I may a bit late to the game on this one, but I think I just saw the best. advertisement. evar.
The gist of the commercial is that at Intel, they tend to be fans of people that have made accomplishments in the tech community, rather than your everyday rock stars, sports stars, or other assorted celebrities. I've had many coworkers and techie cohorts surprised that I not only mention specific names in the tech community frequently , but that I also describe myself as a fan of those people. I guess this strikes people as odd, but I'm a lot more likely to be star struck by the likes of
Scott Hanselman or
John Resig than, say, Paris Hilton.
I think this really started back in the days of TechTV, when I first started seeing
Leo Laporte in action. As a young techie, I had trouble explaining complex technical ideas to laypeople. I really admired how he seemed to have a rapport with people, didn't seem condescending, and most of all, knew what he was talking about. In other words, he was a great role model for budding geeks.
Fast forward a decade later, and I've still kept an eye on the the community's leaders. I may not have role models so much, now that I'm in my late twenties, but I'm certainly still a fan of the people that are contributing quality content back into the community. I have to say that I'm pretty psyched when these kinds of ideas poke into the mainstream media. I hope more people start having non-conventional rock stars. Plus, these kinds of rock stars are a lot more likely to grab a bite or have a few drinks with you if you happen to bump into them.