[RHat]

Introducing memorable NPC's is a good way to get players involved. Characters that actually have faces and names and interact with the party on a daily basis.

I second this idea, but if you want these rivals to make it to later, make sure that they do something that will aggrivate the group, but don't give them an opportunity to kill them. Nothings more a pain in the ass in my opinion then building a good rival and then having him get one shotted due to a lucky edge roll.

Which is why you make those characters Prime Runners - if you can't conceal their "death" to be able to say that they didn't actually die, Hand of God let's you have them survive anyways.

[Walks Through Walls]

Memorable NPCs don't even necessarily have to be powerful.
My group remembers Dr. Hack-n-stitch who is their street doc contact because of his name and personality. They recently have started to learn a bit more about his motivations and why he is a street doc, but they started talking about him because of his personality.

Another one that I have used before that people remember that hasn't come up in my current campaign yet is "The Ice Cream man". A small arms and ammo dealer who operates out of an ice cream truck. Of course when the group was meeting with a troll street sam who heard the bells and burst to his feet yelling "Oh goody its the ice cream man" as he dashed out of the apartment in the middle of their meet that made him as memorable as the dealer himself. The players never even talked to the street sam again, but still talk about the ice cream man.

[Shaidar]

Juan's Taco Cart franchise, LLC. Is my favorite NPC group.  Guns and ammo anywhere in the city, camouflaged as a Taco Cart.  And not all Juan's are Latino.  I have a few that are Greek, and even one Korean.

[Mystalya]

Memorable NPCs don't even necessarily have to be powerful.

A game I was in had a Soup Nazi.

Yup.

[summers307]

OMFG you too? Theres a cyberdoc contact who was only a name at the time, Yaseem Arifat. With so little to go on, I gave him the soup nazi mannerisims for his behavior. Fail your negotiations? "NO LIMBS FOR YOU!"

[Doom Unicorn]

I took a Google Map of the actual neighborhood I live in and drew over it with the homes and businesses that exist in the SR universe version of the neighborhood -- including a warehouse, an auto shop, a bar, some low-income projects, etc. -- and am having a fixer & a fence, two brothers, decide to move into the area by buying the warehouse as the place they operate their business from and an apartment behind it to live in with their families.

The PCs are hired first to clear out the local gang so that its "their neighborhood", and then can go on any number of unrelated runs (where their fixer doesn't screw them over, since they need to keep working with him), mixed in with various missions to defend the neighborhood gangs trying to move in, do courier runs, deal with more sensitive territory issues relating to underworld elements, get hired by people in the neighborhood who have their own problems (they work for corps, they have families, they are members of humanis, they are sympathizers of the ork underground, etc), and so on. I think giving the runners a "home base" they feel the need to defend is powerful, and gives more weight to the need to keep notoriety low.

Well, that's my idea at least.

[pariah3j]

Yes, often time the more memorable characters are 'mundane'. We had a Western game we played one time, where we met "Rambling Jim". He strolled up on us at camp in the middle of the desert, tattered clothes and a stutter. Gave us a sob story so we took pity on him. Fed him and whatnot. Just to be safe we tied him up for the night while we bedded down. Ol' Jim managed to slip out of the rope and my character woke up to hear hooves galloping off. Everything but what my character had on him had been stolen. We still curse the name Rambling Jim to this day. (I know its not SR, but perfect example of how a ordinary npc can be a very effective tool, and quite remember-able too.)

[Shaidar]

Using the Players Contacts for your memorable NPCs can really get the players invested, you can illicit their aid in adding flesh to the Loyality/Connection ratings.  You can start by building them as PC are built, really focus on their Knowledge Skills; most of the Contacts Nuyen should go toward the non-tactical equipment they would need to do their job and support their lifestyle.

[Nobody]

Power watch Burn Notice. Love or hate the show, it's pacing is excellent for Shadowrun, it has great examples of contact interactions, and the tit for tat between runners and their peeps. The PCs contact lists should get the ball rolling for a grip of stories before dice ever hit the table. I always use the CHAx2 free contact points to help myself with this.

Don't feel bad about a character going down, and be generous and liberal with new character introductions. My very first Shadowrun experience was as my group's default GM. Somebody begged us to play Shadowrun, put the Renraku Arcology Shutdown book in my hand, and said "Just run this one, I'm sure it'll be fine." It wasn't fine. I decimated the party twice without even trying. But they all went out in super slo mo. That is to say, it was always in character, and it always made a difference to the group's success (or, in this case, the survival of 1-2 characters and successful achievement of mission goals).10 years later, when I catch up with that old group, it still comes up. In the following years I've gotten better at the balancing act of challenging without always killing my PCs, but people still die. Just make it appropriately dramatic, and your players will go along with you.

Make sure, going in, that everyone knows life is cheap in the Sixth World.