attraction from the developer community. This year we’ll be attending many different conferences. Some will be big and some will be small, but each one is another amazing opportunity to share our vision. I hope to be eventually speaking at these conferences, but one step at a time. Aside from the conferences and small meet-ups we are hoping to attend and even run our own Hackathon. What better way to attract large groups of developers than a good old fashioned development competition with some great prizes, right?

All in all I’m extremely thrilled for what’s to come. The most exciting part is to share my passion along with Kin’s vision to others! Sharing this passion and vision will no doubt attract the kind of developers and apps that we want participating in the ecosystem. Lots of big things are coming so get READY!!!

Chase Barker

Developer Advocate @ Kin Foundation