0:00:17.510,0:00:20.530 BREE THOMAS: Hi. How's everybody doing? 0:00:20.530,0:00:21.950 It's nice to see you. In case you're wondering 0:00:21.950,0:00:27.470 what I'm doing - this is a tip from Ben Orenstein,[br]who said to get rid of pre-presentation 0:00:27.470,0:00:29.520 jitters, you should power pose. 0:00:29.520,0:00:32.738 I want you to know that, if this doesn't work, 0:00:32.738,0:00:35.570 I am going to fucking punch him. 0:00:35.570,0:00:39.129 So, my name is Bree Thomas. I think we 0:00:39.129,0:00:41.309 can put these down now. I also wore black 0:00:41.309,0:00:43.640 so you couldn't see the armpit sweat. It's[br]a 0:00:43.640,0:00:44.410 good trick. 0:00:44.410,0:00:49.360 My name is Bree Thomas. I am a brand-spanking 0:00:49.360,0:00:53.620 new developer, as of like, eight months old.[br]Yes. 0:00:53.620,0:00:57.300 Yes, thank you. Thank you. 0:00:57.300,0:00:59.530 So I, I'm, I work with a product company 0:00:59.530,0:01:02.409 called iTriage and so I spend much of my 0:01:02.409,0:01:07.080 day spelunking a very intimidating code base,[br]and I 0:01:07.080,0:01:09.820 spend a lot of my time studying and pairing 0:01:09.820,0:01:13.890 with anybody who will have me, to be honest. 0:01:13.890,0:01:17.580 But in a past life, not too long ago, 0:01:17.580,0:01:21.860 I was a product marketer. Dun duh duhh. 0:01:21.860,0:01:24.120 And that's what I want to share with you 0:01:24.120,0:01:27.300 today, a little bit of that experience. Specifically,[br]I 0:01:27.300,0:01:30.790 want to talk to you about brand. What brand 0:01:30.790,0:01:35.180 is, why you should care, and how you can 0:01:35.180,0:01:38.050 use brand in your open source projects to[br]start 0:01:38.050,0:01:41.380 differentiating yourself in, face it, what[br]is now a 0:01:41.380,0:01:47.270 very saturated and competitive landscape. 0:01:47.270,0:01:49.800 But before we can, before I can tell you 0:01:49.800,0:01:51.630 how to do this, we've got to level set 0:01:51.630,0:01:54.170 at the what, right. So what is brand? And 0:01:54.170,0:01:57.060 to do that, I'm gonna show you some logos, 0:01:57.060,0:02:00.960 K. Don't worry. They're not. Some big brand[br]logos, 0:02:00.960,0:02:03.180 and I just need you to tell me what 0:02:03.180,0:02:06.450 they sell. 0:02:06.450,0:02:11.400 K. Does anybody know what this brand sells?[br]Anybody? 0:02:11.400,0:02:14.010 Mike! What does this brand sell? 0:02:14.010,0:02:15.300 MIKE: Sporting equipment. 0:02:15.300,0:02:18.819 B.T.: Very good. Are you a runner? Not so 0:02:18.819,0:02:21.790 much. OK. Just checking. Just checking. What[br]about this 0:02:21.790,0:02:24.769 brand? Does anybody know what this brand sells? 0:02:24.769,0:02:26.879 AUDIENCE: Computers. Hardware. 0:02:26.879,0:02:32.730 B.T.: Hardware! OK. Great. Good. What about[br]this brand? 0:02:32.730,0:02:34.829 Jeremy Jackson, what does this brand sell? 0:02:34.829,0:02:36.340 JEREMY JACKSON: Shoes? 0:02:36.340,0:02:39.139 B.T.: Oh, shut up. See, and here's what he 0:02:39.139,0:02:39.510 doesn't want you to know. He doesn't want[br]you 0:02:39.510,0:02:42.099 to know that he drives on of these. 0:02:42.099,0:02:49.099 All right. So, those were good answers, OK.[br]But 0:02:50.019,0:02:54.090 really, let's start with Nike. What Nike sells[br]is 0:02:54.090,0:02:59.430 more than just shoes. Nike sells empowerment. 0:02:59.430,0:03:04.299 Nike sells a belief that greatness comes from[br]within. 0:03:04.299,0:03:07.900 It's not a gift. It's not destiny. Actually,[br]it's 0:03:07.900,0:03:11.560 a fierce commitment, right. An unyielding[br]focus, that you 0:03:11.560,0:03:16.549 can make yourself into anything you want to[br]be. 0:03:16.549,0:03:18.189 You just have to do it. 0:03:18.189,0:03:22.260 And, how they communicate empowerment, well,[br]that takes different 0:03:22.260,0:03:25.010 forms, depending on who they're talking to.[br]How they 0:03:25.010,0:03:30.209 communicate with women. How they communicate[br]with men. What 0:03:30.209,0:03:33.930 they're advertisements look spanning sports,[br]race. It's all different. 0:03:33.930,0:03:36.519 But at the core, it's really about empowerment.[br]They 0:03:36.519,0:03:40.069 are the constant voice of empowerment, telling[br]you that 0:03:40.069,0:03:43.980 you can do it. You can be better. 0:03:43.980,0:03:48.340 And when Apple launched their Think Different[br]campaign, at 0:03:48.340,0:03:51.540 that time, for Apple, it was a summation of 0:03:51.540,0:03:56.290 what that company stood for. At the time.[br]And 0:03:56.290,0:03:59.809 in positioning Think Different, they didn't[br]do it with 0:03:59.809,0:04:03.650 products, right. No. They did it with humans.[br]Accomplished, 0:04:03.650,0:04:07.870 iconic humans, right, to quote some of their[br]advertising 0:04:07.870,0:04:10.290 that I'm sure we're all familiar with. The[br]crazy 0:04:10.290,0:04:13.180 ones. The misfits. The rebels. The ones who[br]see 0:04:13.180,0:04:16.019 things differently. 0:04:16.019,0:04:18.940 And while their ads have changed quite a bit, 0:04:18.940,0:04:21.329 Think Different is still a very prevalent[br]part of 0:04:21.329,0:04:23.800 their DNA. So whether we're looking at the[br]iPod 0:04:23.800,0:04:25.990 ads from way back when, when there was literally 0:04:25.990,0:04:28.440 nothing about their product on these - just[br]a 0:04:28.440,0:04:31.949 silhouette on a bright-colored background[br]- to the ads 0:04:31.949,0:04:35.470 you see today. There's just this very inherent[br]attitude 0:04:35.470,0:04:38.100 that is simply and beautifully executed. 0:04:38.100,0:04:41.450 And, what's great about their ads is, for[br]them, 0:04:41.450,0:04:44.780 I mean, they spark immediate iconic status.[br]So there's 0:04:44.780,0:04:48.230 lots of creative spin-offs of their ads. And[br]copy 0:04:48.230,0:04:51.660 cats. But really what they do is they spark 0:04:51.660,0:04:55.370 this crazy group of devout followers on every[br]single 0:04:55.370,0:04:57.430 product release. 0:04:57.430,0:05:04.430 BMW. The passionate driver's car. They are[br]about aspiring, 0:05:05.760,0:05:10.750 not actually to luxury, but the joy of driving. 0:05:10.750,0:05:13.440 And that that happiness, the joy of driving,[br]that's 0:05:13.440,0:05:17.910 inherent in the BMW itself. Regardless of[br]your station 0:05:17.910,0:05:22.600 in life, be that a biker or a mother, 0:05:22.600,0:05:25.950 the BMW is the car to suit your inner-driving 0:05:25.950,0:05:29.600 enthusiast. Because at the end of the day,[br]it 0:05:29.600,0:05:36.600 isn't about status. It really is about joy. 0:05:38.710,0:05:41.630 So why did I show you these brands? Because 0:05:41.630,0:05:46.350 they don't just sell a particular style of[br]footwear 0:05:46.350,0:05:50.050 or fancy color of an iPod or even heated 0:05:50.050,0:05:54.030 seats in a car. Actually, what they sell is 0:05:54.030,0:06:00.890 a belief. Empowerment. Think different. Joy. 0:06:00.890,0:06:06.050 And beliefs are held by humans. And humans[br]build 0:06:06.050,0:06:13.050 relationships. And relationships build community.[br]So take a look 0:06:13.900,0:06:16.800 around you right now. For better or for worse, 0:06:16.800,0:06:20.120 we are all a community. Right, we share some 0:06:20.120,0:06:25.250 common beliefs in how to build software, for[br]instance. 0:06:25.250,0:06:28.120 But just having a good product, right, just[br]having 0:06:28.120,0:06:30.680 a good product anymore, or some pristine lines[br]of 0:06:30.680,0:06:34.840 code that you've written, whatever the metric[br]dujour is 0:06:34.840,0:06:39.170 of what pristine is, that's not enough anymore.[br]No 0:06:39.170,0:06:43.300 matter how amazing your project or your specific[br]product 0:06:43.300,0:06:47.370 is, if only you, or a very small few 0:06:47.370,0:06:49.430 are at the epicenter, then it's just a matter 0:06:49.430,0:06:52.180 of time before it breaks down. 0:06:52.180,0:06:55.800 And while we can all completely understand[br]Ryan's burnout 0:06:55.800,0:07:01.810 with RailsCast, it's really doesn't lessen[br]the blow when 0:07:01.810,0:07:04.060 we lose that. I can speak for me personally 0:07:04.060,0:07:07.780 as a new developer. 0:07:07.780,0:07:10.030 So as you look to develop your open source 0:07:10.030,0:07:13.400 project, how are you going to foster a community? 0:07:13.400,0:07:18.090 How are you going to attract contributors,[br]maintainers, adopters, 0:07:18.090,0:07:19.500 for that matter, how are you actually gonna[br]keep 0:07:19.500,0:07:21.870 them? 0:07:21.870,0:07:24.860 So the really great brands, they symbolize[br]more than 0:07:24.860,0:07:28.450 just those products that they sell. The really[br]great 0:07:28.450,0:07:31.360 brands are a culture of people who share some 0:07:31.360,0:07:34.900 common beliefs. 0:07:34.900,0:07:37.750 The really great brands are human. And that's[br]what 0:07:37.750,0:07:39.830 I want to talk to you about today. I 0:07:39.830,0:07:41.670 want to talk to you about how you can 0:07:41.670,0:07:44.430 build a who at the same time that you're 0:07:44.430,0:07:48.750 actually building your what. 0:07:48.750,0:07:51.040 And so to do that, we're gonna walk through 0:07:51.040,0:07:53.710 just some brilliant basics, and I've got a[br]couple 0:07:53.710,0:07:55.810 open source projects who are doing parts of[br]this 0:07:55.810,0:07:59.100 really well. So I'll illustrate that with[br]them. And 0:07:59.100,0:08:01.360 then we'll move to in practice. I'm going[br]to 0:08:01.360,0:08:04.830 give you actually a scalable framework that[br]you can 0:08:04.830,0:08:07.080 start using immediately, and I'm gonna give[br]you some 0:08:07.080,0:08:10.139 methods for how to populate that framework[br]with content. 0:08:10.139,0:08:12.639 And then lastly, I'll give you a couple examples 0:08:12.639,0:08:16.620 about how you can actually, in real life,[br]apply 0:08:16.620,0:08:17.650 this. 0:08:17.650,0:08:20.530 So the basics of brand, right, is really just 0:08:20.530,0:08:25.060 about personality traits. How would you describe[br]your best 0:08:25.060,0:08:28.520 friend to someone you've just met? How do[br]you 0:08:28.520,0:08:32.450 set your sister up on a blind date? 0:08:32.450,0:08:35.889 Brand strategists have a go-to set of personality[br]traits 0:08:35.889,0:08:41.029 that they like to use. We'll start with purpose. 0:08:41.029,0:08:44.380 Why does a brand exist? What do they seek 0:08:44.380,0:08:47.519 to change in the world, right? What, where[br]did 0:08:47.519,0:08:53.000 their motives originate from? What do they[br]stand for? 0:08:53.000,0:08:55.440 What do they hold as dear and unshakable truths 0:08:55.440,0:08:57.610 as they're interacting with us and the rest[br]of 0:08:57.610,0:08:57.740 the world? 0:08:57.740,0:09:03.250 What do they say? When they speak, do they 0:09:03.250,0:09:08.540 speak the truth? And what do they do? I 0:09:08.540,0:09:09.920 mean, are they doing it? How would I know 0:09:09.920,0:09:13.600 that they're doing it? And do their actions[br]speak 0:09:13.600,0:09:17.760 louder than their words? 0:09:17.760,0:09:20.529 What do they look like? What is their image? 0:09:20.529,0:09:24.130 How do they portray themselves? Is it something[br]that 0:09:24.130,0:09:27.050 I want to be seen with? More importantly,[br]do 0:09:27.050,0:09:32.070 I, on a personal level, identify with them[br]enough 0:09:32.070,0:09:35.150 to do this? For the record, I do not 0:09:35.150,0:09:38.340 have any Harley Davidson tattoos. 0:09:38.340,0:09:41.260 But the beauty of this guy and this tattoo 0:09:41.260,0:09:44.710 is that he isn't making a statement about[br]Harley 0:09:44.710,0:09:49.990 Davidson. He's making a statement about himself.[br]And Harley 0:09:49.990,0:09:55.190 Davidson symbolizes things about him. 0:09:55.190,0:09:58.070 So, let's take a look at some of these 0:09:58.070,0:10:00.580 traits that I just ran through across a couple 0:10:00.580,0:10:03.290 open source projects. 0:10:03.290,0:10:06.940 We'll start with Ember. I mean, seriously.[br]An adorable 0:10:06.940,0:10:10.190 identity. OK. This is just the cutest thing[br]ever. 0:10:10.190,0:10:14.230 And here's what's great about Ember, right,[br]they deliver 0:10:14.230,0:10:19.820 this character that is inviting and approachable,[br]but most 0:10:19.820,0:10:22.560 important, when I look at this, here's what[br]else 0:10:22.560,0:10:25.630 they're conveying, that's really important. 0:10:25.630,0:10:31.510 A child-like easiness. Even their shwag is[br]in-line with 0:10:31.510,0:10:35.330 their persona. And that's really interesting[br]to me, because 0:10:35.330,0:10:39.190 when I look at their purpose, a framework[br]for 0:10:39.190,0:10:42.370 creating ambitious web applications - holy[br]shit, that's scary 0:10:42.370,0:10:44.620 to a new developer. I just want something[br]that 0:10:44.620,0:10:46.450 works. 0:10:46.450,0:10:48.210 But it just sounds big and daunting. But what 0:10:48.210,0:10:51.630 you see here is that right below that, around 0:10:51.630,0:10:56.640 more adorable and inviting cartoons, they[br]have this comfortable, 0:10:56.640,0:11:01.430 easy feeling with more productivity out of[br]the box. 0:11:01.430,0:11:04.300 And they're very clear in what they value.[br]Writing 0:11:04.300,0:11:10.120 less code. Avoiding trivial decision turn.[br]And, my favorite, 0:11:10.120,0:11:13.230 developer ergonomics. I don't actually know[br]what that is, 0:11:13.230,0:11:14.930 but I know that ergonomics is healthy, which[br]means 0:11:14.930,0:11:16.610 it's beneficial so I love it. 0:11:16.610,0:11:19.130 So they're good at that, right. Like, this[br]feels 0:11:19.130,0:11:21.260 good to me. This feels like, OK, I can 0:11:21.260,0:11:22.620 use this. 0:11:22.620,0:11:26.440 Here's something else that Ember does that[br]I really 0:11:26.440,0:11:28.610 like. They post all the minutes from their[br]core 0:11:28.610,0:11:33.240 team meetings. And this creates a transparency,[br]right, which 0:11:33.240,0:11:36.870 invokes a trust from me. I gravitate towards[br]this. 0:11:36.870,0:11:39.570 And, and as a new developer, this really reinforces 0:11:39.570,0:11:41.740 to me that they are approachable. That they[br]are 0:11:41.740,0:11:46.470 inviting. 0:11:46.470,0:11:51.140 Another open source project. Ghost. Ghost[br]is just a 0:11:51.140,0:11:54.380 blogging platform. So talk about an open source[br]project 0:11:54.380,0:11:57.750 with a tremendous amount of competition, right.[br]I mean, 0:11:57.750,0:12:00.700 there are tons of static sites, blog site[br]generators 0:12:00.700,0:12:05.140 out there right now. WordPress. SqaureSpace.[br]Jekyll. OctoPress. Some 0:12:05.140,0:12:07.960 of these players have even got the backing[br]to 0:12:07.960,0:12:09.600 be running TV commercials. 0:12:09.600,0:12:14.270 But here's what I love about Ghost. They put 0:12:14.270,0:12:19.460 a very, very, very specific stake in the ground 0:12:19.460,0:12:22.320 that they're just a blogging platform because[br]they really 0:12:22.320,0:12:26.330 stand for one thing, and that is publishing.[br]This 0:12:26.330,0:12:28.120 is why they're going to focus on just one 0:12:28.120,0:12:29.740 thing, because they want to do this one thing 0:12:29.740,0:12:34.060 better than anyone else does it. 0:12:34.060,0:12:37.870 And for them, focusing on publishing, from[br]a value 0:12:37.870,0:12:40.250 perspective, this is about taking the future[br]of freedom 0:12:40.250,0:12:42.210 of speech to the next level. OK, I can 0:12:42.210,0:12:44.399 get behind that. That sounds good. I should[br]be 0:12:44.399,0:12:48.430 involved in that. And Ghost is guided from[br]some 0:12:48.430,0:12:51.089 very, some values that support this, right.[br]Users first. 0:12:51.089,0:12:53.560 Always, for them. That's what it's about. 0:12:53.560,0:12:57.290 Secondly, it's for love, not for profit. Right,[br]so 0:12:57.290,0:13:01.350 they are free. And they do this because to 0:13:01.350,0:13:06.790 accept money would consequently impose some[br]changes in how 0:13:06.790,0:13:10.750 they approach development, and I think that's[br]really interesting, 0:13:10.750,0:13:12.710 right. 0:13:12.710,0:13:14.450 So these brands, these brands I showed you,[br]they're 0:13:14.450,0:13:16.100 very clear in their beliefs. You know what[br]they 0:13:16.100,0:13:20.270 stand for and you see that represented from[br]everything. 0:13:20.270,0:13:24.310 Coffee. How they, how they talk. Their aesthetic.[br]Their 0:13:24.310,0:13:28.810 shwag. Even down to their development ethos,[br]right. How 0:13:28.810,0:13:31.779 they're making choices in features and enhancements. 0:13:31.779,0:13:35.070 So it should be simple enough to do, right? 0:13:35.070,0:13:37.230 I think it's important to know that developing[br]an 0:13:37.230,0:13:43.320 honest, believable, truly authentic brand,[br]it's more than just 0:13:43.320,0:13:46.320 slapping a bunch of adjectives out there or[br]paying 0:13:46.320,0:13:49.000 for a really slick logo. It's a little bit 0:13:49.000,0:13:51.320 more than that. And that there's actually[br]a method 0:13:51.320,0:13:53.160 to that madness. 0:13:53.160,0:13:58.100 So, I'm gonna walk you through a process to 0:13:58.100,0:13:59.870 get to kind of your who, right. That's what 0:13:59.870,0:14:01.779 we're trying to build. And the first order[br]of 0:14:01.779,0:14:04.300 business is that you can't do this alone.[br]You 0:14:04.300,0:14:06.870 can't do this in a vacuum. Cause, let's be 0:14:06.870,0:14:10.220 honest. You've been drinking your particular[br]open source Koolaid 0:14:10.220,0:14:14.089 all day long. You need some healthy perspective,[br]OK. 0:14:14.089,0:14:16.620 You need one other person who's willing to[br]go 0:14:16.620,0:14:19.080 sit in a room with you for four to 0:14:19.080,0:14:22.420 six hours, at least, and psychoanalyze the[br]shit out 0:14:22.420,0:14:26.130 of your project. 0:14:26.130,0:14:27.330 And if you can find more than one of 0:14:27.330,0:14:29.790 those people, great. Grab them. But let's[br]not get 0:14:29.790,0:14:32.899 a classroom, OK. Let's keep it small. Small[br]team. 0:14:32.899,0:14:34.850 People who are, have no problem telling you[br]what 0:14:34.850,0:14:36.180 they really think. So you do want them to 0:14:36.180,0:14:38.770 understand the space, OK. And you want them[br]to 0:14:38.770,0:14:40.420 know a little bit about you and you want 0:14:40.420,0:14:42.740 them to know about the project. 0:14:42.740,0:14:47.370 Now, for the process. You're gonna see that[br]the, 0:14:47.370,0:14:49.570 the exercises I'm gonna take you through,[br]they really 0:14:49.570,0:14:54.310 consist of the same three basic steps. We're[br]gonna 0:14:54.310,0:14:56.690 have a shit ton of sticky notes and we're 0:14:56.690,0:14:59.180 gonna write a lot of words on them. That's 0:14:59.180,0:15:03.510 the ideation process. After that, we're gonna[br]take those 0:15:03.510,0:15:05.950 words and we're going to start to group them. 0:15:05.950,0:15:10.839 Categorize them by common themes. Once we[br]have that 0:15:10.839,0:15:12.709 done, then we're gonna prioritize, OK. We're[br]gonna have 0:15:12.709,0:15:16.779 some winners. 0:15:16.779,0:15:18.779 To get started, we gotta know where we're[br]going. 0:15:18.779,0:15:20.589 Right, like, what is this thing that we need 0:15:20.589,0:15:23.399 to fill up, if you will, with all of 0:15:23.399,0:15:26.720 these words? And so, I have a simple brand 0:15:26.720,0:15:29.720 structure in mind. Because when you're starting[br]out, I 0:15:29.720,0:15:33.580 think when you think about words like purpose[br]and 0:15:33.580,0:15:38.120 mission and values, that feels really heavy.[br]Or, for 0:15:38.120,0:15:41.540 some of you, it just feels like marketing[br]jargon. 0:15:41.540,0:15:43.470 Whatever your take on it. That can be a 0:15:43.470,0:15:45.470 very daunting thing, right. 0:15:45.470,0:15:48.720 So, I actually like to start here, with just 0:15:48.720,0:15:52.050 a simple why, how, and what. And what you'll 0:15:52.050,0:15:53.279 see is that at the end of this, we're 0:15:53.279,0:15:55.899 gonna get to the same juicy stuff. 0:15:55.899,0:16:02.420 Why? This is a sentence, OK. This is why 0:16:02.420,0:16:04.709 you get out of bed in the morning. Or 0:16:04.709,0:16:06.310 I'm presuming, for most of you, stay up till 0:16:06.310,0:16:09.839 four AM. Whatever the case may be. This is 0:16:09.839,0:16:13.440 a personal and a passionate statement, OK.[br]This is 0:16:13.440,0:16:15.660 why you are doing this. 0:16:15.660,0:16:18.440 How? How you do this, right. This is where 0:16:18.440,0:16:20.420 we're gonna talk about what are those things[br]that 0:16:20.420,0:16:23.959 make you different. What are your points of[br]difference? 0:16:23.959,0:16:26.440 And what's your personality? So if we do need 0:16:26.440,0:16:28.000 to describe you or set you up on a 0:16:28.000,0:16:31.060 blind date, how are we going to describe you? 0:16:31.060,0:16:34.740 And then, lastly, what. This is what you really 0:16:34.740,0:16:37.060 deliver. And a hint here, this is gonna be 0:16:37.060,0:16:40.640 more than just a list of your product features. 0:16:40.640,0:16:45.240 It's gonna be bigger than that. 0:16:45.240,0:16:47.100 A few notes on the content that fill this 0:16:47.100,0:16:52.130 brand structure. Before we get started. It's,[br]it's not 0:16:52.130,0:16:55.480 copy. So, don't get so wrapped up in the 0:16:55.480,0:16:58.510 words because you're worried about them being[br]printed somewhere 0:16:58.510,0:17:03.250 forever. It's really about getting the words[br]down on 0:17:03.250,0:17:09.179 paper and making sure that they express the[br]intent. 0:17:09.179,0:17:11.510 It should be organic, OK. It can grow and 0:17:11.510,0:17:15.380 it can change as your brand and your team 0:17:15.380,0:17:17.730 changes. But you do want to try to get 0:17:17.730,0:17:23.490 to kind of that core piece of positioning,[br]much 0:17:23.490,0:17:27.309 like Nike has a core piece of empowerment[br]positioning. 0:17:27.309,0:17:30.970 But they express that differently, depending[br]on venue and 0:17:30.970,0:17:33.110 audience. 0:17:33.110,0:17:35.440 And lastly, this is probably the more important[br]one. 0:17:35.440,0:17:37.799 As we go through this work, remember to make 0:17:37.799,0:17:44.270 it about you. Because, if your reason for[br]being, 0:17:44.270,0:17:47.309 the why you get out of bed in the 0:17:47.309,0:17:51.799 morning, is just focused on your competitor,[br]someone you 0:17:51.799,0:17:55.520 see as your competitor, then your brand is[br]automatically 0:17:55.520,0:17:58.330 gonna have a pretty short life. 0:17:58.330,0:18:01.059 OK. So now that we know where we want 0:18:01.059,0:18:02.940 to be, it's a matter of how to get 0:18:02.940,0:18:06.240 there. And to walk through this, I'm going[br]to 0:18:06.240,0:18:10.030 use a current open source project to walk[br]through 0:18:10.030,0:18:13.299 these examples. I don't know, maybe you've[br]heard of 0:18:13.299,0:18:18.030 it. Yesterday, even. Exercism. So Exercism[br]is something that's 0:18:18.030,0:18:20.700 really important to me as a new developer.[br]This, 0:18:20.700,0:18:24.950 this tool has been instrumental in my learning.[br]And 0:18:24.950,0:18:28.490 Katrina, as well, who developed this, has[br]been instrumental 0:18:28.490,0:18:30.920 in my learning. 0:18:30.920,0:18:32.750 And for those of you who don't know, Exercism 0:18:32.750,0:18:37.210 is essentially crowd-sourced code reviews[br]for daily practice problems. 0:18:37.210,0:18:40.280 Here's how it works. As a user, you pick 0:18:40.280,0:18:42.370 a language. You pick an exercise. You download[br]a 0:18:42.370,0:18:45.030 test suite. You write the code to solve that 0:18:45.030,0:18:49.630 problem, and then you resubmit that solution[br]back to 0:18:49.630,0:18:53.330 Exercism, where all other members of Exercism[br]can come 0:18:53.330,0:18:55.970 in and comment on your solution. 0:18:55.970,0:18:59.510 OK. And the goal here is iterating over small 0:18:59.510,0:19:03.370 chunks of code. And also to engage in a 0:19:03.370,0:19:07.660 thoughtful dialogue. Some back and forth.[br]Constructive feedback about 0:19:07.660,0:19:11.880 new ideas. Things we could be doing better,[br]or 0:19:11.880,0:19:14.299 what if you chose a different label for this 0:19:14.299,0:19:17.620 or that method. 0:19:17.620,0:19:22.130 OK. And so for our structure, I also want 0:19:22.130,0:19:24.730 to let you know that there is some purpose 0:19:24.730,0:19:26.510 in this line up with why being at the 0:19:26.510,0:19:28.500 top. I mean, that's really kind of your archarching 0:19:28.500,0:19:31.770 umbrella. Like I said, it's also the hardest[br]thing 0:19:31.770,0:19:32.780 to fill out. 0:19:32.780,0:19:35.170 So when I start this exercise, I like to 0:19:35.170,0:19:38.070 start smack in the middle. Because for most[br]people, 0:19:38.070,0:19:41.530 their points of difference - how what they[br]have 0:19:41.530,0:19:45.870 is different - is just the most straightforward.[br]So 0:19:45.870,0:19:49.260 what makes your brand different enough to[br]care about? 0:19:49.260,0:19:52.610 And your points of difference can span implementation.[br]They 0:19:52.610,0:19:56.700 can span customer service, language, design[br]patterns. The idea 0:19:56.700,0:19:58.780 right now is you want to get all of 0:19:58.780,0:20:01.420 those out onto sticky notes, write them all[br]out. 0:20:01.420,0:20:03.090 You've got you and your other friend in the 0:20:03.090,0:20:04.510 room. And then get them all up on a 0:20:04.510,0:20:11.299 whiteboard. Maybe, for exercism, it looks[br]something like this. 0:20:11.299,0:20:15.110 Imagine this is a whiteboard of sticky notes.[br]Keep 0:20:15.110,0:20:17.360 it short and simple here, OK. No novels. That's 0:20:17.360,0:20:21.360 part of the reason why you use post-its. And 0:20:21.360,0:20:24.380 now once you have them in front of you, 0:20:24.380,0:20:26.340 now you're gonna start to group them, right.[br]How 0:20:26.340,0:20:29.140 can you start to align these in categories[br]that 0:20:29.140,0:20:31.290 make sense? And then once you have them in 0:20:31.290,0:20:36.770 a category, what are you gonna label those[br]categories? 0:20:36.770,0:20:40.400 For exercism, it might look something like[br]this. Mentorship 0:20:40.400,0:20:45.480 is a point of difference. How Exercism creates[br]a 0:20:45.480,0:20:49.380 platform for people of all skill levels to[br]be 0:20:49.380,0:20:54.150 mentored by others. Intrinsic motivation,[br]right. So, if you 0:20:54.150,0:20:58.780 saw before, Exercism doesn't use score boards.[br]OK. This 0:20:58.780,0:21:01.150 isn't about, like, trying to get to a badge. 0:21:01.150,0:21:04.600 OK, this is about becoming a better programmer[br]working 0:21:04.600,0:21:07.760 on small, little problems iteratively. 0:21:07.760,0:21:09.870 And so there's an intrinsic motivation about[br]that. That's 0:21:09.870,0:21:12.549 really the goal. And then a safe forum, because 0:21:12.549,0:21:14.929 it's a very important piece of Exercism. OK,[br]we 0:21:14.929,0:21:16.870 must be nice to one another and have constructive 0:21:16.870,0:21:20.120 feedback. And as you can see, these are, so 0:21:20.120,0:21:22.350 for Exercism, these are points of difference,[br]but they 0:21:22.350,0:21:25.230 also start to sound like values, right. Things[br]that 0:21:25.230,0:21:27.120 Exercism really cares about. 0:21:27.120,0:21:29.919 Now, when it comes to your points of difference, 0:21:29.919,0:21:34.080 I personally am a fan of three categories.[br]That's 0:21:34.080,0:21:37.179 not a scientific rule by any means. I'm just 0:21:37.179,0:21:39.230 a fan of three categories. I think four categories 0:21:39.230,0:21:41.299 is fine. I think if you only have two, 0:21:41.299,0:21:45.120 that's good too. I will say that five and 0:21:45.120,0:21:48.580 above, baby kittens start to die, because[br]people just 0:21:48.580,0:21:51.580 cannot focus on, like, what you're talking[br]about. That's 0:21:51.580,0:21:54.010 too much. 0:21:54.010,0:21:56.970 OK. So let's slug these into our framework[br]and 0:21:56.970,0:22:02.299 move onto personality. Again, with the sticky[br]notes. We're 0:22:02.299,0:22:08.010 going to start to think about how Exercism[br]looks 0:22:08.010,0:22:11.910 on the inside. And what does it look like 0:22:11.910,0:22:14.860 through a competitive lens? Who else are doing[br]things 0:22:14.860,0:22:16.929 like this? 0:22:16.929,0:22:19.290 What does it look like to users? What should 0:22:19.290,0:22:21.500 it look like to users? And we're gonna use 0:22:21.500,0:22:24.870 adjectives here, right. Some personality type[br]adjectives. This is 0:22:24.870,0:22:27.290 what we're gonna write down. And the goal[br]here 0:22:27.290,0:22:29.549 is to get as many words as possible. So 0:22:29.549,0:22:31.309 you write, you write all the words out, and 0:22:31.309,0:22:32.890 then the first thing you should do is grab 0:22:32.890,0:22:39.890 a thesaurus and add to them. K. 0:22:40.860,0:22:44.270 Now we're gonna group the words. Again, looking[br]for 0:22:44.270,0:22:47.600 common themes, overlap. And this might be[br]what it 0:22:47.600,0:22:51.290 looks like for Exercism. And you want to make 0:22:51.290,0:22:53.160 sure that the group is weighing in on these, 0:22:53.160,0:22:55.530 on these categories here, right. You want[br]to make 0:22:55.530,0:22:59.330 sure that within the room, everybody's very[br]clear about 0:22:59.330,0:23:02.090 why the word was offered. What was, what was 0:23:02.090,0:23:03.669 the thinking that was happening at the time.[br]What 0:23:03.669,0:23:05.650 are they trying to express with this or that 0:23:05.650,0:23:08.190 adjective? 0:23:08.190,0:23:09.690 And you can have as many categories as you 0:23:09.690,0:23:12.990 want here. There's no danger to kittens. Yet. 0:23:12.990,0:23:17.130 Now you're gonna vote. So per category, you're[br]going 0:23:17.130,0:23:22.070 to vote for your first, second, and third[br]word. 0:23:22.070,0:23:24.820 And the objective here at the end is to 0:23:24.820,0:23:28.340 tally the results, and for each category,[br]one word 0:23:28.340,0:23:33.640 wins. And so now that you've got those words, 0:23:33.640,0:23:36.360 these are gonna be your working elements moving[br]forward. 0:23:36.360,0:23:39.049 This is what many brand strategists would[br]call your 0:23:39.049,0:23:45.620 brand DNA. So for Exercism, we've got engaging,[br]analytical, 0:23:45.620,0:23:50.380 obsessive, education, motivating. And now[br]we've got to start 0:23:50.380,0:23:52.280 building a person. So how do we do that, 0:23:52.280,0:23:54.250 right? We have these DNA elements. Well, we've[br]got 0:23:54.250,0:23:57.130 to start thinking about a character that matches[br]these 0:23:57.130,0:23:57.390 words. 0:23:57.390,0:23:59.730 And if we've got a character, we've gotta[br]think 0:23:59.730,0:24:03.539 about, what does, what does that character[br]sound like? 0:24:03.539,0:24:05.470 And to do that, you take your DNA and 0:24:05.470,0:24:09.350 then you just map additional words against[br]that, right, 0:24:09.350,0:24:13.830 corresponding. So if a DNA element is analytical,[br]well, 0:24:13.830,0:24:16.679 that's probably a very rational character.[br]It has a 0:24:16.679,0:24:20.059 very reasonable, calm voice. Right, those[br]are, those are 0:24:20.059,0:24:22.539 some words that might come in to start describing 0:24:22.539,0:24:27.740 a person. 0:24:27.740,0:24:30.299 And now to actually get it to a place 0:24:30.299,0:24:32.520 where we can describe it as we would our 0:24:32.520,0:24:34.070 best friend, we've got to make it do something. 0:24:34.070,0:24:35.610 You've gotta make it do something. So you've[br]got 0:24:35.610,0:24:37.980 that working set of words, and now we want 0:24:37.980,0:24:42.580 to craft a sentence, several sentences actually,[br]where we 0:24:42.580,0:24:45.990 are trying to kind of introduce Exercism as[br]a 0:24:45.990,0:24:47.000 person. 0:24:47.000,0:24:51.750 So, Exercism is inviting, and always looking[br]to collaborate, 0:24:51.750,0:24:56.460 for example. An infectious enthusiast. Pushy,[br]but in a 0:24:56.460,0:25:03.460 thoughtful way. So let's record those into[br]personality. And 0:25:04.220,0:25:05.600 now we can move on to the what you 0:25:05.600,0:25:08.100 really deliver. 0:25:08.100,0:25:11.179 As a reminder, what you deliver is actually[br]bigger 0:25:11.179,0:25:15.620 than just a product description. Often, this[br]is really 0:25:15.620,0:25:22.080 a promise. This starts to become your mission[br]statement. 0:25:22.080,0:25:23.160 To do that, we're gonna have to go back 0:25:23.160,0:25:26.120 to our brand DNA, where we started, and first 0:25:26.120,0:25:28.240 we made it do something. Now we have to 0:25:28.240,0:25:30.080 make it say something. 0:25:30.080,0:25:32.320 So to make it say something, this is where 0:25:32.320,0:25:34.710 we want to craft a sentence that expresses[br]the 0:25:34.710,0:25:38.590 collective meaning of these words. Not just[br]their meaning 0:25:38.590,0:25:41.100 from the dictionary, but, again, when we were[br]in 0:25:41.100,0:25:43.840 the room, what was that collective intent?[br]Why did 0:25:43.840,0:25:46.200 these words win our vote? What was the conversation 0:25:46.200,0:25:47.539 that was happening? 0:25:47.539,0:25:52.000 And as a platform, Exercism is about improving[br]your 0:25:52.000,0:25:54.910 skills in writing code. It's about giving[br]and taking 0:25:54.910,0:25:59.559 feedback and solving problems. So if we're[br]gonna make 0:25:59.559,0:26:03.789 it say something, I often like to start with, 0:26:03.789,0:26:08.270 Exercism delivers - whatever your product[br]is delivers. Maybe 0:26:08.270,0:26:10.660 it looks like this. 0:26:10.660,0:26:12.919 Exercism delivers practice for those who do[br]not settle 0:26:12.919,0:26:19.299 at good. That's what what. So let's add that 0:26:19.299,0:26:24.240 to the framework and let's keep trucking. 0:26:24.240,0:26:26.450 So for the why. I like to start this 0:26:26.450,0:26:31.210 one with, I do this because, OK. This is 0:26:31.210,0:26:34.580 that personal and passionate statement. So[br]think about things 0:26:34.580,0:26:38.280 like, what was the event that sparked you[br]starting 0:26:38.280,0:26:41.470 this open source project. Was there something[br]that was 0:26:41.470,0:26:44.690 pissing you off at the time? Were you searching 0:26:44.690,0:26:48.320 for something but you couldn't find it? What[br]do 0:26:48.320,0:26:51.020 you really believe in at the end of the 0:26:51.020,0:26:51.620 day? 0:26:51.620,0:26:55.059 For Exercism, it might look like this. I do 0:26:55.059,0:26:59.460 this because I hate lazy code, and teaching[br]actually 0:26:59.460,0:27:03.510 takes a village, for example. That persistence[br]in the 0:27:03.510,0:27:09.360 detail matters. And so once we've got these[br]on 0:27:09.360,0:27:11.240 our sticky notes again, now we want to start 0:27:11.240,0:27:14.840 to group, right. This is a slightly different[br]grouping 0:27:14.840,0:27:16.789 exercise here. We want to group, but what[br]we're 0:27:16.789,0:27:19.380 really trying to get to is what is the 0:27:19.380,0:27:20.919 one liner? 0:27:20.919,0:27:23.210 Cause this is the why. Now we want to 0:27:23.210,0:27:25.580 look at these. These are gonna be similar[br]in 0:27:25.580,0:27:27.059 a lot of different ways. And now we want 0:27:27.059,0:27:29.410 to get to just, what is that, that one 0:27:29.410,0:27:33.120 liner, be it a word or a short sentence. 0:27:33.120,0:27:35.940 A statement. That sums up the belief. Like,[br]what 0:27:35.940,0:27:38.460 is most representative of all of this about[br]why 0:27:38.460,0:27:43.179 we do this? And what we're passionate about. 0:27:43.179,0:27:46.250 As a reminder, here's what it was for some 0:27:46.250,0:27:50.110 of those larger brands. Whoops. Damn it. 0:27:50.110,0:27:57.110 Totally ruined it. OK. So where we started[br]was 0:27:57.330,0:28:00.840 Exercism, which is a crowd sourced platform[br]for code 0:28:00.840,0:28:04.230 reviews, right. But if we're really gonna[br]get to 0:28:04.230,0:28:08.059 the why, OK, the thing that is so important 0:28:08.059,0:28:10.929 about, about why Katrina stays up till four[br]AM 0:28:10.929,0:28:12.360 in the morning, or for those of us who 0:28:12.360,0:28:16.179 participate in Exercism, why we love to be[br]nit-picked. 0:28:16.179,0:28:21.750 It might look like this. That the Devil is 0:28:21.750,0:28:28.750 in the details. That this is really what's[br]important 0:28:29.470,0:28:33.280 and what matters about thinking about becoming[br]a good 0:28:33.280,0:28:38.159 programmer. About mentoring others. 0:28:38.159,0:28:41.580 This is what it takes to be better than 0:28:41.580,0:28:44.700 just good. That you have to practice this.[br]A 0:28:44.700,0:28:49.150 lot. And so this is a different story and 0:28:49.150,0:28:53.690 a different feel than just a platform for[br]daily 0:28:53.690,0:28:58.679 practice problems and crowd source code review. 0:28:58.679,0:29:00.830 So now that you have this story, what are 0:29:00.830,0:29:04.539 you gonna do with it? Now that you have 0:29:04.539,0:29:07.090 a who in your brand structure, how do you 0:29:07.090,0:29:10.260 use it? Oh shit. Marketing. 0:29:10.260,0:29:15.289 Don't worry. I'm gonna keep this simple. And[br]really 0:29:15.289,0:29:18.820 focus on some low-hanging fruit. Because while[br]it's true 0:29:18.820,0:29:20.700 that I've shown you a lot of big players 0:29:20.700,0:29:24.210 here, if you take the time and the due 0:29:24.210,0:29:28.070 diligence up front to not just think about[br]what 0:29:28.070,0:29:33.110 you're building but who that looks like, what,[br]what 0:29:33.110,0:29:36.640 that is as a person, then that upstream work 0:29:36.640,0:29:41.289 is gonna reap some rewards in your downstream[br]work. 0:29:41.289,0:29:45.490 Because now you have a place in which to 0:29:45.490,0:29:49.270 start communicating out of the box differently,[br]right. Immediately, 0:29:49.270,0:29:51.030 in your README. I mean, I know we've heard 0:29:51.030,0:29:54.340 tons of talks, READMEs are important. One[br]thing that 0:29:54.340,0:29:55.860 I think really is important about a README[br]that 0:29:55.860,0:30:00.280 I don't see very often is voice. 0:30:00.280,0:30:02.450 How it sounds. I mean, yeah, it's great to 0:30:02.450,0:30:05.230 have a README that has plenty of directions,[br]but 0:30:05.230,0:30:06.490 I want to know a little bit more. I 0:30:06.490,0:30:08.690 wanna, I wanna feel a little bit of personality 0:30:08.690,0:30:11.220 when I'm reading a README and I'm going through 0:30:11.220,0:30:13.020 instructions. At least for a new developer,[br]it's very 0:30:13.020,0:30:17.730 hard sometimes, to work through some of this. 0:30:17.730,0:30:20.190 So, understanding a little bit more of the[br]who 0:30:20.190,0:30:23.320 makes an open source project stand out for[br]me. 0:30:23.320,0:30:26.590 I remember it better. And so when you're constructing 0:30:26.590,0:30:29.090 your README, think about all of this work[br]that 0:30:29.090,0:30:31.400 we've done, all of these adjectives that we've[br]put 0:30:31.400,0:30:35.130 up on the wall, and so write, in that 0:30:35.130,0:30:36.190 tone of voice. 0:30:36.190,0:30:40.159 Because here's the thing. You might be a total 0:30:40.159,0:30:43.330 jerk. Or boring and passive. But your code[br]doesn't 0:30:43.330,0:30:45.450 actually have to be. You can build a whole 0:30:45.450,0:30:51.080 new character. And once you've got a voice,[br]now 0:30:51.080,0:30:53.320 you're ready to tell your story. OK. You can 0:30:53.320,0:30:55.440 tell your story everywhere. 0:30:55.440,0:31:00.679 Blogs, conferences, events, social media. 0:31:00.679,0:31:01.950 And what's important is, 0:31:01.950,0:31:03.679 as you're telling your story, 0:31:03.679,0:31:05.880 make sure you're hitting those key points[br]of difference, 0:31:05.880,0:31:09.500 OK. Those things that you value. That are[br]most 0:31:09.500,0:31:12.210 important. And that you hold dear. And be[br]clear 0:31:12.210,0:31:13.010 about what you deliver. 0:31:13.010,0:31:18.409 Because it actually is more than just a list 0:31:18.409,0:31:20.120 of your product features. 0:31:20.120,0:31:20.980 Otherwise you wouldn't stay up 0:31:20.980,0:31:23.450 until four AM in the morning doing this. It 0:31:23.450,0:31:25.360 does mean more to you, right. And it probably 0:31:25.360,0:31:27.919 means a lot more to the community, too. So 0:31:27.919,0:31:32.600 don't just tell people what you've made. Tell[br]them 0:31:32.600,0:31:35.799 why you've made it. 0:31:35.799,0:31:37.980 Tell them what you believe. Because beliefs[br]are held 0:31:37.980,0:31:42.140 by humans. And humans build relationships. 0:31:42.140,0:31:44.770 And relationships build 0:31:44.770,0:31:48.929 community. Thank you. That's it.