The DC Party Girls and The New Social Professionals by Gregory Hilton

The major buzz in charity world circles is today’s article by Carol Ross Joynt (see below link). Carol is known to many as the former owner of Nathan’s, the fabulous and late Georgetown restaurant/bar. In her article “Power, Provenance, Means & Discretion = Real Washington Society” she describes “Party Girls” and the new “Social Professionals.”
The author says: “To the Cave Dweller class, who are fundamental Washington society, the list was a mystery or simply the focus of some guffawing. It listed ten young women, who in an earlier era would have been known as “party girls,” but thanks to blogging, networking and the modern trend of bold self-promotion, are a new breed of not really “society” so much as social professionals, or So-Pro’s.
“With a combo of unabashed ambition and entrepreneurial pluck, they’ve made social life into a paycheck, a new business model where Paris Hilton is the prototype. They pitch, they promote, they organize, they show up, they blog about it and they get paid for being, well, themselves.
“Here’s the list: Kate Michael, Angie Goff, Amanda Polk, Katherine Kennedy, Anna Kimsey, Pamela Sorenson, Andrea Rodgers, Courtney Caldwell, Ashley Taylor, and Kelly Ann Collins. I know most but not all of the young women.
“I see them out a lot. A lotta lot. We should all be taking their vitamins. They are, to a one, energetic, enthusiastic, hard-working and generous, and almost always smiling into a camera lens, often in the service of one charity or another.”
I have no idea who belongs in the Social Register, but these women have impressive backgrounds. I have tremendous respect, admiration and genuine affection for all of them. They are well educated, hard working and serious professionals who deserve our praise for assisting so many worthy causes.
Well before the mainstream media caught on, these women recognized the dramatic shift from newsprint to the Internet. Several of their activities are similar to what is done in the lifestyle section of a newspaper. They are also in the forefront of managing all of the different new ways to contact people regarding worthy events.
I hope they are having fun at the various events, and I know one woman who met her future husband at a non-profit function. Do people attend charity functions because they care about the cause or they just want to go to a party? I can not answer that question and it is probably a combination of both motives. What really matters is the bottom line net profit for the charity, and this is where the Social Professionals deserve significant recognition.
I would never describe them as “Party Girls,” and I am not alone. Major institutional charities and Fortune 500 corporations recognize the value of their brand marketing work. Some have made this into successful careers, while others, such as Anna Kimsey and Angie Goff, are volunteers with high level positions in the private sector. Furthermore, many society events would be failures if they limited attendance at major donor non-profit functions to the “Cave Dwellers.” This is a tough time for charities but a bright spot is the tremendous yeoman labor of the new “Social Professionals.”
http://www.nysocialdiary.com/node/1586136