Ryan J. Friedman, Chairman, Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs

OK, can’t resist – so what’s all the hype? Why does Hartford need a Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE) group?

I think HYPE means something different to each of our members. To me HYPE is a call to action to dispel the complaint that “there is nothing to do in Hartford.” I have heard people say it before and admittedly I have been guilty of uttering that phrase in the past. However, anyone using that excuse now is definitely not sitting in the same meetings I am and they probably have not attended any of our events or programs.

Hartford needs HYPE to show that this city is a competitive place for young professionals to live and work. I have seen hundreds of HYPE members step up and take active roles in the planning and execution of social, civic and professional development programs aimed at both members and future members.

How do you recruit young professionals to the group? After all, everybody is busy and it’s a tough economy. How can people join a group like this when they are concerned about their jobs?

First, we’re an organization that focuses on organic growth and member engagement. I believe we are providing our members with an unmatched level of intrinsic value that makes them want to bring their friends and colleagues to our events. Second, there are about 130 companies who offer free membership in HYPE as an employee benefit. We encourage these companies that want to attract and retain the best young talent to sit down with us and develop a goal-oriented internal marketing plan they can incorporate in their enterprise communications. This type of approach has allowed us to grow our membership exponentially over the last few years.

My personal view of how the economy relates to the growth and success of HYPE is that it presents us with a unique opportunity to provide a bright spot on what has been a challenging period of time. Young people are looking for a channel to network with their peers outside of workplace pressures.

The membership of HYPE has been announced at around 2000. It’s a large group, which makes one wonder. Why does Hartford have the image of not being young professional friendly? This seems to be a town where young professionals are interested and involved.

Excuse the pun, but perception may be nine-tenths of the law as it relates to your question, but I know about 2,000 people who don’t share that image of Hartford. With the addition of each new active member we are changing the perception of Hartford, but it really has to be a partnership with local and regional media outlets. We need to promote the events and programs we are organizing to increase awareness of how Hartford can serve its young professionals and vice versa.

It seems like with those kinds of numbers HYPE must be a fairly potent force for raising money and doing projects for nonprofits. What are some of the initiatives the group has undertaken in this regard?

I think more than just our scale it has been a combination of our demographic, energy and sense of civic responsibility that have contributed to our success of our projects and fundraising efforts.

We just wrapped up our first Tee it up for Charity event to benefit the First Tee of Connecticut. This event was held during the Travelers Championship on the brand new practice facility at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. It was a terrific event in which we organized a huge party and a two-hole par-3 golf tournament open to both members and non-members. The event truly exceeded my expectations and we certainly could not have gotten it off the ground without the tremendous support given to us by Andy Bassette, Nathan Grube and the rest of the Travelers Championship staff and interns. I hope that everyone reading this interview keeps their eyes out for this next year because it will definitely be one of our signature events.

We will also be continuing Tons of Toys, which has continually grown, and resulted in hundreds of toys being donated to the Village for Families and Children in 2008. We definitely received a boost last year as a result of a generous contribution from the Greater Harford Jaycee Foundation. Currently, we are seeking corporate sponsorship at all levels to help us organize a toy shopping spree to take place in late November or early December.

HYPE, on its website, says it puts on 50 events a year, or about one a week. Where do busy young professionals find the time to participate in all these events?

To be honest I work very hard to find the time to participate in as much as I can but you certainly have to pick your spots. We don’t expect that our members make it to every event, which is why we keep our calendar full. We try to offer a lot of variety and through the efforts of HYPE’s Program Manager Julie Daly we have been successful in introducing our members to new Hartford area businesses they may have never known about.

Reader response:

“Mr Friedman: I read the entire article on this HYPE group. I am a self-employed professional photographer who often teaches at the various colleges in CT. At no point did you even hint at the inclusion of gays or lesbians in your group. Is that deliberate on your part?” — Bernard M. Lynch Jr.

“Mr. Lynch: Are you joking or what? I have read the entire article as well and have to wonder why you would even ask that? Where does it hint that gays and lesbians are excluded? Why would sexual orientation even be relevant in this discussion? Seems like to me the only criteria is being a young professional in the Hartford area. With that said, I’m not a member of this organization nor a young professional.” — Dirk

“Dirk, I specifically “referenced” gay and lesbians because my experience shows me, and I am NOT nor have I ever been a member of HYPE, that unless there is specific outreach to gays and lesbians, we are “excluded.” And in case you haven’t done your research, gays and lesbians, as a group, enjoy higher amounts of disposable income, generally have a significantly higher educational level, and are the first ones to move into a less desirable neighborhood, resulting in “regentrification”…all before the developers take notice and then try to make a buck. Do your research, Dirk. You will find that without a specific invitation, generally, gays and lesbians are not included in business groups. Now that we, as a group, have the right to marry in CT, have you noticed all the businesses, straight-owned, which have decided our pockets are worth picking?” — Bernard M. Lynch Jr.