Last Friday something amazing happened to me; I became a Google Developer Expert specialising in WebRTC.

Let me explain what the Google Developer Expert program is; or rather I’ll let Google.

Google Experts are experienced, recognized developers of Google technologies as well as outstanding professionals in product strategy, UX/UI, marketing, growth hacking and monetization. They distinguish themselves through frequently speaking at conferences, share their passion and experience by publishing videos and tutorials, writing code samples, mentoring developers and startups and much more

It all came about because of a tweet @robertnyman sent asking if anyone was interested in becoming an HTML5 Expert. I’m no HTML5 expert by a long shot but I took a look at the programme and was interested; it sounded perfect for what I wanted to achieve with WebRTC.

Writing a GDE CV

Anyone whos done anything with raw WebRTC components will tell you it should be a category of its own in the technology list on the GDE site. Long story short; I got asked to put in a CV listing my community activity, where I’d spoken about the the WebRTC topic; what I was interested in and why I was interested in the GDE programme. That was a great question, why was I interested in the GDE programme?

It came down to three things really; the first of which was the benefit in bringing the topic of WebRTC to more developers. The more people who are developing and using the technology can only only benefit WebRTC; be it with technical feedback or usecases that haven’t been met with the existing technology.

The other two reasons are slightly more personal to me as an individual. The opportunity to be recognised as an expert is a great compliment and the status gives great benefits in opening up the chance to expose WebRTC to more people in the conference arena. This is something that is quite difficult to do at the moment, as not many conference organisers want a speaking slot taken up by WebRTC; I spoke about this in a previous post.

The other personal reason I was interested in the GDE programme comes from a business perspective; something that I was completely honest about throughout the interview process. As the owner of my company, it’s great to have Google behind me saying that I know what I’m talking about and that my opinion is worth listening to. This is great promotion for any business, and not something that anyone in their right mind would shy away from - it’s about always looking for new opportunities to improve your brand and your reputation.

Back to the evaluation process.

Interviews

I went through two interviews - one with Víctor Sánchez and then another with Sam Dutton. They were both great and the interviews felt more like chats with friends about a topic I love rather than an interview - If you love what you do and know what you’re talking about enough to be classed as an expert then these chats should be fairly painless.

I’m still waiting to be put on the Google Developer Experts list; it happens once every couple of weeks apparently and with Google I/O around the corner; things are no doubt a little busy right now.

Goals

But what are my goals now that I’m a GDE? I discussed this with Sam this week and my primary goal is to get in-front of more Web Developers and get them excited about the technology again. I remember how much excitement there was 3-4 years ago when WebRTC was a brand new technology. I also know how that excitement has dissipated from a large proportion of the Web Development community. I want to rebuild that excitement. WebRTC as a technology has grown in maturity over the past couple of years and is at a really great point right now. So if you’re an event organiser for a conference and want to feature the WebRTC technology please get in touch

But we also discussed the tools and articles out there to help developers after they hear about WebRTC. So I’m also on a mission to improve articles on html5rocks as well as the WebRTC Codelab which is currently on bitbucket. I’m hoping we can get the improvements to these resources over the next couple of months.

Have you got a gripe with WebRTC and the resources out there to help you through it all? Let me know and I’ll do my best to help you.