I’ve done my fair share of hackathon organising over the years. From small 30 person “specialist” hacks, to larger, 200+ affairs like Music Hack Day London. Over that time I’ve built up a checklist of items that I try to ensure I have with me on the day to make sure everything runs smoothly. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and only covers the scrappier DIY end of the hackathon spectrum. There’s certainly going to be more insight from people who read this too, so I’d love to see contributions in the comments below. The Hackathon Backpack…
READ MORE »
Sometimes the “same old, same old” can be a good thing. We’re not saying not to try new and innovative ways to engage your users, but sometimes the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” has a bit more validity when you want surefire results. Our suggestion is to keep searching for fresh, new ways to increase response rates, but don’t forget the key tactics that have consistently worked for you in the first place. Here are 8 tactics that should always be included in your email program’s toolkit. Create relevant content: You’ve heard this a million times before,…
READ MORE »
If you’re here, you already know (roughly) what a developer evangelist is. You know that we’re Globetrotters, Hackers, Hustlers, Teachers, Mentors and Frequent-Flyer Mile Collectors. You have an idea of what a developer evangelist does. If you’re interested in becoming a developer evangelist, good on you. It’s the best job in the world; it truly is. HOWEVER, as you’re sure to find out, it is exhausting. In this post, I’m hoping to help minimise that exhaustion, and help you to avoid the dreaded burn-out. I’m recently back from Paris. I was there for Music Hackday (one of my favourite events),…
READ MORE »
Email amazes me. It’s an open, decentralized, and evolving means of communication that allows you to message someone on the other end of the world–-and it’s been around for fourty years. One of the amazing things about email is the depth of the specification. Email has many intricate and little-known parts, many of which are hidden in message headers. Message headers are essential to any email communication–they describe the message, who sent it, and who it’s going to. To, From, Date, and Subject, are all headers most people are familiar with, then there’s the commonly discussed DKIM and SPF, however…
READ MORE »
When you start working with email every day, you take a lot of the basics for granted. Today, we’re re-visiting what an SMTP service is with a quick Q&A with Nigel Dunetts, a member of SendGrid’s amazing Email Support team. 1. What is an SMTP service? On the most basic level, an SMTP service functions as a method to send emails from one server (or mail client) to another across the Internet. For a more in-depth guide to email and SMTP, I usually point people to the following resources: SMTP Server Relay Basics via SendGrid’s blog How Email Works via HowStuffWorks.com…
READ MORE »
Did you know you can build native apps using web technologies? Titanium Appcelerator does exactly that. And its super easy to get up and running. To keep with the easy theme, I decided I’d develop a library for Titanium developers to simply send email using none other than our favorite email service, SendGrid! Installation Since Titanium uses CommonJS-compliant modules, all you have to do is drop tisendgrid.js in your lib folder. That’s it! Example Due to the CommonJS compliance, you are able to require a module like Node.js and such. It’s as simple as that! The library has several examples and documentation in its GitHub repository. SMTPAPI-Example Lets…
READ MORE »
Pull Requests are my favorite feature of GitHub. They are the way I prefer to do development. Avoid Communication Breakdown There is necessarily a lot of discussion that happens when writing code. On a team of one, this discussion happens in your brain. On a local team of two or three, it happens IRL. These approaches work ok, but they break down when the team is remote or four-plus people. So, how do you avoid this breakdown in communication? Often, teams turn to an external tool like Basecamp. I recommend against that. Those conversations live too far away from where…
READ MORE »
