About Me
Hi! I'm David Neal. I am a family man, geek, musician, illustrator, international speaker, software developer, author, and Microsoft MVP living in North GA. I've been in Developer Relations roles for more than a decade. My mission is to help folks in technology be more awesome! I am currently a Developer Advocate for Asana. My past experiences include being a Developer Advoduck 🥑 🦆 for MotherDuck, Principal Developer Advocate for Pluralsight, Developer Relations Manager at ActiveCampaign, Senior Developer Advocate at Okta, and Developer Advocate at LeanKit. Before my DevRel journey, I spent many years building high-performance, scalable web applications. I run on a high-octane mixture of caffeine and JavaScript, and I'm entirely made of bacon 🥓 😂.
- Contact me at david@reverentgeek.com.
- Follow my silly shenanigans on:
- Check out my code on GitHub.
- View my drawings here and on Instagram.
- Watch my videos on YouTube.
- Get down to business on LinkedIn.
- View my Microsoft MVP profile.
- Get my resume.
- Upcoming and past speaking engagements.
- View my slides on SpeakerDeck.
- List of presentation and workshop abstracts.
- Bio and Headshots.
Got Node.js? Try this at your command line: npx reverentgeek
In addition to the links below, check out my DevRel portfolio.
Notable articles:
- An Illustrated Guide to OAuth and OpenID Connect
- 5 Essential Ingredients for an Awesome Tech Talk
- Captivate Your Audience Using Simple Illustrations
- SQL Server Running on a Mac?!
Notable videos:
- You. Are. Awesome.
- Leadership for the Reluctant Leader
- Public Speaking without Barfing on Your Shoes
- Cross-Platform Desktop Apps with Electron
- #AskTHAT Live with David Neal - Javascript, Art and Being Awesome!
Sample of podcasts:
- Sketchnote Army: David Neal is the Geek Visualizer
- 6-Figure Developer: Reluctant Leader with David Neal
- Cross-Cutting Concerns - David Neal on Drawing
- Away from the Keybord: David Neal's Southern Twang
- .NET Rocks! Building Cross-Platform Desktop Apps using Electron with David Neal
- Developer on Fire - David Neal: Bacon-Driven Drawing
Who Am I? The Longer Answer
I punch bears* and help folks be more awesome.
I teach, motivate, entertain, and lead people to work smarter, build fantastic solutions, and become indispensable members of their teams and communities.
I have more than 20 years of developer and IT experience. Most of that experience has been in startups and smaller companies where I've "worn many different hats," from engineer to Chief Geek.
I've been very active in the developer community since 2010, speaking and volunteering my time at numerous meet-ups, conferences, and events.
As a Developer Advocate for LeanKit for three years, I discovered I love helping other developers solve problems. I built and contributed to API clients in multiple languages, built custom integrations and automated tools, pushed for improvements on customers' behalf, partnered with integration service providers and professional services, and evangelized the platform internally and externally. It was, by far, the best and most energizing years of my career, so far.
My desire is to work with organizations that are not simply interested in my technical skills and passion for building delightful products and services. I want to partner with organizations that care about making an impact on the community, and are excited about me being their ambassador.
The Head of Developer Advocacy at Okta, Randall Degges, wrote the following endorsement.
David is one of the kindest, most empathetic, and all-around best people I've ever met or worked with.
He's an incredibly talented developer, teammate, and friend--and an absolute expert when it comes to building and growing developer communities. David is always calm, cool, and relaxed, and always knows exactly what to do to help solve problems.
I can't tell you how fantastic it has been working with David. We worked together to solve complex problems: both technical and business-related, and David was always an absolute champion at getting things done.
I don't know what else I can say except that I vouch for David 100% in whatever it is he wants to do. The guy is an absolute beast, and no matter what he does I'm sure he'll be incredible at it. It's not every day you run into someone like David, and I'm so thankful to have gotten to know and work with him!
My former CIO at LeanKit, Stephen Franklin, wrote the following endorsement.
David is a true gem of the technology industry. I am inspired by his commitment to getting out on the speaking trail and spreading his wisdom and knowledge. And I know that he has inspired many, many others in the industry as well.
David is so talented in so many ways. As a technologist, he cranks the dial to 11. He can do it all: any layer of the stack, any development technology, any platform. And if he currently can't do it, give him a few hours and he'll be fully up to speed. He is a great team member, mentor and developer. It's just amazing what he makes 1s and 0s do.
Not only that, he is an amazing speaker and communicator. His ability to empathize and connect with the audience is astonishing and why he is always one of the most popular speakers wherever he goes.
Did I mention that he is an amazing artist and is changing the way people are building their presentations?
Oh yeah, an incredible musician too. And the list goes on.
But what I'll cherish most of all is getting to know David personally. He is kind, caring, humble, funny, empathetic and whole-heartily committed to his faith, family, friends and his craft. He is one of those people that makes you a better person just knowing him.
Thank you David for letting me be a small part of your life.
*Metaphorically speaking. I enjoy being courageous, tackling hard problems, being entrepreneurial, and fighting for truth, justice, and the Developer Way