YAF757 is the relaunched subcomittee of AIA Hampton Roads' Young Architects Forum. One rainy Friday night, on February 2 2018, Jeffrey Butts invited some of his local colleagues and peers to a happy hour/dinner party at Saltine (inside of the downtown Norfolk Hilton hotel). The group enjoyed drinks and food in the second floor private room. Towards the end of the night, Jeffrey fessed up that he had gathered them there for more than just networking, but to see if they'd be interested in relaunching YAF. They were!

YAF757 is known for being more than just a collective of young architects, because the relaunch dinner party included 50% allied professionals, this meant that YAF757's board was made up of mainly architects but also engineers, reps, and others. The diversity in professions on the board quickly proved to be a valuable asset when it came to having more diverse ideas, expanding the group's network, dividing up event tasks, and fundraising. AIA Hampton Roads and AIA Virginia not only embraced the new YAF757 committee, but also embraced their approach of getting more allied professionals involved and creating events for young professionals locally and state wide (like yafCON at ArchEx).

 Every February, we love to celebrate the birthday of YAF757. We do not want to break this tradition due to COVID so we will still be hosting a party this year but we will be doing it virtually. 

 We know that a lot of people are burnt out on Zoom happy hours, so we decided to spice up our party this year with a theme. The votes were counted, and Mardi Gras was chosen as our theme (since COVID is also forcing Mardi Gras to go virtual).

 So after work on Friday February 12th, 2021, at 5:30pm, please join us for a fun night of celebrating YAF mixed in with some fun Games/Trivia, Networking, Mardi Gras history, New Orleans fun facts, and a Mask Contest!

 *If possible, wear one or more signature Mardi Gras colors: Purple, Green, and Yellow (our favorite)! And bring a Mask!"

Thank you,
Kelly Batchelder