CYP, Charities Host Spectacular Evening

Theoretically, young professional organizations are power enclaves. A city’s influential post-college generation unites. And through lavish events, they ascend their profile, while raising charitable donations…

On Saturday, Columbus Young Professionals hosted “A Date 2 Remember.” The marquee fundraiser coupled an impressive date package auction with charity, fashion, food, liquor, and networking. From the balcony to the Vault’s entrance, Columbus’ working princes and princesses showcased altruistic hearts and exquisite fashion senses (trust me when I say there were more than a few cocktail bunnies present)…

While the event served as another reminder that Columbus Young Professionals is the sub-forty year old organization in the city, the real stars of the evening were A Kid Again and Junior Achievers of Central Ohio… Both of which are wonderful organizations that we were thrilled we could support…

As of this typing, no official totals have been released, however, sources tell me that almost $20,000 was raised this evening. That unofficial total would trump the collection from the first annual “Date 2 Remember.” Despite the staggering economy, this evening spoke to the true depth of our city’s generosity…

“A Date 2 Remember,” while a magnificent evening for two charities, was certainly far from flawless; making the fact that so much was raised even more impressive. The fashion part of the evening was ultimately non-existent… Why have the people wearing the donated clothes? Why not have a separate show so the clothes don’t get lost, which the unfortunately did under this format… Also, why not spotlight local designers, which there are an abundance of in this city… I counted three different people wearing clothes from Macy’s… If I want to see people wearing clothes from Macy’s I will turn on my television…

In addition to the fashion, the overall presentation of the date package auction was questionable… The masters of ceremonies were awful… Their comments and jokes were insipid and their almost constant begging for dollars after the bidding had clearly died was ridiculous… $800 on one package, in this economy, is good money… Stop asking people for money incessantly like you are trying to get them to watch your dog while you’re on vacation… The music was also tacky… At times, I thought someone was just throwing in what ever CD they found lying around backstage… And playing the music over the bidding? Seriously?

The worst aspect of the evening was the separation of dates from packages… Apparently, under the rules of the evening, you could bid on the package and ditch the person or accept the person with the package… Why even have people attached to the packages? The format essentially reduced them to needless props, so why were they there? Why not, and this would be much more sensible, merely auction off date packages for two people… You would raise the same amount of money, possibly even more money from people who may not have bid, because they were confused as to the concept…

Now, I know what you are thinking… I just spent the last three paragraphs dissecting the event, how could I possibly be of the opinion that this was a great evening… Allow me to say two things about that… This was a great evening. Columbus Young Professionals intermixed a lot of great people and they raised a bucket full of money for two amazing charities…. I applaud them…

I also deeply respect and admire Derek Grosso and Kristin Mele, the first couple of Columbus Young Professionals… I have spoken with both of them… They are amazing people and their organization is outstanding… However, this website has a responsibility… We cannot sacrifice our the fundamental premise of journalism, to report that which we see, because of personal relationships… If someone chooses to terminate a personal relationship based on a website post, I will feel that loss… With that said, I hope that professionalism is universal… I sincerely respect everyone who has made Gossip CBUS a success in the first two months… I hope they continue reading and they realize that reality is our only objective…