From a Houstonian's point of view, hell may have frozen over as the southern definition of frightfully frosty temperatures swathed the city. But inside Hotel ZaZa, the ballroom morphed into hotspot thronged by 250 young professionals looking to meet up with friends, connect with colleagues and make new acquaintances.
CultureMap hosted one of its quarterly happy hours with Houston Young Professionals Society (which is rebranding as Houston Young Professionals), American Diabetes Association Young Professionals and Memorial Hermann's Heroes in Health. The sold-out gathering served to cross-pollinate a diverse guest list with similar interests among the three different philanthropic entities.
American Diabetes Association's manager of youth markets Amanda Caylor was on a mission to rouse the interest of this generation, particularly as the diabetes epidemic is affecting more people in their twenties and thirties. Katie McCoy, manager for the organization's Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes, was chatty about upcoming events, including a golf tournament in April and volunteer opportunities in local schools.
Freddy Goerges was energized about his upcoming 10-week campaign for the title of Man & Woman of the Year.
Courtney Webb of Heroes in Health, a fresh on-the-scene troop that advocates for all activities happening in the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, enticed with a special offering on March 6, as part of the Ironman Sports Medicine Institute, featuring Dr. Walter Lowe, the official physician of the Houston Texans and the Houston Rockets.
And then there was Freddy Goerges, who was energized about his upcoming 10-week campaign for the title of Man & Woman of the Year from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Texas Gulf Coast Chapter. With the help of LLS' Helen Oettinger and Fashion Houston's Emily Maus, he's challenged to raise a minimum of $10,000. Of course, the more cash, the better his chances of attaining the honor.
Trendy tunes courtesy of DJ Bizonee complemented by flowing glasses of wine and the Moscow Mule specialty cocktail (a version of the mojito shaken with ginger beer) and light bites satisfied the talkative crowd.
Mixing on the map were Kim Padgett, David Nguyen and Trang Lam, Dr. Michael Yafi, Anthony Omalabi, Ashley Jones, Andrea Cohen Fineman, Jonathan Cohen, Will Fitzgerald, Gira Desai, Mix 96.5's Lauren Finkelstein, Julia Rezzy, Chelsea Cunningham, Wendy Thomas, Genny Gomez, Brittany Hammond, Lyudmyla McCollum, Deborah Cini, Joe Le and Alison Stevens.
