O Nerdprom! My Nerdprom! Highlights From WHCD 2010

The White House Correspondents Dinner is a dinner, yes, but it's also a weekend — of pre-parties, post-parties, garden parties, brunch parties, see-and-be-seen parties, off-the-record parties, power parties and, for those rejected by imperious clipboard-wielding doorpeople, pity parties. It is less a weekend, however, for political parties — when you're crushed in the fluorescent-lit throngs of the Washington Hilton's nether regions, there is no left or right. There is only forward, through the crowd, suddenly coming awkwardly face-to-face with Tim Geithner or Kim Kardashian or Larry King or Donatella Versace or Gabourey Sidibe or Charlie Rose or Bradley Cooper or Scarlett Johannsen or Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose tux would be made famous later that night, or Michael Douglas, who no doubt inspired a few Gordon Gekko-Goldman Sachs jokes, or Madeline Albright or, be still my beating heart, Chace Crawford (or, be still my beating heart, Senator Scott Brown). Where just as many flashbulbs go off for Eric Cantor as for Rosario Dawson, where Betty White mixes with General George Casey, where Andrew Breitbart breathes the same sweaty air as Robert Gibbs — there was all that and more Saturday night at the Hilton, not to mention Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day until the mimosas stopped flowing. Oh yes, and the president was there, too. Good times. THE DINNER This collection of way too many photos is divided into two sections: The Dinner, and Everything Else (Brunches, Pre-Parties, Awkward Walks of Shame). It's loosely chronological, contains many boldfaced names, and a few tidbits from my memory of the evening. Of course, if you need more the #nerdprom hashtag is always there for you. But you won't need more. Greta van Susteren and Kim Kardashian. I heard about no celebrity at the WHCD more than I heard about Kim Kardashian. And judging from the swarms of people jockeying for photos, she was probably the one most captured on film. Er. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, alone and defenseless walking down the ramp into the Atlantic/National Journal party, just waiting to be accosted by partygoers who have a yen to talk economic policy (or, the Yen, har har). I stand by my previous assertions that he sort of looks like a Klingon. (Hey, they don't call it NerdProm for nothing.) Donatella! This may be my favorite photo from the WHCD: Larry King with Rachelle Hruska, while quietly over their shoulder Jason Binn looks on, Cheshire Cat-like. Later that night Binn would host the Capitol File party at which I would see Dennis Quaid and eat many salted caramels. Both were delicious. As for Larry King and Rachelle....they look great. What, you were expecting another caption? I didn't take this photo, I just like looking at it. Just kidding. Mostly. At any rate, if you don't already know: That's Justin Bieber, and you will never be as accomplished as his hair. (Photo courtesy Guest of a Guest) >>>NEXT: Maddy Albright Shows Some Leg, Bloomberg Shows Off His Press Conference Attire, And The Dreamy, Dreamy Dreamy Scott Brown Mayor Mike Bloomberg in his impeccable press conference attire, with his always-stylish companion Diana Taylor, and General George W. Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, with a woman whom I believe is his wife, and whom I hope is on the mend very soon! A note on Bloomberg: At the time this photo was taken, around 7:30 p.m., he very likely had been briefed on the Times Square would-be bombing. Perhaps that's why he seemed distracted when I tried to corral him for a photo with Charlie Rose. (Sorry, it came out blurry, and that jaunty bow tie deserves a crisp focus.) Shoe Diplomacy: Yes, that's former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright showing us a little leg. We were complimenting her beautiful ruby-slipper broaches (she's famous for them, as you know), and she pulled up her dress just enough to show us the ruby slippers to match. She. Is. Amazing. I had to get a shot with her. She. Is. Amazing. "Say something in a funny accent!" Hardworking videographer Liz Glover gets John Oliver on the record about where to get the best bangers and mash in D.C. (That sounds like a Michael Steele joke. It isn't.) Joy Behar is powerless before the charms of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Actually, she was all business, immediately inviting him on her show. Expect to see him there soon. The Brown Family - Senator Scott, his wife Gail Huff, and their daughter, Arianna. Yes, I asked her if she was "available"; to her credit, she politely said that no, she was not, without rolling her eyes. I asked Gail what she thought of SNL's "Sexxy Scott Brown" sketch featuring Jon Hamm; she said she loved it, and watched it three times. (She wasn't alone.) Then Scott Brown took the camera from me and held his arm out for a photo. Democrats, America, People of Earth -- run for cover. You will be powerless to resist. >>>NEXT: Brian Williams (aka BriWi), Betty White (aka BettWhi), Gabourey Sidibe (aka GabSi), Susan Rice (aka SuRi), and a Ghostly and Elusive Rahm Emanuel Brian Williams and his stunning wife, Jane, downstairs in the Hilton after the dinner. Over BriWi's right shoulder is WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs; somewhere to the right as I snapped this picture, Rahm Emanuel finished up with whomever he was talking to and slipped away, like a ghost. See? Like a ghost! I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not (my stylist): Community star Chevy Chase defended his sartorial choices at the WHCD, but Rachelle Hruska of Guest of a Guest and this random lady weren't judging. I told Chevy he almost counted on the political as well as the celeb side because he was an ex-President. Katie Couric. Betty White. Chelsea Handler. This photo is awesome, hear it roar. (Thanks to Christine Delargy for providing it!) John McLaughlin, longtime host of the shouty McLaughlin Group and gracious host of a post-WHCD brunch every year at the Hay Adams Hotel (though last year it was elsewhere, come to think of it). Your trusty correspondent with Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, which may have been based on a book or something. They really should have made that more clear. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice with her husband, ABC This Week executive producer Ian Cameron, who is Canadian. In other words, we both have something in common with Justin Bieber. CNN Sandwich: Roland Martin and Dr. Sanjay Gupta flank actor (and voice of NBC Nightly News) Michael Douglas. And also that other guy. Sorry, other guy. (Update: Other guy is Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer, so that's awkward. >>>NEXT: Why Ed Henry Let The First Lady Down Okay Ed Henry, here's the thing: If you're going to send out the very first tweet on behalf of the First Lady... ...you might want to PUNCTUATE! Come ON! She's the FIRST LADY! What kind of 5-year old grammar is this? I get that iPhones are challenging, but this is how it should read: "From FLOTUS: "Here at dinner. This is officially my first tweet. I am looking forward to some good laughs from the POTUS and Jay." Get thee to Strunk & White, immediately. (Image courtesy of CNN; tweet courtesy of Ed Henry's Twitter; snark courtesy of my outrage that you didn't properly punctuate the First Lady. I mean, DUDE.) Through the magic of C-SPAN, it was almost like I was there. Hee hee, Eric Massa tickle joke. I think the funniest part of all was how the Prez would start to crack up before he was quite finished his delivery. A Rose by any other name would still smell as Meach: Okay no, that doesn't work. But here I am with Charlie Rose and Jon Meacham. Actually, that sort of works because Jon Meacham was one of the guest-hosts who stepped in for Charlie Rose when he underwent surgery a few years back. And yes, I know. More sunscreen. M-i-c-k-e-y S-e-n-a-t! Mickey Kaus! Mickey Kaus! For California Senator he'll try (try! try! try!). (If you didn't get that, see here. And here. And yes, I know how to spell "Senate.") Obama-chronicling By The People documentarian Amy Rice and New Yorker political writer (and Obama book-writer) Ryan Lizza flank highly-decorated military historian Robert Mackey (not to be confused with Bob Mackie, who would probably find something fabulous to do with that jacket). California Senatorial hopeful Mickey Kaus with CNN analyst Amy Holmes and RNC chairman Michael Steele. Holmes was rocking some verrry cool shoes, maybe the coolest shoes in the place; Steele was chipper and friendly, just like last year, after being roasted by Obama in his speech, just like last year. Holmes and Steele piled off into a cab, giggling, and who knows where the night took them. (Umm...to a specifically-themed bar, perhaps? Don't blame me, blame Google.) >>>NEXT: After The NerdProm Is The After-NerdProm (MSNBC, Capitol File & Bloomberg/VF) Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! The Great Oz has spoken! That's sort of what Ed Schulz's giant head glowing from high above the revelry reminded me of at the MSNBC party. All the MSNBC hosts were represented amongst the columns of the Andrew Mellon Auditorium, including a few I saw in the flesh: Schultz, Contessa Brewer, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow. (I saw Savannah Guthrie the night before at the New Yorker party but, alas, missed her at the event. Something tells me she peeled off to Bloomberg/VF with her gentleman-friend, the uber-connected Glover Park macher and D.C. scenester Michael Feldman.) With the Daily Show's Kevin Bleyer, who also happens to be the Council on Foreign Relation's Kevin Bleyer - and the Obama-WHCD-speechwriting Kevin Bleyer, though he refused to comment, like any good top-secret governmental/comedic operative. I'm guessing the predator-drone joke was his. Andrew Breitbart, in the belly of the beast: Yep, this picture was taken at the MSNBC party. Who needs more proof that the WHCD isn't *actually* about politics than this? All buttoned up: NBC SVP and D.C. Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker displays his civic pride as California Senatorial candidate Mickey Kaus beams. Gene Sperling, counsel to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (and potential impending Deputy Budget Director) with Kevin Bleyer, his CFR colleague, and the dude who writes his funny lines. (Kidding. If Sperling is smart enough to advise Geithner, he can probably write his own jokes. Unless he advises Geithner on jokes. In which case, nope.) Rachel Maddow serves it up at "Maddow's" which was a pretty popular bar. Actually a pretty solid business idea if she gets bored of this whole TV thing. She was kept hopping all night, btw. Girl can mix. Rachelle Hruska meets a lot of celebs in her line of work, but I don't actually think I've seen her this close to starstruck before. "I can't believe Rachel Maddow is making my drink!" she exclaimed, as Maddow whipped up a Pimm's Cup. Video below! >>>NEXT: The Origins of "NerdProm" Somewhere across town, the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair party was afoot. It was there that this photo was taken of GQ Washington Correspondent Ana Marie Cox and top Obama advisor David Axelrod. Yes, Axelrod is important, but let's focus for a moment on Cox, who had indelibly made a mark on the WHCD in one crucial way: It was she who dubbed it "NerdProm." It's actually a pretty interesting sub-story in the WHCD coverage, and illuminating in how it demonstrates the power of new media - and influencers in new media - to push a meme, and make it stick. Read more here. p.s. Her pretty earrings were a gift from her husband, Chris Lehmann. With charming "Way Too Early" host and "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist. When I saw Willie I had no idea that his tireless producer, Chris Licht, had taken ill earlier in the week. He is thankfully fine. MSNBC, let him sleep in more! This photo, courtesty of Vanity Fair, was taken at the mythical Bloomberg/VF party. But I feel entitled to post a photo of Judd Apatow and his wife Leslie Mann because they thought I overturned an entire tray of Bailey's Milkshakes at the New Yorker party the previous night. I did not, but it did provide a rather funny entree into conversation with the lovely Ms. Mann, one of my girl-crushes and the subject of a post on another blog I run, celebrating super-hot awesome thirtysomething women, of which she is so clearly, clearly one. She also invited us to come along to the Funny or Die party after, which was fun. Ok, love letter to Leslie Mann complete. Judd Apatow is cool, too. Though I wish he'd just embrace his Jewish side already. If you want to learn more about the Bloomberg/VF party, go here for Michael Hogan's fine write-up. If you wanted to get into the Bloomberg/VF party, well, good luck unless you were on the fancy-schmancy list - or had one of these fancy-schmancy business cards from Todd Purdum with "Please Admit Bearer" on the back. Yes I had one, but skepticism about whether it would work and the promise of a full-on diner with friein the back room of the MSNBC party kept me from giving it a whirl. It's not dated; I'll keep it for next year. Backwards and in high heels: Katie Couric and I take a load off at the end of the night. >>>>NEXT: EVERYTHING ELSE (Brunches, Pre-Parties, and Awkward Walks of Shame) BRUNCHES, PRE-PARTIES AND AWKWARD WALKS OF SHAME: Everything Else at the WHCD Woe betide he who thinks only of his tux, or she who packs but a single pair of shoes for NerdProm weekend. You will not only be highly out of place across the sprawling tented lawn of Tammy Haddad and husband Ted Greenberg, but your clothes will also be very sweaty. The smart ones look after the dry-cleaning in advance, and come outfitted with the following: (1) An outfit for the Friday-night parties (2) An outfit for the Garden Brunch (with shoes that won't sink into the grass) (3) Your Official NerdProm Outfit™ (4) an outfit for Sunday brunch (5) An extra, in case you can't fit into that thing you totally used to be able to fit into; (6) A selection of shoes. If you still don't have what you need, help awaits 2 blocks from the Hilton in the form of Secondi, a fabulous consignment shop, where I went at 5:15 pm on Saturday to buy my dress, just in case Glee's Matthew Morrison liked blue. Sigh. The White House Correspondents Garden Brunch - hosted at the home of the inimitable Tammy Haddad - isn't just for milling sweatily around under a tent with media and Hollywood elites. It's also for a good cause: CURE - Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, the charity founded by Susan Axelrod in support of her daughter Lauren's fight with the disease, and, in that vein — Mother's Day! Here a bunch of not-yet Tweens probably don't quite realize the significance of being that close to Morrison (aka Mr. Schue from Glee), Chace Crawford (aka Nate Archibald from Gossip Girl) and Joe Mazzello (aka The Kid From Jurassic Park, but more germanely, the star of Steven Spielberg's The Pacific). Former Romney spokesperson Kevin Madden of the Glover Park Group and Betsy Fischer, executive producer of Meet The Press. Between the two of them there probably isn't a D.C. party they are not invited to. Politico's Patrick Gavin, wearing his signature garden party pastels and double-popped collar, with his recent bride Anne Bracken, the perfect, colorful complement to her husband. I hope she will forgive this next thing, but how can I resist? RELEASE THE BRACKEN! There. Sorry, Anne. Big Journalism meet Big Government: Andrew Breitbart was out and about at the garden party, taking out his little flip cam and making jokes about heading to the Media Matters afterparty. His wife was lovely. I asked her how much of the online hoo-ha she followed. She said none of it, and smiled, looking serene. She may be on to something. Matthew "Bust A Move" Morrison with CNN's Leslie Sanchez. Then the "cool kids" in the White House Press Corps came over and threw slushies on them. Just kidding. Then he and I did a romantic duet with fabulous choreography, and learned that our true friends will accepts us as ourselves. No? I spy with my little eye...Jane Hamsher! ...and Andrew Breitbart! And that's not the ONLY thing those two have in common! Er, actually, yeah, that's probably the only thing those two have in common. I'm so bad. I photographed this guy in 2008 and totally forgot his name, and I'm doing the same thing now. Though I think it's Lee. (Sorry, Lee!) He's with FNC's Greg Gutfeld, whose shirt seems to be straining against his massive pecs. >>>NEXT: David Remnick! Kal Penn! Henrik Herzberg! What Bill Burton Thought Of That Mark Leibovich Politico Profile! It's not that Kal Penn isn't perfectly nice. It's just that I really, really, really, really like Glee. Two of my favorite people in this milieu: The Chicago Sun-Times & Politics Daily's Lynn "Really Is Very" Sweet and the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza with two Z's. Obvious puns, made. Ok, Ed Henry, I like your Twitter again: Here's a pic he took of Rahm, MoDo, and the NYT's Carl Hulse (@HillHulse, just joined Twitter. Welcome!). Alas, I got there too late to compliment Rahm on his tie. Speaking of ties: There were a lot of pastel/shimmery/stripey things going on, and while it's a weak segue to dishing about Bill Burton, it'll have to do, since I don't have a pic. I met Burton while I was at the bar chatting with Mark Leibovich, one of my favorite writers (love love loved his Chris Matthews piece), who recently wrote the Mike Allen/Politico profile, "The Man The White House Wakes Up To." Burton greeted Leibovich and said the piece "was very interesting." So there you go. He though the piece was interesting. Oh, right: He was also wearing a very nice tie. New Republic Editor Franklin Foer and The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. Goldberg, formerly of the New Yorker, recounted a story about suggesting to David Remnick that they could put together a really great Jewish magazine. I can't remember if the punchline was, "We do! The New Yorker!" but in my head it certainly was. Non sequitur: Here's Hendrik Hertzberg! Michael Calderone, late of Politico and soon of Yahoo!, and The Nation's Ari Melber flank late arrival Arianna Hufington at the New Yorker party. There was some polite hovering while she confabbed with David and Susan Axelrod, who were, in turn, hovering to talk to me but I was very busy. Host David Remnick - whose iPod the party music was rumored to have come from, which means "I Got My Mind Set On You" by George Harrison and "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl" by Nina Simone, among others - with Arianna. >>>NEXT: Back to the Brunches. Haddad has been called a "force of nature" before, and it's because she is one: How many others could quell the chatter of a sweaty, getting-there-drunk crowd of socially-mobile Washington-and-media-elite-insiders and hangers-on so effectively? And for the record she did it before Matthew Morrison, Joe Mazzella and Chace Crawford even took to the stage. Here they honor the Mother's Day theme by talking about what their moms did for them. Aw. Matthew Morrison said his mom had given him the gift of Pez. Aw? With Howard Kurtz, HuffPo contributor Maegan Carberry and CNN social media wunderkind Eric Kuhn. In the background, Jonathan Capeheart talks energetically, as is his custom. Vanity Fair's Michael Hogan gives Guest of a Guest's Rachelle Hruska advice on her first NerdProm. At the McLaughlin Brunch: Host John McLaughlin with frequent guest, Chicago Tribune longtime columnist Clarence Page. Dennis Quaid was at that event, too, but I resisted telling him how much I enjoyed The Parent Trap. (Which btw you have to enjoy to sit through, as it is a shockingly long movie. Summer camp, London, the ranch, the camping trip, scuttling the wedding - oy!) Huffamily: My ever-charming former boss Arianna Huffington with her birthday-girl daughter Christina (speaking of LiLo above, a dead ringer) and Christina's boyfriend, Ben. They then retreated from the boldfacers to have a delicious lunch of custom-made omelettes in the corner. Actually I'm not sure they had the omelettes, but just in case they didn't I had two. (That McLaughlin omelette station is a highlight of WHCD weekend for me.) McLaughlin Omelette Station. It faces the White House, but when I'm hungry, this is my preferred view. Kiss from a Rose: Kevin Bleyer sports a whimsical, romantic look at the McLaughlin Brunch, with the White House and the perfect backdrop to set off his glorious spring colors. Joe Lockhart is up there as one of my favorite people to have met this weekend. What a nice, welcoming guy (as in, welcoming us to his "Green" brunch at John Podesta's, where the carbon footprint was decidedly less than any other event we attended that weekend). I asked him if he would have advised Obama to skip the Correspondents Dinner and go straight to the Gulf to avoid any nattering about misplaced priorities. He said, eh, they're gonna say it anyway. And as it turned out, it was clearly the right decision, thanks in no part to the gent on the far left of this photo: Kevin Bleyer, with Mediaite columnist and New Media Strategies crackerjack Nisha Chittal, and Rachelle Hruska. We're told that Adrien Grenier was there, too, but he left before we arrived, thus saving me from making some sort of outdated Turtle joke. The Lockhart/Podesta Brunch was the perfect way to end the weekend, filled with cool people and a casual vibe. Here are a few of my favorites: Nisha Chittal again, my Sunday MTP brunch wingwoman, writer Tim Burger (whose band, Suspicious Package, probably spiked in Google hits after the Times Square incident), Adam Hodge who works in communications for the House Oversight Committee, Politico's Kiki Ryan and CBS News' Christine Delargy, both absolute dynamos. After the party is the after-Morning Joe! I didn't see Mika Brzezinski at the event, but my colleage Nisha Chittal did and informed me that Mika was wearing her night-before dress on Morning Joe. To which I say: Aaaaaaall riiiiiiiight! (And to which I also say, they clearly came right from the WHCD to do the show.) And, it should be noted, to go visit EP Chris Licht in the hospital and to report that he is, thankfully, on the mend. That's it. This was a lot of photos. But to be honest, there are still more - so scan our full gallery on the next page if you want to see even more people. Hint: One of them is Bradley Cooper. I'm just sayin'. See you next year, Nerds! >>>FINALLY: Full Gallery of Photos

O Nerdprom! My Nerdprom! Highlights From WHCD 2010

Trump Unleashes Furious Tirade After Iran Talks Collapse — Announces Blockade

'Ridiculous!' MS NOW Hosts Slam Trump Going to UFC Fights as Iran Talks Collapse

Tucker Carlson Grilled About Hosting 'Nazi-Loving' Guests in Testy BBC Interview

Trump Calls In to Fox News After 'Very Friendly' Talks With Iran Collapse

Trump Has TV Wheeled In At $1 Million-Per-Person Fundraiser To Watch Artemis II

O Nerdprom! My Nerdprom! Highlights From WHCD 2010

Most Popular

Comments