I work in a software development environment with many teams working on many projects. Over the next year I have set a goal of making those around me more passionate about the industry of software. I've started by increasing general awareness of industry news and events, encouraging team-mates to blog, hosting brown-bag (lunch'n'learn) sessions.
What else do people suggest that I try?
Start a monthly newsletter
Encourage people to continue with their education
Challenge people with developing an independent development project
Get them on Twitter
Go to a technology conference or computer museum
Weekly code challenge - post it on the fridge - award something
Edit: Naturally, don't force anybody to do something. But devise ways to make them want to try it (rewards/achievement system/be creative).
@David McGraw - Thank, these are all great responses. Lets see if we can award a Speedy Badge!
Stop trying. They say that a good way to lower morale is to show that you're trying to improve it. I think that it applies here as well. If people feel forced into "becoming passionate about programming," they may want even less to do with it.
Instead, offer opportunities:
Another thing that makes people more passionate about the work they do is to actually do meaningful work. A lot of what many software development shops do is, let's face it, not all that meaningful. Sure there are always a few interesting problems to solve, but many projects involve solving the same kinds of problems that have already been solved by others the same way.
One way to address this is to take build-versus-buy decisions very seriously, and only build systems from scratch where you can do something new and innovative and really add value.
Another is to add meaning to your work in other ways — for example, you might consider making some of the more rote modules you create from scratch for a project Open Source so that they don't need to be written again by anyone.
A couple of people wrote really great blog posts about this a couple of years ago: