DevRelCon LATAM 2023 retrospective

The first DevRelCon LATAM took place back in February, as a collaboration between Hoopy and members of the DevRel community in Latin America. The needs and concerns of DevRel professionals in Central and South America were central to this two day multilingual online conference. The conference also focused on the broader worldwide Spanish and Portuguese speaking world.

Day 1 was dedicated to Spanish language talks, and day 2 to Portuguese. The event was free to attend, with over 12 sessions, 20 speakers, and hundreds of online attendees.

Why DevRelCon LATAM?

DevRel is still an emerging discipline in Latin America. However, the region’s software development sector as a whole has boomed over the past ten years. It now boasts an annual worth of $22 billion. As part of that growth, the number of companies producing tooling and other products for developers themselves has increased. 

According to DevRelCon LATAM co-organiser Ramón Huidoboro, developer relations in the region has also seen an uptick in interest recently. This made 2023 the ideal year to create a developer relations event specifically from and for Latin America. GitHub developer advocate Pachi Parra, herself based in Brazil, then proposed the idea of a DevRelCon for Latin America. The pieces fell into place. 

Serving DevRel’s needs in Latin America

The main theme of the conference was to shine a spotlight on the issues facing DevRel newcomers and practitioners in the region.  DevRel itself is still relatively young in Latin America. The aim was to introduce the foundations of developer relations. The organisers also wanted to share experience of how to approach the region’s varied cultural, economic, political, and linguistic situations. Here’s a recap of the varying talks that were given on both days of the conference:

Day 1: Spanish Day

• During his switch to DevRel, developer José Dimas Luján Castillo faced a new approach in measuring his results. He began the Spanish part of the conference by sharing all the difficulties he encountered. He focused on how a developer can be supported by defining what he can do better and consequently improving as a DevRel person.
• Software Guru cofounder Pedro Galván gave a talk on the pros and cons of face-to-face, online, and hybrid events. 
• Alexandra Macias, Director of Partnerships at Wilco, shared her thoughts on the importance of developer relations. She also explained how beneficial DevRel relationships can be established with non-technical audiences. 
• Camunda Community Manager Maria Alcantara spoke about her experiences with her company meet-ups program. She went on to talk about the resources needed to take such a program to the next level. 
• An insightful panel discussion was held by Luis Sánchez, Ximena Cruz, Denny Perez, Mario García, and Lizz Parody. The discussion highlighted the differences between DevRel worldwide compared with Latin America.  
• Andrea Griffiths and Julián Duque examined what it means to be a Developer Advocate. They also identified the skills and requirements needed to work in DevRel.

Day 2: Portuguese Day

• Founder and CEO of AfrOya Tech, Andreza Rocha, opened the Portuguese day with her reflection on digital behaviour, branding, and personal image for building reputation and achieving results.  
• In an informal chat, Awdren de Lima Fontao, PhD professor and researcher at the Faculty of Computing of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, took the audience through a DevRel journey  – how the DevRel sector was constituted, fundamentals, models and challenges. 
• Feministech’s Morganna Giovanelli shared her experience of being the first and only DevRel practitioner in a company.
• Software engineer at Itaú Unibanco, Fabi Rodrigues, gave a talk discussing the state of DevRel. She also explained how to analyse the research process and cross-reference data to obtain insights and make projections for the future
• Jomar Silva and Neto Marin revealed the lessons they have learned in how to adjust global programs for Latin America to achieve effective results.
• WoMakersCode founder Cynthia Zanoni wrapped up day two with a talk about the essence of developer relations, her experiences, and the possibilities it brings.

Opening DevRel up to a diverse audience

The organising committee behind the conference was composed of developer relations professionals from across Latin America. DevRelCon LATAM 2023 was always going to be an ambitious event. As it turned out, the event brought together speakers from both Spanish and Portuguese communities to share their insights with the broader developer relations community. This meant coordinating the schedule according to the time in Mexico City, Bogota, São Paulo and Santiago, ensuring that viewers across Latin America could watch some of the conference live during sociable hours.

Gracias and Obrigado!

The DevRelCon LATAM organising committee would like to extend their thanks to every person who took part in the event and especially to the speakers who shared their experience and the MCs who helped bring everything together.

Many thanks to event sponsor Common Room and, of course, none of this would have happened without the organising team: Pachi, Juan Pablo, Ramón, and Manuela. 

Here’s to another edition in 2024!

See you in London! Back in its home city for the first time since 2019, DevRelCon London 2023 is taking place from 7-8 September and will bring together developer relations, education, marketing, and community professionals for sharing and learning.

Buy your ticket to DevRelCon London 2023