Insiders FAQ

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• What inspired the idea of the Insiders Program?

  Telerik has been an avid community advocate for several years and during the hardest part of the 2008-2009 recession, we found many groups were dropping off the radar due to lack of support. At this time, we not only stepped up the financial and product support, we recognized in order to keep these groups afloat, they needed quality speakers to generate interest and activity. This was and is vital to the educational growth of the developers all around the world. Thus, in January 2010 we began providing help to quality speakers with a passion for the developer community, but needed some financial help to travel to each destination. The pioneer for this was Chris Eargle, who now has become a Telerik Evangelist. After over a year of building and growing this pilot program exponentially, we’ve found it to be a great success and very beneficial for all parties involved.

• How do I request a speaker at my group or event?

  If you’re interested in a particular topic or speaker, you’re welcome to reach out to the Insiders themselves on their blogs or you may make a request to insidersprogram@telerik.com. We usually ask that an organizer allow for at least 6-8 weeks of time to plan a trip for one of the speakers, but there have been last minute cases when a group needed to fulfill a slot that worked out. We always do our best to accommodate and if that particular month doesn’t work, we can put you on the radar for another opportunity.

• What is required of Insiders?

  Telerik generally provides the speakers all they need to make their event a success: fun swag or licenses to give away either before or after their session, fund pizza, etc. When appropriate, the speaker may demo or discuss some of the ways they might use one of our products during development relevant to the session topic. However, this is not a requirement and often comes from the speaker’s interest. We are fairly flexible with the organizers, leaders and attendees if they have requirements for how deep the speaker should go into the topic. Groups sometimes want a telerik focused talk and others prefer very little mention of telerik. We also currently have no minimum or maximum amount of speaking sessions for each insider, which they appreciate because their personal and professional lives are ever-changing. All we ask for is that it is announced that Telerik has sponsored and funded the session.

• What are the benefits of being an Insider?

  Telerik Insiders are provided with several opportunities to travel to new places to conduct sessions on their most passionate topics. There is a strong network of community connections that Telerik can provide the speaker and they are able to do this travel with our financial assistance. We are often flexible with their travel accommodations and very reasonable. We work with each insider to make sure the value of the trip is beneficial to everyone involved. For many of them, having a company back their travel costs in additoin to their logistical details for a session, creates a peace of mind and allows them to focus on the value and quality of their sessions.

• Are Insiders Telerik employees?

  Our Insiders are not employees of Telerik. They are not incentivized to push our products or purchases on other developers. They are passionate about their topics and have an honest interest in helping other developers utilize our products to find solutions to their problems.

• Where will your speakers travel to?

  Relatively speaking, a speaker can travel to most places within North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Some of them have traveled to parts of Asia andAfrica, and we are definitely keen on expanding to South America. The question will always be whether Telerik and the Insider can make it worth the trip both in expenses and in value to that particular community. If several groups request a speaker for their country or region, it is much more likely we can create a tour of the area that is worth the time and money.

• Could I become a Telerik Insider?

  Although we are currently satisfied with our speaker roster, we will be on the lookout for future Insiders, especially in emerging markets and territories. If you are interested in becoming a Telerik Insider, please email your bio, abstracts and experience to insidersprogram@telerik.com. We will review your experience and let you know as soon as possible if we are seeking new speakers and whether you fit into our criteria.

• Is this a recruitment program for Telerik?

  The short answer is no. The program is designed to provide speakers with more opportunities to grow in their career. In two cases, however, the speaker has approached telerik with interest in joining our team and it turned out to be a good fit. Although we may consider other candidates who come through this program, it is not a written path for Insiders and in many cases works better for both parties this way.

• What if I have a small group or live in a rural area, will a speaker come to it?

  The Insiders Program was born out of the need for valuable speakers in the “off the beaten path” areas of the US. Often times it is difficult for speakers to make a trip feasible in the more rural areas, especially for a group that only has 10-15 people per meeting. However, Telerik makes an extra effort to find and help these particular groups. We find those smaller groups are just as important as the larger ones when it comes to mutually beneficial relationships. Don’t be afraid to approach us with a request, especially if we make a small tour out of it, we will find someone who can make it.

• How does this affect your Telerik Evangelist program?

  As you can see on the Evangelists Speaker Tour page, our guys are hard at work touring the world as well. Our Evangelists follow a very similar trend in their tours and speaker sessions. They are providing high quality talks and may incorporate some of the telerik products, but are presenting on requested topics at each location. Although they are employees of telerik and will advocate for our products, they’ve taken a proactive approach in making sure their sessions are valuable to all developers in the audience, not just those interested in telerik products. If you request a speaker, you are just as likely to get an evangelist as an Insider based on their travel schedules. The two groups work hand in hand in delivering more than expected to the community.

• Have more questions?

  Feel free to reach out to Emily Parker – The Community Program Manager @ Telerik – insidersprogram@telerik.com and on Twitter: @Teleriker.