Sarah-Jane Morris
Co-Host of Community Pulse
For the past 17 years, Sarah-Jane Morris has been growing and nurturing developer communities at various stages of growth; at startups like Context IO and Keen IO, at high growth companies like Shopify and HubSpot, at corporations like Intel, and through her own devrel consultancy, Listen Community Consulting. She's currently building developer community at Mailchimp. SJ has an audacious vision to make every developer community diverse, welcoming, and sustainable. She's also the proud mom of the world's cutest cat, Joni.
Sarah-Jane Morris has hosted 33 Episodes.
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Budget Rules Everything Around Me (Ep 53)
November 12th, 2020 | 40 mins 34 secs
As we’ve mentioned in previous episodes, budget concerns are an ever changing part of working in DevRel. Now more than ever, DevRel teams are expanding their functions and responsibilities while stretching the idea of how we do the things we do. In this episode, we sit down with Bear Douglas of Slack to talk budgets, what budget allocations mean to a DevRel and how do you calculate what you need vs what you want?
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After Pulse: Events in the Pandemic - Community Pulse Live!
October 13th, 2020 | 12 mins 45 secs
All five hosts jump in to add some notes and references from our awesome live episode. See what Mary, Jason, PJ, SJ, and Wesley have to say!
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Events in the Pandemic - Community Pulse Live! (Ep 52)
October 13th, 2020 | 55 mins 6 secs
We’re almost 8 months into a global pandemic. The last time we gathered to discuss COVID-19, we were mere weeks in and scrambling to figure out how to adjust. Given how much has changed since then, it was time for another Community Pulse LIVE! Our questions include “What have we learned?” “How the pandemic has changed our perception of attending in-person conferences?” and “How does this uncertainty impact our budgets for the years to come?”. Guests Rahmona Henry (HubSpot Developer Advocate) and Floor Drees (Microsoft DevRel Program Manager) join us to discuss how they’re approaching their 2021 event strategy.
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After Pulse: DevRel at the Foundation
September 25th, 2020 | 17 mins 57 secs
After chatting with our guests, Wesley, SJ, and Mary are joined by PJ to talk about early stage DevRel and their views on experiences in the startup world.
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DevRel at the Foundation (Ep 51)
September 17th, 2020 | 48 mins
As companies are starting to realize that Developer Relations can be a competitive advantage, we’ve been noticing more and more job descriptions for Developer Advocates or DevRel Professionals who are the first non-engineering hire at early-stage startups. But when you’re an early hire working alongside the founder and a few engineers, what does your role look like? How is it different from joining a company as employee #30, 120, or even 1432? Mary, SJ, and Wesley chat with David G Simmons, Taylor Barnett, and Aydrian Howard to talk about being DevRel number one.
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Advocating for DevRel as a DevRel Professional (Ep 49)
July 7th, 2020 | 37 mins 46 secs
Developer Relations needs to be put into perspective for people outside the team or community. When your Developer Relations department comes under fire, how do we switch from advocating for our community to advocating for ourselves? When DevRel is new, how do you build on activities to show the importance of having a dedicated team working with the communities your organization is involved with? SJ and PJ sit down with Elizabeth Ruscitto and Jaime Lopez to discuss the ins and outs of explaining DevRel to folks on the outside.
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A Talk about Racism, Privilege, and DevRel: Community Pulse Live - Summer Edition (Ep 48)
June 17th, 2020 | 1 hr 1 min
These past few weeks have brought us to what we hope will be an inflection point with regard to systemic racism in the United States. We’re now asking the question: How can we work as a community in DevRel to ensure we not only address this critical moment, but actively work toward eradicating systemic racism in our industry?
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After Pulse: Online Community Management
May 25th, 2020 | 18 mins 49 secs
SJ, Jason, and PJ sit down to discuss their recent conversation with Marjorie and Wesley. What started as a simple conversation about online communities turned into an opportunity to learn from experts at a time when our entire industry seems to have been turned on its head. They then pivot into what makes something ephemeral versus what sticks with you and has a lasting impact on your career as well as those around you.
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Online Community Management: how DevRel is going virtual due to COVID-19 (Ep 47)
May 11th, 2020 | 45 mins 50 secs
Connecting with our communities online is more important than ever right now. However, this isn’t something ALL DevRel teams are accustomed to. In some cases, much of the online efforts have been relegated to “community management” or support. Marjorie Anderson and Wesley Faulkner join us to talk about online communities, sharing tips, tricks, and best practices from their combined 20 years of experience.
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COVID-19 Retrospective - Community Pulse LIVE!
March 31st, 2020 | 1 hr 7 mins
This has been a surreal and historic few weeks across the globe. We recently gathered a group of DevRel professionals to talk about how COVID-19 has impacted them and their DevRel role, from what their current focuses are, how their Q2 goals have changed, whether they’re transitioning to online events (and what that will look like in the future), and more. Join us for a special live episode as we dig into the potential long term changes to our industry post COVID-19.
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After Pulse: The Ethical DevRel
March 24th, 2020 | 25 mins 44 secs
PJ, SJ, and Mary chat further on the subject of ethics following Episode 45. Tune in to hear more from their own unique perspectives once the guests have left.
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The Ethical DevRel (Ep 45)
March 16th, 2020 | 46 mins 10 secs
Events have a code of conduct. Projects often have rules of behavior for those who participate. There are expected rules we follow when creating content, from adhering to MLA style to ensuring ideas are delivered in a succinct way with value to the consumer. But when it comes to DevRel, there is no specific rule set or guidelines for practitioners. Beyond the external rules we need to follow as generally good humans, there is nothing to show how to be an ethical DevRel practitioner. So where does that leave us? Coraline Ada Ehmke and Don Goodman-Wilson join us to discuss this difficult topic.
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After Pulse: Finding the DevRel in You
February 14th, 2020 | 17 mins 14 secs
PJ and SJ expand on some of the topics addressed in Episode 44, including how our differences are part of what makes us uniquely capable to fulfill our Developer Relations responsibilities. They also touch on the pros and cons of creating a clear career path for the DevRel and Community industries and why it might not be necessary for you to move to San Francisco to succeed as a new DevRel professional (gasp!) as well as how our career paths are drastically different from those of our parents and grandparents.
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Finding the DevRel In You: Common characteristics of developer relations professionals (Ep 44)
January 28th, 2020 | 36 mins 23 secs
There are generally common threads in what makes a person pick a career path. Are there common characteristics for DevRel practitioners? What are they and what does one look for to see if they are ready for the DevRel life? Amanda Folson and Geertjan Wielanga join our hosts for a great conversation exploring these topics.
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2019 Closing Thoughts (Ep 43)
December 5th, 2019 | 51 mins 4 secs
Mary, Jason, and PJ officially welcome new host SJ Morris to the show! We all take the opportunity to review what we've done this year, talk about some trends we've noticed within DevRel, and generally put our final thoughts on all things 2019!
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After Pulse: What's After DevRel?
November 26th, 2019 | 16 mins 52 secs
Your hosts sit down to discuss the finer points of the episode - what does happen after DevRel? We take a look at some of the antecedents leading to leaving DevRel and the options we've heard folks consider in our travels and conversations.