Twitter post:
“Assignment for The LinkedIn Diva @loriruff – Attend Experience Hendrix in Denver and report back to us all, my turn Wed.”
So, that’s it. We talked on the phone about 5:15, but now that he’d put it out to the world… I got my marching orders so I got to going!
Mike has long talked and blogged about the way to score tickets and has shared all the tricks and tips for Denver CO venues. So I started to work with what I had seen him do. I checked in by phone with The LinkedIn Rock Star himself and and confirm how much cash I might need, where I should go, who I should talk to, and what I should say. Something told me to grab a couple of Mike’s cards – I’m glad I did. (More about that coming up.)
I started online to find a map of the venue and face value of the tickets. I found everything I needed at Denverpost.com. I printed a map of the venue (The Historic Paramount Theater)–which is one of Mike’s tips–changed into jeans and our Jimi Hendrix Face T, and dumped my purse so I could carry what I needed in my jeans pockets. It had snowed and rained all day and got quite chilly after a week of springlike weather, so I bundled up and headed out to the 16th street mall.
After stopping at the ATM, I started walking. I tried to hop on the Mall Shuttle and head toward the corner of 16th and Glenarm but there wasn’t one to be had… so I walked! But here’s my reward:
Twitter post: 
“http://twitpic.com/18nisa – The joy of walking to the show… Now let’s see if @mikeoneildenver taught me anything about buying tix on the street!”
I found Rickus without any trouble. He has an unmistakable goatie. One of his partners usually has his son with him and Neil was there as well, all of them trying to help people get into the show with the best possible tickets at a price they can afford.
I explained that I was a friend of Mike O’Neil… Their eyes glazed a bit so I pulled out Mike’s card, of course with the photograph, they knew right away who I was referring to! I explained that he was in Minnesota with his son so I was by myself and just needed one ticket. They asked what was the max I could spend. I answered and added that if they could do better for me so I can enjoy a beer inside, that would be great. But times are tough and this concert is too important to miss to quibble over $5.
I arrived at the corner about 6:12… the show was sold out, but the guys had a variety of tickets and were getting more. about 20 after the box office called out that they released tickets that had been held for once reason or another. A few people went to the box office to get what they could but I waited a bit more to see what the guys could do for me. Rickus offered me a Mezzanine seat for $100. That’s in the balcony and not bad but above value. I had just heard him offer the same seat in a set of 2 to someone at $130 each so I knew he was offering me a good deal but I didn’t have that much so I asked if he could do better.
With the sold out show, I had to be careful tickets were going to be scalped (sold above value) as they became harder to get. I knew there were some other guys walking with tickets here and around the corner, but I bet on the guys I knew. By 6:30, Neil came through… He had had a set of three tickets on the floor, Orchestra C (Center) Row L (that’s 12 rows back) seat 14 (on the right aisle). OMGosh! And the good news, I had $ left for a beer!
I grabbed Rickus and let him know I had what I needed. He thanked me sincerely for letting him know. I had scored a great ticket in under 20 minutes! Now it was time to go on walk-about. I went back to the buses to get more pictures. I just couldn’t pass that up!
Here’s my next tweet:
LoriRuff
6:38pm, Mar 14 from TwitPic
“Unbelievable designs on the #JimiHendrix buses… Imagine how great the show will be! Wish @mikeoneildenver could be here; but he’ll get to go Wed in MN w/ son! 
”
I still had almost an hour to kill before the show started, so I popped into Paramount Cafe… the place was packed! I walked around the bar, checked in on foursquare (a social media platform that allows you to locate friends and find great tips), and then walked out. I tried our favorite haunt Earl’s. There was plenty of room but the energy just wasn’t right. This crowd was NOT a Hendrix crowd! I headed across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe. How hard can it be for a girl to find a corner to have a beer? Evidently pretty tough on a Sunday night in Downtown Denver when the Hendrix Tribute Tour is in town! I even trotted across the street to Marlow’s but no dice. (On a happy note, I was getting lots of check-in points on foursquare!)
I finally gave up and started to make my way back to Arby’s. I came upon Appaloosa and peeked in the window just in case. Success! There were a couple seats at the bar and they were having a special on draft… a girl can get lucky in Denver after all! I had a cool Wheat and checked in on Twitter, answering people who had responded to my posts.
Tweavesdropping can be fun…
ToyotaEquipment
6:39pm, Mar 14 from TwitPic
“@LoriRuff http://twitpic.com/18nnfi – Imagine where he would be with his talent today, so many talents lost.”
.
ToyotaEquipment
7:23pm, Mar 14 from Seesmic
“@LoriRuff No ma’am, down here SOTR, some of us are just uneasy with going to “the cities”.”
Of course, by the time the last tweet was sent, I had to run to get to the show on time. Only a block, but I didn’t want to miss a thing! I got to the door and had thankfully missed most of the crowd. We weren’t checked for cameras, which was great because I certainly had one in addition to my iPhone. The attendant scanned my ticket and directed me to Door 2. I had to stop and look at the beer line. The cool thing was the conversation that started because I had on the Hendrix shirt… it ended in “can I buy you a beer?” Um, Yes please!
So we chatted in line about our favorite songs and concerts we’d been to and then when the lights flashed headed inside. Next tweet:
LoriRuff
7:37pm, Mar 14 from TwitPic
“http://twitpic.com/18nzm1 – #JimiHendrix Experience orchestra center L14 aisle! OMG! Thx Neil and Rickus! @mikeoneildenver was right about his tix advice! Above par tix way under list!!!”
So here’s the view from my seat. I’m at 1200+ words here so I’ll cut the story for the night and finish the report tomorrow. Be sure to check back! Mike O’Neil and son will be attending in Minneapolis and will post as well. This is such a great opportunity to put his training into practice and to see how he does in a different city. Rock On!
…
P.S., I will say that it looked and smelled like a concert from the 60′s… http://twitter.com/ParamountCO
