The API Evangelist Mission

by Kin Lane on 10/12/2012

Many folks who encounter API Evangelist think I'm working to evangelize a single API. I field so many questions about this I thought I would address by publishing an API Evangelist mission statement.

The mission of API Evangelist is to educate business, nonprofit and government leaders about the value of APIs to their organizations.

API Evangelist is made up of four properties:

API Evangelist (apievangelist.com) - Business of APIs
API Voice (apivoice.com) - Politics of APIs
API Stack (theapistack.com) - API discovery and ranking
Hack Weekends (hackweekends.com) - Hackathon news and calendar

With API Evangelist I strive to be the independent voice for the industry, providing the public with information about API:

The goal is to provide a wealth of resources for those looking to design, develop and deploy APIs without bias towards a specific platform--allowing them to make an educated choice about what path they should take.

To stay independent and operate API Evangelist, I need to bring in revenue, and keep things moving forward. I strive to do this in as healthy of a way as possible, without giving away control over my attention and focus, and contribute as much as possible to resources I provide to the public.

Areas I currently offer consulting services in are:

Strategy

API Evangelism - Design and oversight of companies API evangelism efforts
Monetization Strategy - Design and oversight of a companies API monetization, business model and incubation approaches
Hackathons - Targeting, planning and execution of hackathons

Research

Industry - Analysis of specific industries, API providers within and the opportunities available
Markets - Identifying and deeper understanding of evangelism opportunities within specific cities and countries
Developer Profiling - Targeting and profiling of developers within industries, markets and of specific, existing APIs
Providers - Providing a deeper understanding of how specific APIs operate their API operations

Speaking

Webinars - Participating in webinars with companies and individuals
Conferences - Speaking and presenting at technology conferences
Meetups - Speaking and participating at local meetups
Workshops - Design and execution of workshops at existing events

All of these consulting areas are design to provide as much value to the client, while amplifying the signal and content via the four API Evangelist properties, and other syndication opportunities, under a creative commons license--enabling the public to consume and provide the greatest possible good for the API industry.

I feel strongly that a wealth of open resources will help ensure a fast growing and healthy industry by educating non-developers, non-technical business leaders about the benefits of APIs and healthy developer and partner ecosystem.

Please let me know how you can help support me in what I do, providing the industry with the information it needs to be successful, while also giving you what you need to successfully provide the services you offer.

This mission statement is a permanent fixture on my central kinlane.com site, it''s not just the API Evangelist mission, it is my mission.