This blog post is co-written with Alexandra White and Matthias Rohmer
In our experience, working in many different companies and contexts, there are – very broadly speaking and quite simplified – four types of people you will come across during your working life. For me, at least, being able to identify these archetypes has helped in understanding people and situations better. It’s given me leads for seeing what I can try to improve, but also to avoid particular situations before they become worse.
The year was 1983. I was 9 years old. I used to visit my paternal grandmother who lived in the city, and every time I came by she would take me to the movies, which was wonderful! It was the time when I learned to love both movies and cinemas.
After over 4 years at Google, I’m now a Developer Advocate! “Wait, I thought you already were that?” is the most common reaction. Allow me to tell my story.
I’ve worked with Developer Relations for many years now, and I think it’s a fascinating topic with many takes on what it is and how to do it! I wanted to share my view on it here, and what I think it encompasses.
When I was a kid, back in the time when there were announcers telling you which the next program on TV would be, you knew it would be good if they said: "We'd like to warn sensitive viewers that next program might upset you". So, with that in mind, I need to start this blog post with saying that it doesn't reflect the opinions of my employer, Google, but are all my own.
When I got started with blogging back in 2005, I had been an interface developer for the web since 1999. The big challenges back in 2005 were convincing developers and companies to make sure that things worked in more than one web browser, and that JavaScript wasn't evil and actually pretty competent. And now, in 2018, it's back to the cross-browser support story again (JavaScript seems to be doing fine).
Having spent almost 20 years working on the web, it is something I strongly believe and am invested in. Therefore, when I see or am part of initiatives that I think will help developers and the web platform out there, it makes me very excited! And last week I got very reminded about how good that thing can be.
One million kilometers. That's a pretty long distance. Going through my travel statistics recently, I discovered that is how much I've traveled during the last few years.
I’ve been following the stories on #MeToo, listening and talking to a lot of people, and have been trying to gather my thoughts.
First, no one should ever have to feel unsafe. Ever. I’m so saddened to hear all the stories and testimonies, women being treated unfairly, as less worthy or as just being there for men’s entertainment. Why I’m so grateful about #MeToo – despite all the terrible stories – is that it has finally gotten to a point where everyone is listening. Where women feel brave, empowered and supported enough to share what has happen, to dare to say no.
