[the_thagomizer]

I think DevRel should sit in a separate org neither marketing or product but be a peer to both.

When DevRel sits in product it is easy to get carried away with whatever narrative the product managers are pushing. Part of being a good advocate for developers is being able to step back and look at something in the existing ecosystem. Does it actually solve problems that users have? Is it usable? Does it integrate well with existing workflows and tools?

When DevRel sits in marketing or sales it often feels like you are a prize hog being pulled into sales conversations to add credibility to something that probably shouldn't have credibility to begin with.

In my opinion, the primary role of DevRel is story telling and narrative. I use narratives to explain to product teams how users currently work and how their product fits into a larger ecosystem. I use stories to help them understand bugs and design issues in context. And I use story/narrative to help external developers see how a given product can solve problems or pain points they have.

Sometimes I tell that story with words but I'm just as likely to tell that story with code. It is much harder to dismiss a bug when you can see the horrible contortions it requires you to go through in the code.