Feed Your Geek
Unless you are someone who lives in self imposed technological dark ages, you will have; at some point in time, asked a geek for help.
For most people who seek out help, they are faced with one of the following options:
1. Phone a friend (hope they have the answer)
2. Call the vendor/manufacturer support help desk (how many times has this really helped?)
3. Pay someone who knows (which can get expensive)
As life gets more integrated into technology, this can become a never ending circle of upgrades, updates and repairs. No single person can keep up with this, except a geek. Geeks get it and are always up to date with technology, gadgets and gear.
I don't plan on providing a "how to guide" on seeking out and securing your very own personal geek. Instead, I want to impart one simple yet effective tip that you must follow if you do happen to find someone who is willing to lend you a helping hand now and then with your technology problems.
The one thing that most geeks have in common is the need to eat. You can use this to your advantage and take your geek out for lunch at least once a month. Please avoid fast food joints and look for a place that has tables, menus and people who will take your order. If your geek has been working hard on a difficult project, then I would suggest taking him or her out for dinner somewhere that has meat on the menu. Treat your geek to a great meal and your technology will be in good hands for as long as you follow the Care and Feeding plans for a geek. Oh, and one last tip. Friday's are a great day to take out your geek for late lunch or early dinner. This way, you can add some beer to the offering.
Have you found your geek yet? I still have a couple of free lunch hours open during the month.
As a reformed geek (now comfortably ensconced in early adopter nerd-dom) - I've been slowly moving away from the bleeding edge and now quickly duck away from requests to come fix things. That said, I'll second the restaurant idea. And beer ;) There are also other options like finding your geek's bliss (t-shirts, toys, TV shows, comics, etc.) and presenting them with related presents.
And, at least in my case, heartfelt thank you's are always appreciated.
Just try to go easy on whoever is helping you - especially if they are doing it as a favour and not as a paid employee. Remember that they have lives too and can't always be at your beck and call.
The geeks that help me are all in different countries than me. I'd still like to show my appreciation to them. Any tips for this situation? :)
I am faced with the same situation in that I help people who are located all over the world. Each person has a very unique way of showing appreciation.
Some buy gifts and have them drop shipped to me. Others use PayPal to send me money. Yet others directly send me gifts from their local country.
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