| TOP 100 EVENTS 06.22.09 11:44 AM |
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Washington's Top Political & Press Events 2009
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 | Rush Limbaugh
Photo: Courtesy of CPAC 2009 and Panoramic Visions |
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1. State of the Union Address
The president’s big annual speech is the only time the entire federal government gathers in one place. Although a new president’s first-year address to Congress bears all the trappings of this gathering, it’s technically not considered one, so President Obama’s first official State of the Union takes place January 2010.
2. White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner
Comedian Wanda Sykes hosted this May 9 event, traditionally attended by the president along with some 2,000 politicians, journalists, and celebrities. Dinner at the Washington Hilton is preceded by a maze of pre-parties hosted by media outlets. For the first time, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair co-hosted an after-party this year.
3. Gridiron Club Black-Tie Dinner
President Obama bucked tradition in March, skipping this 125-year-old event in favor of a family vacation. The 600-plus guests at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel consoled themselves with barbs from Vice President Joe Biden and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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RELATED TOPICS
Washington's Top 100 Events, State of the Union, Barack Obama, White House Correspondents' Association, Wanda Sykes, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Gridiron Club, Joe Biden, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Radio and Television Correspondents' Association, Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Washington Press Club Foundation, Mitt Romney, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, National Governors' Association, U.S. Confernece of Mayors, Bill Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, America's Future Now!, Human Rights Campaign, Hillary Clinton |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.12.09 8:00 AM |
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More Correspondents' Weekend Coverage: Bloomberg and Vanity Fair's Exclusive Party, Atlantic Media's Dinner, McLaughlin's Brunch, and More
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As in years past, parties of every kind and color—from movie screenings to exhibit openings to hangover brunches—surrounded this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Here’s a wrap-up of the weekend's attractions:
Bloomberg and Vanity Fair's After-Party
Capitol File may have hosted the weekend's biggest party, but the most exclusive honors went to Bloomberg LP and Vanity Fair, who hosted an impossible-to-get-into shindig for 250 on Saturday night. Taking over French ambassador Pierre Vimont's turn-of-the-century home in Kalorama, the party drew big names from politics and Hollywood, among them Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Glenn Close, Eva Longoria, David Axelrod, Desiree Rogers, and the ubiquitous Captains Chesley Sullenberger and Richard Phillips. The party took over the mansion's interior rooms with bars and buffets, and spilled out into the backyard, where the many trees were uplit in blue, pink, and green.
David Bradley's Private Dinner
On Friday night, Atlantic Media owner David Bradley and his wife, Katherine Brittain Bradley, hosted an indoor cocktail reception followed by an outdoor seated dinner at their Embassy Row home. Sponsored by Toyota and Robert Mondavi Winery, the annual event was twice as large as last year, thus requiring for the first time a 40- by 40-foot HDO Productions tent, which Frost Lighting technicians draped with white rope lights.
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Capitol File, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Atlantic Media, Toyota, Robert Mondavi Winery, Barack Obama, Haddad Media, White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Creative Coalition, DC Magazine, The McLaughlin Group, Time Inc., People Magazine, Time magazine |
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| NEWS 04.17.09 1:53 PM |
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People and Time Team Up for White House Correspondents Weekend Party
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Cohosting, it appears, is the order of the day for media companies throwing parties before and after this year’s White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday, May 9, at the Hilton Washington.
Time Inc. publications Time and People will jointly host a cocktail reception Friday evening at Astor Terrace at the St. Regis. Expected to attend are some of the entertainers who will be at the People table the following night: Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, along with Miranda Cosgrove, Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Jon Hamm, Eva Longoria Parker, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Brooke Shields and her husband, Chris Henchy. Time has not released its dinner guest list.
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Time Inc., Time Magazine, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Haddad Media, National Journal Group, People Magazine, The Atlantic, ABC, Capitol File |
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| THE SCOUT 07.14.08 5:39 PM |
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Invitations With Techie Surprises, Artistic Airs, and Green Ideas
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 | A flower-seed-laced invitation for the eco-friendly Smart ForTwo car debut.
Photo: Nick Ferrari for Bizbash |
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These recent invitations used new technology, eco-friendly materials, and flat-out fancy designs to get attention.
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Bloomberg, Cointreau, Dita Von Teese, Cosmopolitan magazine, Citymeals-on-Wheels, Smart USA, Going Green, Heroes Foundation |
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| NEWS 04.29.08 2:36 PM |
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Correspondents Dinner Dubbed "Lame" by Time, "Hideous" by Rupert Everett
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As Washingtonians recuperate from the storm that was the White House Correspondents Association dinner weekend, media types have been quick to assess how it all went down, what was great, and what was not so great.
In an article titled "The Coolest D.C. Party is Still Lame," Time.com asserted that as hard as Washington tries, it will always be the dorky sibling to New York and L.A., saying, "So each year, nearly three thousand Beltway tribe members and their guests gather at the Washington Hilton ... to dine with the current president of the United States and pretend for a night that we actually belong to a cool crowd, a hip scene, an exclusive network of movers and shakers that everyone wants to join."
The piece went on to describe how the Secret Service closed down the men's room—possibly because the president was being held in an adjacent room—vetoing access to tuxedo-clad notables like Wolf Blitzer. (Variety confirmed the story, adding that Newt Gingrich, too, was barred.) All in all, "The dinner itself was an unspectacular spread of white wine, white fish, steak and cheese cake."
British actor Rupert Everett agreed, telling the Reliable Source that the evening was "one of the most hideous events I've ever been to."
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Capitol File, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.28.08 5:59 PM |
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Bloomberg Party Stages Interactive Art Installations in Drippy Tent
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Bloomberg L.P.'s Saturday-night White House Correspondents Association dinner party—arguably the second-most coveted after-party in town, after Vanity Fair's shindig—had one thing nailed down this year: the element of surprise. With all parties involved sworn to secrecy in the weeks leading up to the event, the 950 guests (up from last year’s 500, and wrangled by Tammy Haddad and Margaret Carlson) barely knew what to expect.
Headed by Bloomberg event planners Raquel Tudela and Mia Sakai, along with C.E.O. Lex Fenwick, the party filled up a series of tents (all raised 12 feet off the ground) around the Costa Rican embassy. One major hiccup was the pouring rain that began just before the doors opened, causing the temporary setup to become riddled with leaks. Though planners scrambled to fix the problem, by opening time a few drippy spots, patches of soaked carpet, and a dozen or so water-catching trash cans lingered—and much of the postparty chatter and news coverage questioned its choice of location.
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Bloomberg, White House Correspondents' Association Dinner |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.22.07 8:27 PM |
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After Correspondents Dinner, Bloomberg Gets Homey
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 | A feathery chandelier in the tented living room.
ImageLinkPhoto.com |
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Looking to up the ante in terms of exclusivity, Bloomberg whittled down the guest list to its White House Correspondents Association dinner after-party this year, inviting 500 media and political types versus last year’s 750 invitees. “We wanted to do something different this year,” said Bloomberg spokesperson Judith Czelusniak, who oversaw the event. “We decided to make it smaller and more exclusive. We said, ‘What do you do with a smaller group? Well, let’s make it feel like home.’”
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Bloomberg |
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