Comments on: The Future of Developer Communities: Some Thoughts

By: Tom Ortega II

Tom Ortega II — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:52:55 +0000

I agree with MAX being a great place to chat. Adobe is such a huge organization, that it’s vital to have all the great folks that work there in one place to sorta get the conversation going. I still remember MAX Chicago where me and Jared were going up and down the hallway, recruiting people to join in on the Community BoF because we knew they’d be sad after the fact for missing it! Can’t wait to chat with the crew this year. It’s going to be relaxing to not have a speaking slot or unconference to worry about!

By: RogerTheGeek

RogerTheGeek — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:01:34 +0000

Developers definitely need to explore alternative to their main technology area. Languages and frameworks have a life cycle and you can find yourself stagnant in a field that has passed you by.
Multiple communities is normal, not the exception. Most geeks will become involved in various communities and have one or two that are their main interests. I think that is very healthy.
The TACFUG in central North Carolina put on NCDevCon this year with generous sponsorship from Adobe. We had a number of varied technologies within the sessions with a wide range of speakers, levels, and technologies. It seemed to be well received from the feedback we received. If we don’t spread out a little, we will tend to preach to the choir rather than spread the word. Thanks for the support.

By: Larry White

Larry White — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:35:37 +0000

Fundamentally the overall quality of software is going to fall. APIs are getting larger not smaller.

By: George

George — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:51:58 +0000

Great post Rachel!

In our group we had a few sessions about non-Adobe technologies and I think people learned a lot from them. As you say, developers need to adapt much easier to different technologies and must realize that for some projects other technologies might be more suitable.

@Tom
You were asking if mixed-technologies user groups would still be supported by Adobe and quite frankly I wouldn’t see why not. Think about it, the swag, the groups portal, the free software, they are all branded Adobe. I was at a PHP and at a Java event where an Adobe evangelist spoke and gave away free swag.

Adobe is doing a great job bringing the community together and I really hope this is not going to change.

By: Rachel Luxemburg

Rachel Luxemburg — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:26:22 +0000

Tom, thanks for commenting! I meant this post as the start of a conversation about how the industry is changing, not the announcement of a formal program change.

With MAX so close at hand I’m really looking forward to having the time to talk about this (and many other issues) with everyone face to face and get more complete feedback from folks.

By: Tom Ortega II

Tom Ortega II — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:50:53 +0000

Correct, I sorta oversimplified it. I guess the main question I have is how does the Adobe Community team (you guys) handle supporting these new kinda groups, i.e. if I had an All Flex group and it morphed into a group that was no longer Flex based, do I still get swag bags, manager perks, Tech Weds, etc. Does venturing into new topics/products like Rachel says put the support of the community team at risk? If so, some managers may second guess modifying their group to satisfy changing needs if it means they lose “perks” from being just all Adobe all the time.

I think Adobe has THE best community program and team (from days of old to present time), so it’s not a knock on the system or how you guys do your job. You guys rock and put it out of the ball park, but if the concept of community of changing, then those changes probably need to be shared/discussed officially in the programs so managers can make decisions on whether to morph or stay as they are.

By: Seb Lee-Delisle

Seb Lee-Delisle — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:20:43 +0000

Hi Rachel!

Great post and very timely! As you rightly say, I have been branching out, and I think that if you love your job then you’re going to explore the range of different options in your spare time.

Although I’m not sure you have to necessarily be an expert in them all, but any additional experience in other areas is going to give you much more rounded skills.

Of course this gives us a different challenge when it comes to user groups. FlashBrighton was built around the creative Flash developers and I’m not sure I’d be able to attract them so easily with our new name. But then we’re attracting other people who are unfamiliar with Flash, so it’s swings and roundabouts.

Either way, we need to accept change in our jobs and our specialisms, let’s face it – at least it never gets boring! And it’s that sense of joy and sharing of technology that we try to bring into our group. Seems to be working so far!

Seb

By: John Koch

John Koch — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:56:38 +0000

Speaking as a member of the Adobe Community Team, I think we’ve avoided a black/white approach to supporting user groups and events that have discussions on other technologies. I found some groups in Asia identified themselves around RIA rather than specific Adobe technologies, but because the core technologies they discuss in their meetings are Adobe technologies like Actionscript, we invited them to join the Adobe User Group program. Same with Flash Camp events, if an event organizer is going to gather people together and wants to introduce them to Adobe technologies like Flash, we want to support them. If an event organizer has an event that touches on many different technologies without any special focus on Adobe technologies, it doesn’t make sense to call that event a Flash Camp. It would set the wrong expectations with attendees who might think they’re attending a Flash-focused event versus a broader technology event. My point is that we try to evaluate each user group application and event application on a case by case basis, with our overarching objective being to reach those who have a desire to learn more about Adobe technology.

By: Tom Ortega II

Tom Ortega II — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:03:43 +0000

+1 on Ed’s comments. He once again proves why he will always be the master of community, regardless of his job title.

By: Craig Anthony

Craig Anthony — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:58:38 +0000

Nice write up. Over the last 8 years I’ve spent most of my days as a Flash Developer and designer. In recent months I’ve had to expand my skill set to html / css / javascript / jquery / mobile dev / etc. While I thoroughly enjoy all of it, staying on top of each technology is a daunting task. My fear is that I will be spread too thin becoming “average” at a lot of things … sigh.