TECHNOLOGY EVANGELIST

A 'technical' or 'technology evangelist' is a person whose job or role is to promote technologies, usually new technologies. This may be, officially or unofficially, on behalf of a company or organisation, or on a personal basis, for instance ''open source evangelism.'' An evangelist promotes the use of a particular product or technology through talks, articles, blogging, user demonstrations, recorded demonstrations, or the creation of sample projects. The word ''evangelism'' is taken from the context of religious evangelism because of the similar recruitment of converts and the spreading of the product information through the ideological or committed.
In the context of commercial enterprises which attempt to develop or foster a cult following and religious-like fanaticism, the term ''evangelist'' can become an unofficial, or occasionally official, role or title. The first specific technology evangelist role was created by Guy Kawasaki in the late 1980s, a time at which he was working for Apple Computer and the Apple Macintosh was first being marketed. The job is often closely related to both sales and training but has specific skills related to technology marketing and convincing a potential buyer or user to change from older methods to newer. Technology evangelism is sometimes associated with an internal employee assigned to encourage new ways of doing things within a large organization. The marketing aspect of the role was strongly influenced by Geoffrey Moore and his books concerning the Technology Adoption LifeCycle. Notable technology evangelists in the commercial arena include Jeff Barr, Don Box, Guy Kawasaki, and Robert Scoble.
In November 2006, a professional organization called Global Network of Technology Evangelists was formed by Technology Evangelists from Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo!.

Contents

See also

References

External links

See also

★ Technology Adoption Lifecycle

★ Apple evangelist

★ Diffusion of innovations

★ Marketing

★ Operating system advocacy

★ Evangelism marketing

★ Internet evangelist

References

★ ''Crossing the Chasm'' by Geoffrey Moore

★ ''SPIN Selling'' by Neil Rackham

★ ''Rules for Revolutionaries'' by Guy Kawasaki

★ ''The Macintosh Way'' by Guy Kawasaki

External links

★ Interview with Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework Technical Evangelist

★ Interview with Microsoft Windows Vista Technical Evangelist

★ GNoTE - Global Network of Technology Evangelists

★ Top 10 Mistakes in High Tech Marketing