In 1996, Chris Pirillo launched his technology newsletter named Lockergnome. One of the first of its kind, the newsletter was sent via e-mail to a readership around the world which was, and still is, in excess of 100,000 people, focusing primarily on anything in the ever-growing world of technology. Everybody from novices to power users were all ears to listen to and go by the sound advice and fantastic tips and tricks that Chris published through this fairly new way of communicating this type of information. Since then, Lockergnome, among the numerous other projects that Chris Pirillo has been involved in or has founded, have evolved, developed and grown. I didn’t know Chris at this point in time, but I have met and know of many people who have expressed how much of a contribution Chris had in getting them into the world of technology, and how his advice sorted out their frustrations.

Today, Lockergnome is a platform for bloggers who write about anything and everything. It allows them to come together and share their knowledge, expertise and opinions.  Chris new project, LockerGnome.Net, allows anybody to aggregate all their social media into a sole WordPress blog. This confirms to me that Chris is a pioneer in social media on the internet.

From the very beginning of Chris Pirillo’s commercial existence on the interwebs, he has been recognized for his likability and approachability. When I first logged onto his live stream in mid-2007, I did so by total accident. It only took me a few minutes on Chris’ stream before I understood that this is somebody who I’d be prepared to watch and to listen to – he had a friendly, yet professional attitude. And I was quite impressed with his desk!

I’ve been one of the thousands of people around the world who noticed this about Chris. Clearly, radio executives noticed this too, because in 2000 that he was invited to broadcast a technology show every week with a Midwest radio station called WHO AM 1040. In 2001, he began to hose the Call for Help television show on TechTV. Here he stayed for a number of years, before leaving and focussing more on his work on the internet. Although I live in the UK, and had to rely on YouTube to get a taste of the show, his humor and attitude to his work provided me with laughter and some good learning experiences.

On his YouTube account, he offered the idea of doing Call for Help online, where he would address and answer the world’s technology problems. This idea was incredibly popular with everyone, and this has grown into the situation today, where he broadcasts his life live on the internet, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and focusses on everything from reviews, tech support, the internet, software and hardware products…to how to cook pizzas and pasta. He records all of this – and when he isn’t, everybody else is – which is posted to the internet, for viewers from around the world to see. You may even see the odd dog falling off a desk.

Nowadays he hosts weekly technology videos which can be viewed online for CNN, and used to write a monthly column for CPU Magazine. In 2001, he founded his own annual technology conference, Gnomedex, which is consistently highly rated and has amassed huge sponsors including Microsoft and Google, featuring some of the world’s best speakers. His social network based upon technology has thousands of members and he is one of the highest-rated partners on YouTube. I think that this speaks volumes about Chris’ character, something that I have enjoyed over the past few years.

And now, Chris Pirillo has amassed an amazing 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. I, along with these other 99,999 people witness Chris everyday in his natural habitat, tuning in for their daily dose of “geek”. It’s rare to find somebody with charisma, a humorous attitude and a spectacular knowledge of what they do. Chris has this fantastic combination – he has revolutionized the use of the internet for making things happen and for communication within the field of technology. He always seems to produce content which is of a consistently-high quality, and yet his mannerisms have put a smile on the face of thousands of people around the globe, and continue to do so for the several hundred people who view his live steam everyday. Without Chris Pirillo, the internet would be missing an excellent source of information, a hub of networking for all of the other self-proclaimed tech geeks, a highly-noted conference and a true character.

I’d like to say, on behalf of myself and, I’m sure, on behalf of the rest of the community, congratulations to Chris on this great achievement, and here’s too the (hopefully) thousands of videos yet to come.