White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

VARIETY Comes to Washington // TRUMP Cover

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Variety Magazine Cover --April 2016

Variety Magazine Cover — April 2016

With the White House Correspondents’ Dinner coming up this weekend, Hollywood and Politics is the topic on the tip of everyone’s tongues – it also happens to be the subject of Variety magazines cover this month.

A few years ago The Hollywood Reporter co-hosted a party with Google during the White House Correspondents weekend and this year Variety, a long time Hollywood entertainment Bible is following in its footsteps with its coverage and events in Washington. Lead political correspondent Ted Johnson and his Variety editors are co-hosting a party with the SAG AFTRA Foundation and the Washington Post to “celebrate journalism” on Friday night in honor of the Correspondents’ Dinner.

Variety 2016 WHCD Friday party

Variety’s “A Celebration of Journalism” White House Correspondents’ Dinner Party on Friday, April 29th

Reuters Guests: Football Kings Odell Beckham Jr and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller + House of Cards Favorite Michael Kelly Join White House Correspondents’ Dinner Brigade

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House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey, Michael Kelly, and Corey Stoll join Ted Sarandos, Dana Brunetti and David Axelrod

House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey, Michael Kelly, and Corey Stoll join Ted Sarandos, Dana Brunetti and David Axelrod at the White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

 

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Joanna Coles, Navid Negahban, Dana Bash and Bloomberg guest and Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery at the 2013 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

Reuters is pulling out all the stops with stars from Broad City, House of Cards and Downton Abbey on their tables this year, alongside the two NFL athletes. We wonder if they are hosting their annual Sunday Brunch?

THOMSON REUTERS

Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants wide receiver
Michelle Dockery, actress, Downton Abbey
Ilana Glazer, actress, Broad City
Abbi Jacobson, actress, Broad City
Michael Kelly, actor House of Cards
Von Miller, Denver Broncos linebacker, Super Bowl MVP

DJ Khaled, DJ Steve Aoki and Bill Nye, The Science Guy to make a splash at Huffington Post’s Table at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner

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Classic shot of Arianna Huffington and Matt Drudge from the 2005 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

Classic shot of Arianna Huffington and Matt Drudge from the 2005 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

It’s that time of the year again, when politics and paparazzi come together to celebrate the 96th White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 30th, and the names of the A-list celebrity guests are filtering in.

The annual correspondent’s dinner at the Washington Hilton is a black-tie affair for 2600 of the most well known celebrities, politicos and journalists in America.

This year the comedian for the evening is Larry Wilmore, host of Comedy Central’s “Nightly Show.” Every year, the news organizations compete to bring the biggest and brightest stars to join their journalists for the evening’s festivities. The Huffington Post is leading the charge with their quirky but cool mix of corporate, media and music stars, not to mention Arianna Huffington herself!

THE HUFFINGTON POST
Arianna Huffington, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post
Charles Porch, Instagram head of global creative programs
Shannon Mattingly, Facebook strategic-partner manager
Steve Aoki, DJ and Electro House Musician
Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott evp and chief marketing and commercial officer
Josh “The Fat Jew” Ostrovsky, Pop-Culture Commentator and Model
Rosanna Pansino, YouTube star
Aidan Alexander, social media star
Zach King, Vine star
Cameron Dallas, social media star
Bill Nye, The Science Guy
Kevin Plank, Under Armour founder and CEO
DJ Khaled, record producer, radio personality and DJ

Broadway’s Hamilton Cast Dazzles at the White House

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Cast members perform musical selections from the Broadway musical "Hamilton" in the East Room of the White House, March 14, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

(Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

Barack and Michelle Obama paid tribute to the performing arts on Monday with the cast of the smash Broadway musical Hamilton, who joined forces to host a full day of workshops, performances, and panels for students. The cast comes to the White House at a time when writer/composer and star of the show Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wildly popular hip-hop retelling of Alexander Hamilton’s life is selling out theaters at over $1000 a seat.

The Hamilton cast performed highlights from the musical to a packed crowd in the East Room. According to the First Lady, “We wanted to change things up here in the White House a little bit. We wanted to open the doors really wide to a bunch of different folks who usually don’t get access to this place.” Lin-Manuel Miranda even performed a freestyle for the President in a video which has nearly 8 million views.

You can watch the freestyle here.

David Adler, WHC Insider Co-founder, Toasted by Washington Post!

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The Washington Post recently profiled the evolving nature of the Washington, D.C. party scene as discussed at the Elevate conference for Washington event planners. Our own David Adler was feted in the Style section cover story.

“Nobody’s an attendee anymore,” says David Adler, founder of BizBash, the events media company that hosted the conference. “You’re all participants — whether you like it or not.”

The article by Roxanne Roberts explains how “the old formula of cocktails, dinner and endless speeches is giving way to artisanal menus, designer mixologists and charging stations. Plus hashtags, live Instagram feeds and anything else that will transform another boring evening into a talker.”

Read the full article on washingtonpost.com: Reinventing the Washington party: Cut the speeches, pump up the schmoozing

Washington Women Technology Network honors Megan Smith, White House Chief Technology Officer

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It was a mix of Silicon Valley and Washington veterans at the Jefferson Hotel for the Washington Women Technology Network (WWTN) lunch honoring Megan Smith, the White House Chief Technology Officer.

Connie Milstein, Hilary Rosen and Tammy Haddad co-hosted the event with Karen Appleton, SVP Industry and Founder of Box.org. Guests heard from Smith, the president’s top technology adviser, about plans to bring technology solutions to some of the country’s biggest challenges.

“We have started a ‘cyber-sprint’…very quickly to audit everything that’s going on and make a couple really fast upgrades that we need to just fill a bunch of holes. … I think what you’re seeing is a real collaborative set of people coming together and starting to work together,” Smith explained.

Smith is also leading the charge to bring more experienced technology minds to Washington: “The great news is we have through…the Presidential Innovation Fellows and U.S. Digital Service…a bunch of rock star people who are at the top of their game.”

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Haddad asked Smith to explain how she is attracting young talent to Washington: “We just did our first map hack-a-thon in the White House, and we were working on MapGive which is the State Department…The community of mappers mapped, in 48 hours, 150,000 buildings and over 40,000 kilometers of roads in Nepal to help responders. So this idea of the crowd and leveraging the crowd to get things done. …Mapping is important for so many things. …The reason I bring this up is that GOTUS (Geographer of the United States)…what does GOTUS want? What does POTUS want? George Washington was an incredible geographer and surveyor. We’ve always had tech. Washington started the Army Corps of Engineers before the country was founded. …We’ve always used technology, we just need to keep remembering that. So constancy of values…constancy of re-invention. …You can go get the American people interested…as long as you’re letting them come do the things they believe will be the right choices and giving them space. That’s why it’s important to make sure we have technical people at the principal level.”

Smith on lessons learned from healthcare.gov: “It’s really to the President’s credit that…the experience they had…to see the more agile way that techies work now…they’re like, ‘hey we’re missing this in the leadership and in government. …So that gave us the ability to establish the U.S. Digital Service which is now rolling out. …What we want is Americans to come and rotate through.”

Haddad asked Smith to explain what they are doing to get better Internet access across the country: “We have a project called Connectivity Deserts, which is where the Internet is missing. …One of the best things is modernization of the E-Rate program…the way Federal dollars are coming out of things like the Universal Fund. …There is this pool that can flow to different things. …One of the things that we’re adding into that conversation as the CTO team is finding tech people who are those connectivity teammates who tend to live in the vendor world, and having a few of them on our team…so we are informed by someone who speaks the language.”

Download the Washington Insider podcast from the event.

WWTN guests included FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Didem Nisanci, Jen Kuhn, Kelley McCormick, Juleanna Glover, Holly Page, Melissa Moss and Heather Podesta.

Top government technology experts included Box’s Sonny Hashmi, a former General Services Administration CTO; Ann Dunkin, CIO of the EPA; and Christine Harada, acting Chief of Staff at the GSA.

Media was well represented by Betsy Fischer Martin, Jennifer Maguire and Kim Kingsley.

Washington Women Technology Network is a women’s leadership forum founded by Connie Milstein, Tammy Haddad and Hilary Rosen to include women in technology, media and politics.

View photos from the event.

Watch the livestream from the event.

Meet-Up for Childhood Freedom

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2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, is joining supporters to celebrate freedom for the world’s children — freedom from slavery, labor, childhood hunger, trafficking and illiteracy. This peaceful gathering will honor the collective work being accomplished combined with a reminder of the significant work ahead to make childhood freedom a priority on both national and international agendas.

The meet-up will take place Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 4 pm at the Lincoln Memorial. All are welcome. More information at lincoln.satyarthi.org.

House of Cards Creator Beau Willimon Wants to Put an End to Sexual Assault

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“With her students, she (Katie Cappiello) wrote SLUT: The Play — about a 16-year-old girl who’s sexually assaulted by three guy friends, and the backlash that follows. Slut debuted in New York in February 2013, with the same teenage girls who helped develop the project as its actresses.

“After getting attention from the likes of Hillary Clinton and Amy Poehler, Cappiello is preparing for Slut’s Washington premiere. On May 19 at the Warner Theatre, theatergoers will catch a glimpse of Beau Willimon, the creator of House of Cards and a big supporter of the project, who will be speaking alongside US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive, and others.”

Read more via Washingtonian: House of Cards Creator Beau Willimon Wants to Put an End to Sexual Assault

2015 White House Correspondents Garden Brunch Coverage

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‘House of Cards’ star defends WHCD as Washington’s ‘fun night’
“Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) proved to be quite the busy social butterfly. Donning a Memphis Grizzlies cap, sunglasses and a tan jacket, Cohen buzzed around an indoor buffet area and chatted up “Game of Thrones” actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on the HBO show. Then it was on to Sports Illustrated model Hannah Davis, with whom a smiling Cohen was seen having an extended conversation. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was eyed politely ducking out of the way of model Chanel Iman, as the 24-year-old snapped a photo with some gal pals.”

Journos, Stars Descend on DC for WHCD Garden Brunch, Meet Jane the Virgin and House of Cards Stars
“And who’s the star everyone wants to meet? Katie Couric tells me she can’t wait to shake hands with Gina Rodriguez, Golden Globe winning star of “Jane the Virgin.” Couric, who’s been doing great reports for Yahoo News and ABC, says, “She’s hot right now. Everyone is interested in her.”

White House Correspondents’ Dinner Attracts Celebs, Politicians
“(Vice CEO Shane) Smith would also make an appearance at Tammy Haddad’s brunch the following morning, and later at the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg after party. When asked why he was in D.C., he said he was there to secure White House accreditation for Vice, which plans on opening a bigger office in the city in preparation for coverage of the 2016 elections.”

WHCD Diary: What it’s really like to attend
“WHCD day starts off with a lavish brunch at the beautiful Georgetown home of Mark & Sally Ein — if you’re lucky enough to score an invite, that is. It’s a real who’s-who of Washington rubbing elbows with many of the celebrities in town for the dinner.”

My Weekend in Washington by Constance Zimmer
“There’s always a beautiful brunch hosted by Tammy Haddad with food, drinks, great causes like Dog Tag Bakery and of course more politics. The scene at the brunch is always a mixture of hungover people from the night before blended with an air of excitement about the night to come — a more casual setting where you can get yet another chance to have some interesting conversations with people who don’t cross your path everyday, like Chris Matthews.”

White House Correspondents’ Weekend: More Mindful of Journalists, Still Fun
“The annual Garden Brunch on R Street in Georgetown benefited Dog Tag Bakery and Blue Star Families.”

The Hangover: WHCD Weekend in Review
“Best Brunch: Tammy Haddad‘s Garden Brunch”

Norman Reedus and Lauren Cohan attend 101st White House Correspondents’ Dinner
“In addition to the big event on Saturday night, Cohen and Reedus also attended Capitol File’s WHCD Weekend Welcome Reception with Cecily Strong at The British Embassy and the 22nd Annual White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch on Saturday afternoon.”

Anne V Flaunts Small Baby Bump at Garden Brunch
“The 29-year-old pregnant supermodel was joined by Hannah Davis, Gillian Jacobs, Darby Stanchfield, Norman Reedus, Carla Gugino, Alfre Woodard, Kelly Rutherford, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, his husband Justin Mikita, J.C. Chasez, and House of Cards‘ Michael Kelly.”

Star-Gazing at the 2015 White House Correspondent’s Dinner!
“The legendary White House Correspondent’s Brunch focused on two veterans-focused non profits: Blue Star Families and Dog Tag Bakery. “Jane The Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez, supermodel Chanel Iman, figure skater Tara Lipinski, *NSYNC’s J.C. Chasez, and “Community” star Gillian Jacobs were just some of the famous faces seen mingling at pre-party of all pre-parties.”

White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner: Inside the Weekend’s Biggest Media and Tech Events
“Here are a selection of some of the most creative and inspiring brunches, receptions, after-parties, and more from the weekend.”

The White House Hits Its ‘F**k It’ Phase
“Katie Couric couldn’t move an inch without yet another photo request, and had to be led by this reporter through the mob to the bar—a prominent Washington political activist admitted that support of Hillary is more dutiful than enthusiastic this time around.”