defrag 2011 - api communities
DESCRIPTION
A discussion I led at Defrag 2011TRANSCRIPT
API Communities
@TimFallscommunity guy
@SendGrid
Defrag 2011Nov 9-10
our discussion
sendgrid
community, generally speaking
api communities: why / what / how
what does it all mean for you!?
Webster says
[ecology] “a group of interdependent organisms of different species growing or living together in a specified habitat”
Community is:
“a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”
communities:they come in all shapes and sizes
your neighbors + your hometown = a community
fans + teams = community
fans + bands = community
people + a cause = community
an awesome business + awesome customers = community
“Some organizations depend on their collective resources and complementary strengths to achieve a broad, far reaching goal.They thrive on the community that links them together - even if the community members have never met each other in person.”
“people who use the same tools to build software:
they create communities”
awesome developers + awesome API(s) = community
...?
yes
why?why does any community exist?
its members (groups & individuals) benefit from their involvement
they derive utility / value
they benefit socially + professionally
how?By creating symbiotic relationships, through which all organisms in the ecosystem feed off each others successes.
it starts with alignment of goals
it is made successful through
cooperation
social commerce
opportunities
the REAL “what?”everyone wins
the company
• revenue, happy users (customer retention), product adoption, respect, appreciation, support
the developers/customer
• ease of use, simpler life, job well done, $ savings, less stress, increased productivity, revenue, props
results
as the community builder, you must:a) be willing to devote resources, lots of them b) watch, analyze, adjust and repeatthings to track:exposure - how many people do you reach? online and offlinesales - new customers/users - free or paidusage - API calls, emails sent, apps builtsentiment - what are people saying?
who?the customers
developers, employing companies/startups, community members, open source code contributors
the company
employees, leaders, investors, founders
economy
competition: the advancement of the technology, industry, and marketplace, in general
takeaways
1. evaluate2. recognize3. act
me
questions / comments
@timfalls
timfalls.me