Senior Developer Relations @ Riot Games.
Developer Relations for the last 9 years, previously full time engineer.
My main focus is building an ecosystem of companies around Riot Games.
This is an ongoing question in the developer relations industry and it really has not been answered yet. There are tons of companies with DevRel folks with non-developer backgrounds, and there are companies that require heavy engineering backgrounds.
My personal opinion is that you do not have to be a developer to work in developer relations. You do however need to be able to take very complex technical concepts and translate them in a way a more non-technical audience can understand it.
A very clumsy tall person who loves his job and his team. Communities I have the distinct pleasure of developing and growing include PC Gamer, Tom's Guide, Live Science, and Space.com
This is an ongoing question in the developer relations industry and it really has not been answered yet. There are tons of companies with DevRel folks with non-developer backgrounds, and there are companies that require heavy engineering backgrounds.
My personal opinion is that you do not have to be a developer to work in developer relations. You do however need to be able to take very complex technical concepts and translate them in a way a more non-technical audience can understand it.
Fascinating. I suppose it's in line with a lot of other community-centric roles in that we're still sort of trying to figure it all out. Thanks, Gene!