Meeting rock stars ...
There is a big difference between being in the media as opposed to being a fan, "knowing" vs "Meeting", or "worked with" when it comes to meeting celebrities. This is true in my experience as a journalist when it comes to rock stars, politicians, or athletes.
I have "met" rock stars like Queenryche when they signed Mindcrime at Tower Records in 88, Eddie Jackson was at the Kingdome at the Monsters of Rock in 88, or Scott Rockenfield was in line behind me for Batman in 89. I ask for autographs and pose for pictures when "meeting" rock stars and cannot behave that way when "working" with them. I got George Lynch's autograph at the Monsters of Rock. I posed for pictures with Lacuna Coil at Ozzfest in 06. I got Tesla's collective autographs in 87 at the mall. I do not bring things to sign when doing an interview. It simply does not work that way.
It was different when I was writing and editing City Heat. When you are "working" with a band, there is a totally different relationship. In "Almost Famous" this "fan" versus "journalist" battle is an important part of the story.
When people ask me if I "know" the guys from Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam, the answer is not simply a yes or no answer. Having "worked" with them is different.
Recently, I had a conversation with Ringo about this as he is learning the guitar and I had the opportunity to introduce him to professional musicians. He got a chance to help set up and meet the guitarist from a band (Punkin got to meet that same band and get autographs on the CD liner notes and had a totally different experience at the same time.). For Ringo, it was different than meeting them as strictly a fan and was very, very cool.
