I grew up on Detroit techno here in the dirty D, and have given out so many techno beat cd's in my younger years I can't even keep count. I also ran two smaller labels that helped break several artists who are now working with some of the biggest labels in that game.
The techno world is much much smaller then the hip hop world, so there's a different dynamic. There's gotta be at least 100x more people trying to get into the hip hop game, plus there's more money, bigger entourages, more people trying to keep peddlers away from an artist or producer.
Anyways, in that smaller game I took all kinds of chances, any opportunity to hand off a disc. Really you have to be able to suck it up and swallow your pride a bit, but still try and come off as someone professional, keep your cool, maybe ask a very short question or two about something that's currently happening in their career, always show that you value their time and intend to be brief.
Anyhow, look at any lost opportunity as a suggestion from reality. So you couldn't give Rick the CD directly. Well, find out who in his team listens to beats, get in touch, send out a disc, and follow up. At least that way you did something about it instead of just wondering. You saw dude two times in a couple months. Maybe that's saying something to you, maybe it isn't, but at least there are actionable steps that you can take and say you tried.
