I'll have to chime in with temporal: I think that CPAN is the best initial draw. The capabilities of the language help make it stay great.

The example I usually use to "hook" people with perl is a stripped down version of my SQL_2_excel script. The stripped down version isn't fancy, but shows how easily you can get data from a database and into a spreadsheet:

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
#   Create a spreadsheet from an SQL query.
#
use strict;
use warnings;
use DBI;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

my $DSN = shift;
my $usr = shift;
my $pwd = shift or die "Missing argument(s)!";

# Attach to database and run query
my $DB=DBI->connect($DSN,$usr,$pwd);
my $ST=$DB->prepare(<<EOSQL);

select MID, DBA, LastName, FirstName
from   customers
where  balance_due > 100

EOSQL
$ST->execute;

# Create a new workbook and worksheet
my $xWB = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('MySpreadsheet.xls');
my $xWS = $xWB->add_worksheet("Results");

# Add column headers (use column headers from query results)
my $R=0; my $C=0;
$xWS->write($R, $C++, $_) for @{$ST->{NAME}};

# Read the query results and write them into the spreadsheet
while (my $ar=$ST->fetchrow_arrayref) {
    ++$R; $C=0;
    $xWS->write($R, $C++, $_) for @$ar;
}
[download]

It doesn't have much in the way of features (no error checking to speak of, no formatting and/or null handling, etc.). But it's easy to see what's going on and shows that you don't need much code for some basic tasks.

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

If you're going to do a live demo, do it against a CPAN mirror running on the same machine so you don't get embarrassed by network snafus! And practice practice practice beforehand. Make sure that the environment you're demoing in is exactly the same as what you practice in!

If any of them spot that it's a rigged demo (ie a local CPAN mirror) then point out that that's a feature - minicpan is just one of the bounty of treasures on the CPAN.

Seconding DrHyde on this one - I've actually had one of those 'Oh, well I can just snag this module from this amaaazing and wonderful thing called CPAN and we can demo this! *crickets* ...network...?' moments during a meeting the big-wigs.

The upshot being that it's not so fun also teaching them about how to tether your phone because the local point of internet access is spotty.

Some great replies up here, I sometimes forget how shiny Perl really is. Then I am coerced into speaking some other language for a spell... which usually ends in a 'why you should be excited about Perl and be totally using it' speeches, haha!

^{Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.}