It’s time for some grassroots community organizing.

Focus Property Group is planning on building a 7-11 in the Historic Ballpark District at 2425 Broadway, between Silver State Lofts and the PBA Architectural Firm across the street from the Granada Fish Company and the site of the new Plus Gallery. This 7-11 will also be two blocks down from The Samaritan House and Denver Rescue Mission. Focus Property Group is the same group that drove out the independent coffee shop Monkey Bean and claims an all-night convenience store next to an alley already infamous for drug deals will be good for the community. Quick reminder of the 7-11 at 14th and Pearl that eventually had to be shut down because no amount of security cameras or policing could keep it clean. This is a fragile time our for neighborhood and something like a crime-ridden 7-11 could potentially tip it in a direction none of us desire. Not to mention, there’s already an independent mom & pop day-time convenience store on 24th between Walnut and Blake, one block away, that will surely be put out of business.

So what can we do? There is a meeting on Tuesday, November 25th at 6pm in the Premier Lofts (2200 Market St) with Focus Property Group, the Ballpark Neighborhood Association and Steve Oliver, the 7-11 Real Estate Manager for North America. The Ballpark Neighborhood Association will be in the meeting and the people will be in the street. My goal is 200 people in front of Premier Lofts protesting this 7-11 at the time Steve Oliver arrives to decide if this is a good decision for his company or not. I also have a contact at Channel 2 News that I am going to try my hardest to interest in this cause. I am asking people to arrive at 5:30pm in front of Premier Lofts, 2200 Market Street, I will have some signs pre-made, but feel free to make your own. Together we can do this.

This is our neighborhood, this is our opportunity to come together as a community and make our voices heard. Please send this along to anyone you think might be interested stepping forward for the greater good of our community.

In Solidarity,

Brianna Martray

Studio/Gallery
900 Santa Fe Dr, G
Denver, CO 80204

For those of you who have ideas of what the list should be, and there are quite a few of you, please visit the forum and make your suggestions. Your opinions do matter. The way to be helpful is to share what you think the list SHOULD be, not what it shouldn’t be. Then folks can comment back and forth and maybe we will improve the list a bit. In the meantime, here is the poll revised. Happy voting!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

These folks have taken an interesting angle on blogging with regards to the immediate availability of news through the blogging community over status quo news agencies. Basically if you want to find out what is happening you might be better off doing a google or technorati search instead of just hitting the standard news channels. The reasoning is simple, with cell phone cameras (both photo and video) and sites such as youtube or personal blogs regular joes like you and me can be giving the rest of the world news faster than organized news channels. Interesting and fun for this blog to have gotten a little press so I hope you don’t mind my sharing.

Here is their article…

CRISIS MANAGER UNIVERSITY

Editor’s Note: When I received a short description of this situation from the author, a long-time “Crisis Manager” reader, I asked if he could develop it into a case history. He did so, superbly!

The Rockies Were Rookies at Crisis Management
By Robert Austin, APR

With its proximity to the Rocky Mountains, 300 days of sunshine per year, 650 miles of urban bike trails and over 20,000 acres of public parks and open space, Denver is a perfect setting for sports of every kind imaginable. Add in eight professional teams and you have a town where sport can be a religious experience.

When a team in such a place makes it to a championship, it is, for many, more rare and significant than a virgin birth. Tens of thousands will make whatever pilgrimage necessary to touch the holy grail of a ticket. It follows that when the Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series, fans prepared to camp out at Coors Field for the lottery that might lead them to salvation. Five days before the sale, however, the Rockies’ front office committed a blasphemy that put fans up and down the Rocky Mountain Front Range in crisis mode:tickets would be sold only online.

Immediately, fans and analysts began to question the logistics of the decision. Local news stations invited computer experts to give their opinions on how any system could handle the expected onslaught of Internet users looking for tickets from around the world. ESPN easily found non-experts to comment, quoting one hopeful fan, “If 250,000 people are online trying to get tickets, I can’t imagine the Rockies’ Web server can handle that sort of load.”

After thoroughly debating the technical aspects, attention turned to the fairness of the process. Some speculated that scalpers would use automated software that would enable them to process requests much faster than a human could. Others pointed to the number of fans disadvantaged with slow, dial-up connections or no Internet access at all. Still others pointed to the fact that anyone, anywhere in the world was able to stand in line, a situation that a queue at Coors Field might have averted.

Throughout these debates, the Rockies’ front office stayed on message. The fears of technical snafus were met with confidence. Both the club and Major League Baseball gave reassurances that all would be fine. Rockies spokesperson Jay Alves insisted the club’s computers were ready to go and said the staff prepared for any crashes. “We don’t anticipate that, but if something happens, we’re ready for that too,” he said. Matthew Gould, vice president of corporate communications for MLB, allayed fears by pointing to experience. “Obviously, this is not a first-time thing for us,” he said. No one gave any details about contingency plans.

On Monday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m., the sale began. Tens of thousands of fans sat in front of computer screens, aimlessly clicking the “refresh” button only to be repeatedly faced with the ominous message “site not available.” Two hours into it, Mike Miller, author of the blog The Urban Brain performed a “whois” search for evenue.net, the apparent host for the online sale. From that search, he obtained a phone number of the parent company, Paciolan, and called it. Miller then scooped news outlets with a blog post describing the developing crisis:

“The very nice lady who was answering phones caught on to what I was up to right away as she asked ‘are you calling about Rockies tickets’.

‘Yes’ I replied. So she gave me the scoop.

They are having issues, big issues, on the hosting side with their ISP. Whatever is going on, they can’t resolve traffic between their servers and the outside ISP’s.

They have contacted their ISP and are hoping for some resolution soon. They don’t know if it is something really big or something really easy to fix, but either way they are dead in the water and the update they gave me is that fewer than 100 tickets have been sold so far.

She said the IT guys just were not expecting this mass amount of response and they whole system is overwhelmed.

Well duh, what did they think would happen? Someone is going to get a little dose of reality about this whole thing.”

Three hours after Miller’s post, Rockies Spokesperson Alves appeared at a press conference in front of eager reporters. Enough fans had shown up at the ballpark for furious chants of “we want tickets; we want tickets” to be heard over the spokesman. Alves announced that ticket sales had been suspended due to a system crash brought on by 8.5 million hits in 90 minutes. The crash was so bad that all of Paciolan’s North American customers were affected.

At 4:36 p.m., the Rockies posted a press release on the club Web site announcing suspension of the sale. Prior to that, the Web site still featured a banner announcing the sale was in progress. It wasn’t until the 10:00 p.m. newscast that the club announced the system was fixed, that sales would go back online at noon the following day and that a contingency plan was in place should anything go wrong again, although no details of that plan were given.

By this time, the club and Paciolan had also figured out the problem: a malicious attack. “Our Web site, and ultimately, our fans and our organization, were the victim of an external malicious attack on our Web site that shut down the system and kept our fans from being able to purchase their World Series tickets,” Alves said.

Yet, even fans with no IT background doubted that claim. One fan, who had been a victim of such an attack said flat out, “They’re lying.” Drew Curtis, the owner of Fark.com, told The Denver Channel. Com: “If they notified their upstream provider that they were under attack, the upstream provider could have shut that off in no time flat.”

The following day ticket sales went off without a hitch and some 60,000 tickets were sold within a few hours. At this point, news outlets pointed out that no investigation was being launched for the perpetrators of the attack. Analysts and computer experts began a new discussion on this topic.
The Aftermath

In the end, tickets sold out and, inevitably, thousands ended up disappointed and ticketless. So what was the actual damage?

* Confidence in the club’s management faltered. On blogs and news outlet Web sites, fans wrote at length about the poor treatment the club gave its fans.

* Business lost immeasurable productivity. Many fans took the day off to try for tickets online. Others used office computers. In fact, a Denver Post news report blogged live from the offices of Blue Cross/Blue Shield detailed how several employees tied up office computers for several hours trying to access the site. The fact that the entire process was repeated the next day may have doubled the loss.

* Paciolan’s entire North American customer base were thrown into crisis mode as well. They, too, likely suffered loss of sales. For example, the Denver Center for Performing Arts also uses Paciolan for online ticket sales. The DCPA first started to experience a slowdown shortly after the Rockies sale began. Soon after, the system failed entirely. During the outage, the DCPA posted a notice on its web site advising ticket buyers to order their tickets by phone or in person. Those were options Rockies fans didn’t have. Anita Edwards, the Center’s Web services manager said, “harm done.” It would take another few weeks before the Center could assess any financial damages.

The Lessons

This crisis began long before the servers crashed. It began the moment the Rockies made the announcement that tickets would be sold only online. It was at that moment that the club’s public, its fans, went into crisis mode. Many made immediate plans to take the day off, to have multiple computers set up to try to up their odds of scoring a ticket. After the announcement, news outlets and computer experts began to ask questions that were answered too easily and almost flippantly: “Obviously, we’ve done this before.” Questions on the fairness of the decision were left unanswered. In announcing the decision, the club simply stated that it was the most fair way for fans to get tickets – period, no discussion.

As communicators, we’ve all heard the tips on how to manage crises. We learn about the first, golden hour of a developing situation. We list out steps to be taken, messages to be disseminated and follow-up to be carried out. We practice how to talk to the media to convey those messages and how to think on our feet with microphones pressed in our faces. We train our employees not to make unauthorized statements to members of the media (or others, for that matter).

Each of these lessons is reinforced by the Rockies’ ticket woes. Among them:

* The club was slow to respond to the media and to its fans. Blogger Mike Miller exposed the crash at least two hours before the club made any statement. It took five hours to get a statement on the Web site – the very place where thousands of fans had been camped out for information.

* When the club and its partners did give an explanation, a “malicious attack,” no details were given and no investigations were launched. To skeptics, this was further evidence that the club, MLB and Paciolan simply weren’t taking responsibility for messing up.

Ultimately, however, the biggest lesson lies in the failure to think the decision to sell tickets exclusively online all the way through in the first place. Our job, as communicators, is to try to anticipate the perceptions, attitudes and actions of our publics. That means examining every policy decision and asking the “what if” questions.

Sure, it is possible that our colleagues at the Rockies don’t have a seat at the table where these questions can be asked, which merely underscores another lesson of crisis management. Nonetheless, someone at the club should have been asking the questions. What if we sold the tickets using a system tested by other clubs in the past? What if the servers can’t handle the load? What if there was a back-up plan to shift to in-person or phone sales if the server did crash? What if we’re wrong and this system isn’t fair to local fans? What if we did have a lottery system, even if it were for online only sales? What if a rookie performance in ticket sales somehow translates to a rookie performance on the field? We may never know.

Robert Austin, APR, is Director of Professional and Public Relations for the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank in Denver, CO. Contact: raustin@corneas.org.

This topic might get more comments than any others so in advance I’ve set up a forum discussion. The trick in the mix is that the owners have also pointed out that if the Rockies and the city advocate groups feel that strongly about preserving the views they can always buy the land away from them. That’s not such a crazy argument and I would think that if the city OR the rockies started to approach local developers they just might find some interested parties who would love the idea of developing the Coors Field lofts.

It has branding, it has some panache, it has some great possibilities (anyone out there who decides to do it give me a call :) ).

Really, just think about it. There is no need to step on property rights or to ruin the views for the stadium folks. Every challenge is an opportunity. First of all, just build the building to the maximum height that still keeps the Rockies owners and the advocate groups happy. That is still a fairly high range and I expect that several floors of condos could go in there.

Secondly, if the Rockies and their advocates are a partner in this to preserve their asset (The stadium views) they could also come up with some killer marketing idea that makes the units unique and increases the price per square foot they obtain and work to make it not just a winning move for the stadium, but also a profitable one for the group involved. What would that perk be…. who knows. What about those units carrying a 10 year season ticket package and rights to renew beyond that for each unit. What about a Rockies affiliated restaurant in the base. What about a rooftop Rockies sports lounge. Heck, you can even throw in autographed Rockie jerseys and baseballs for each owner as a welcome gift at almost no cost but a huge value.

Forget fighting about it. Someone take this bull by the horns and make it the opportunity it should be. My guess is a lower building with a Rockies tie in would sell better ane more profitably than a generic taller building that is in contention with the city. PR matters. Branding matters, and this just begs for a flip from bad to good. Let’s also get the city to do their part with a pedestrian bridge over to the stadium across the tracks from that building. There are always options to make it a home run (had to have at least one pun).

So lets do a little marketing and development feedback here on my crazy little idea. The land looks to be for sale from this info I found when I googled 2010 Delgany so this fiction can become reality. Any buyers out there?

Link to PDF of proposed change

Rocky Mountain News Article

It couldn’t have worked out better. We chilled out and got the celebration started with a round of cocktails (dirty martini, blue cheese stuffed olives please) and then relaxed over laughter, stories, and catching up while enjoying steaks (baseball sirloin for this day of course) and some great red wine. Our boys night out dinner carried us past the first pitch (which we did want to see) but we got there just in time for the blackout. In fact we timed it so close the folks behind us joked that we caused it.

First of all, let me tell you that the crowd last night was amazing. The energy, the rockies flag waving, the cheers, the jeers, and everything else was like a live current. Someone who watched the game at home said it was boring. I don’t know what they were watching but from my seat it was a nail biter with the close score and then the tie up keeping us all on the edge of our seats (or standing) as we celebrated every strike and out that kept the Phillies from moving ahead. That is to say that the comfort zone when we were 1 – 0 disappeared as we watched their one run homer put us neck to neck.

Somewhere around the 6th inning a few incidents started happening around us. Drunk guy falls down stairs (ouch), another drunk guy (doofus) tries to start the wave on his own with beer in hand and sprays the crowd (many apologies did follow), and the last drunk guy (yes, we see you) tries to start his own cheer leading section. There are always those interesting characters.

But what a finish. When, in the bottom of the 8th, the Rockies scored the needed run to put us up 2 to 1 the crowd went nuts. And then for every pitch, out, catch and moment through the top of the 9th the Rockies put the final touches on the SWEEP of the Phillies.

That moment, on the last out, was magic. Friends yelled with joy and high fives all around. Smiles EVERYWHERE filled every face and goodwill flowed. It was AWESOME. How cool to be there and share it with not just my friends but with 70,000 other fans.

The post game party in the streets and bars around the ballpark was just as exciting and with just as much energy. With laughter in the air, the smell of beer in the air, and traffic crawling through the streets we leisurely walked through Denver to find a spot for one more beer and some quality time to revel in the day. Cheers Denver, the Rockies did it!!

I love breakfast. A warm cup of coffee, bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast… or maybe pancakes… or should I do a breakfast burrito.. it all sounds so good. I remember living in the mountains and being the biggest pain in the butt to my friends. Some people woke up early for fresh tracks, I woke up even earlier so I could have a big breakfast before my fresh tracks. My friends would always know it was me because my calls came in the wee hours of the morning looking for breakfast and ski companions as a round robin, hitting their home, their cell, then their roommates cell. Eventually I would find someone who hadn’t gone out big the night before. Okay, I admit I can be a bit of a freak about getting up on the hill early and staying fueled up to ski through the day without stopping… especially on a powder day. And the key to making that happen is a great breakfast.
So of course my time in Denver has been spent hunting down some of the best breakfast spots around. Now imagine how excited I was the first time I went into Snooze. Great coffee, killer pancakes, and a steak and eggs benedict that is out of this world. You will find me there at least once every week, which is made easier by the fact that they are open every day.

The last time I was in there I was with about 12 folks, which gave us a full sampling of the menu. Everything was great, and a few new members of the Snooze fan club were started. So I thought it was time to get to know Snooze and it’s host and owner Jon Schlegel a little better. Join me for an interview with Snooze…

1: Let’s start out basic for folks who have never been in to visit you. Tell us a little bit about Snooze.

Snooze is my dream. I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was 13, went to DU for the Hotel, Restaurant School, and have been in fine dining for a while. It’s the package for a breakfast restaurant; focus on great food, great service, and a fun atmosphere.

2: By the way, Snooze is a great name. Where did you come up with that?

I’ve been working restaurant hours since I can remember. I thought to myself, If I ever want to coach my kids soccer teams, If I ever want to be at home for dinner with a future family, if I ever want to have nights off, I needed to change something. I would set my alarm every morning to try and be an early bird, to live the life of “normal” people, even though I went to bed at 3a most nights. I hit the Snooze 3 times, each morning….and one morning, while I was searching for my answer on how to have nights off….the epiphany happened.

3: Can you share a little bit about the background of Snooze and how you got started? Is this your first restaurant?

Snooze is the classic start up business story. Over 20 banks said NO, investors, developers….and than finally, the whole thing happened. I started the business plan in 2000, and had several people critique it. It’s my first restaurant that I own, but since moving back to Denver, I’ve been the manager of The Denver Chophouse, Sushi Den, MAO (Now Ocean), and Monarck.

4: Okay, I have to ask about the pancakes. How many types do you have and which are your favorites?

We had National Pancake Day in September and we had three batters, 20 ingredients, 15 sauces and 7 butters to choose from. We have a ton of pancake ideas….it is really what tastes best, what’s the season. It’s great because it’s constantly evolving. I am a Reece’s Pieces junkie….it’s a joke among my family. The new big cups are my favorite. So, the Peanut Butter Cup pancake is mine (Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter Cream Anglaise, and More Chocolate on top, crushed peanuts for garnish)

5: If you had a friend in to visit and they only got one meal at Snooze, what would you recommend they try that they couldn’t find anywhere else?

Juan’s Breakfast Tacos with flour tortillas and Chorizo, a side Pineapple Upside Down Pancake, a cup or House Coffee (Our Own blend flown in from Guatemala each week) and a Morning Manhattan.

6: Any plans to franchise Snooze, open additional locations, or open something new?

We still have so much we want to do with this Snooze. The product can always evolve, improve I feel. Plus, I have some great regulars and employees. When you have more locations, that all changes.

7: Any plans for lunch or dinner? Any new items for the menu coming soon?

No Dinner. We want to do two meals, breakfast and lunch, and do them well. We serve lunch Monday – Friday and our menu changes approximately each 2 months. We have a new menu rolling out February 6th…..it’ll be sweet!

8: Didn’t you recently have a pancake charity event? What events have you had and are there any more planned?

Make a Wish for Pancakes Day….Pick your batter, pick your ingredients. All Pancake sales went to our neighbors at the Samaritan Shelter. We’ve hosted everything from DU alumni events, to Dinner Rehearsals. We have the chef and the liquor license and the space. It depends on the occasion.

9: Can you tell us about your location? Denver is constantly growing, have you seen changes?

As a Denver native, I wasn’t even allowed down in this area. However, I live above the restaurant and am the VP of the Ballpark Neighborhood Association. I’m familiar with the historic district, future developments; future endeavors….the area are great. In my opinion, it’s the most diverse of the Denver Neighborhoods which is a cool characteristic.

10: Anything else I should have asked that folks should know?

I love hearing about someone’s Favorite dining experience! It doesn’t matter when or where but what was it that made it so memorable!? One of my favorite books is THE PERFECT MEAL……it’s about the best meals all over the world. Some in rural parts of Asia, other chapters at the nicest fine dining restaurant in the world. Tell me yours….

Visit, edit or contribute to the Denver Wiki Page for Snooze

Construction photo taken with camera phone (sorry about the quality)

I was over at Snooze this weekend enjoying some nice breakfast vittles when I noticed the progress on the 24 Walnut townhomes being built about a block away near the Premier Lofts.

I love to see more of the parking lots in BallPark disappear and more infill density going on. These look to be a fun addition to a growing neighborhood and to our city.