bratback - I did not refer to spotters in fact I said "people with an interest in aviation helps you" if you read into that differently then there is nothing I can do to stop that.
For examples of where my knowledge has helped me, there would be plenty, but one example was when a fellow controller noted something that was hanging out of the back of the 767s tail. It was the tail skid which I was able to inform them, no problem with the a/c as may have been thought.
One of my good friends is a 747-400 SFO and I often ask him about his a/c and some of the seemingly minor things that occur and why they do it. Its interesting to me and I personally feel it makes me a more rounded ATCO.