Happy Hour at the Symphony- worth it?

So, Smaller Indiana was kind enough to offer two free tickets to Happy Hour at the Symphony if we promised to come back and write about it. Well, I told my husband we were going and he was, surprisingly, kind of excited. Although we both work downtown, we carpool so I had to get off work at 5 (when it started) go get him from IUPUI, come back downtown, park and walk over to the ISO. Downtown traffic is horrible at 5 so this event is really only for downtown dwellers. We got there just before 5:30 and the first thing I noticed was the amount of people there! I'd never been, partly because I wasn't sure that it was a "cool" thing to do. Well, apparently it is! There were tons of people there and the lights were dim. I wasn't expecting that either. My husband, Steve, asked "So, do people really talk to people that they don't know? Do they REALLY network?" I said, "I think so?" Too nervous to strike up a conversation with new people, I drew near to a couple familiar faces and stayed close to Stephen. That changed as soon as we noticed the small variety of food and beverage offered....

There was one line for a (delicious) steak kabob from Weber Grill, one person passing out coconut chocolate cake, one station for a cold filet sandwhich from Mortons, upstairs, and one line for a complimentary beverage. The lines were so long that we had to develop a strategy to try one of the three items. "You get a drink, I'll get a meat stick." Stephen said. "Got it!" and I scurried over to the long beverage line. When I got up to the counter I was handed a half glass of Pina Colada; there was no option of what you could get and the bar was running out of liquor. By the time Steve had gotten his 'meat stick' and came to the beverage line, there was nothing more to drink. All this to say, they could have more stations and more free drinks so that people could spend more time meeting new people.

At 6, the symphony played a couple cords to let us know it was time to enter and sit. Shortly, McKenzie from RadioNOW came out to introduce the conductor and start the show. I LOVED that conductor! I forget his name now.. but he was funny, witty and very good. The music was great, the entire show was great but lasted about as long as it could without having the entire audience either fall asleep or leave. If it was an hour, 45 minutes would have been great. Towards the end of the show I looked around and noticed people stepping out, others nodding off (wine and sitting and listening to soothing music often lead to SLEEP, duh) and some getting their programs out to see how much longer they had to sit. Again, the show was wonderful but the key to keeping people coming back is to make them leave, wanting more. And an hour long some show is more than enough.

All in all, I rate the evening as a 9.5! I had a great time, still got out early enough to do something afterwards, I was around people my age (and a few older ones...), the food was great and the orchestra was outstanding! The next show is in June. And, well, I'd love to do this again... hint, hint. :-) Thanks SI!