What exactly is a Technical Evangelist?

When I first heard the title Technical Evangelist I thought it was a joke.  Then I found out it was a real position, but I still didn't understand what it was about.  It took about a year for me to truly get it, and in the end.. it was simply a description of what I was already doing. 

I spent most of last year trying to decipher the right career path for me, and decide where I wanted to go.  I had enjoyed Product Management, but oddly enough I tended to enjoy the parts of Product Management which often fell outside the scope of the actual job.  

Jason (Chief Technical Evangelist at the time) had approached me and told me that he thought I was perfect for Evangelism.  If you've ever met Jason, you know that he has a special way of making you see the brighter side of life.  I was worried that Jason's optimism was getting the best of him, so I took his advice cautiously.  Finally, I had a conversation with my boss at the time (Jonathan), and he sat me down and forced me to tell him about myself.  I described what I enjoyed doing, what I didn't enjoy doing, and went through the whole process of building a pro/con list.  I thought it was a waste of time because I already knew (or so I thought) that I didn't want to do evangelism.  Well, it turned out that my interests couldn't have been more aligned with that of a technical evangelist.  I tried to deny it, but Jonathan forced me to acknowledge that I indeed was 'right for the job'.  I agreed, but was still hesitant to admit that this was right for me.  Well, time has passed now and I can say - Jonathan you were right (and so were you Jason).  Thank you.

Why was I so hesitant to take the role?  Because I didn't really understand the job.  Looking at the essential duties of an Evangelist it covers things like doing product demos, building samples, aiding the sales team.  These aren't very glamorous tasks on the surface.  Take a product demo for example.  We've all sat in a room before and had someone demo a product to us.  It's usually part of a sales pitch, and it's generally boring.  Was this really what I wanted to spend my time doing?  No!  Of course not!  I don't think anybody aspires to be a boring presenter. 

But when I finally examined the "why" of it all, I found that it was something I was very passionate about.  I realized that the purpose of the 'demo' (from an Evangelism perspective) was not to sell - selling was almost like a side effect.  I present demos to teach about the product, and why I think it's great.  I'm showing you how to accomplish a task using the product.  When I build a sample, I'm not just building another test project.  I'm demonstrating the capabilities of a product that have the potential to change your job, or at least make it easier.  And it doesn't end with NetAdvantage - if you've ever seen me at a Code Camp or User Group, you know that I am passionate about ASP.NET and Silverlight.  Actually I think of all the talks I've given outside of Infragistics, only one was about NetAdvantage (at the User Groups request).

So why am I talking about this now?  Because I just found a post from Thomas Lewis on 7 Tips to Become a Microsoft Technical Evangelist that I wish had been available last year.  Thomas does an excellent job of describing what a Technical Evangelist does, and what skills he needs to have.  Even though the title is Microsoft Technical Evangelist, the tips are true of any technical evangelist role.  So if you've ever wondered what a Technical Evangelist really is - go ahead and read Thomas's post, it's worth it.  And it may open up your eyes to a job you always wanted but never knew existed.