SAY what you will about the Conde Nast crew, they know how to throw good parties – even in these troubled times.
Yesterday, Steve Florio and the Italian Guys gathered at Da Silvano (see Page Six) while last week the company held its much watched Christmas bash for the chief editors, publishers and corporate brass at the Four Seasons.
Sources say that the event was bigger than ever this year with the addition of the Golf Digest top brass for the first time. Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde, who was given a prime spot at the elbow of S.I. Newhouse, Jr., chairman of Advance and Conde Nast, at table No. 1.
Also breaking bread with the boss was the award-winning New Yorker Editor-in-Chief David Remnick. David Carey, New Yorker publisher who shared the honors with Si last year, was apparently banished. This year he broke bread with Editorial Director James Truman, Fairchild CEO Mary Berner, Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichel and Alexandra “Sandy” Golinkin, publisher of Lucky.
Remnick will not make the separate party for The New Yorker staffers Thursday night, however. He’s heading to Israel for a few weeks and is not expected to be back until Christmas.
The table brokers also took pains to demonstrate that Richard “Mad Dog” Beckman, Vogue publisher, is no longer in the corporate dog house. He was front and center at table No. 1 this year.
Graydon Carter, who famously mixed up the dates a few years ago and missed the bash, was on the scene this year.
He was sitting at table No. 3 headed by Chief Operating Officer Charles “Chuck” Townsend – seen as a rising power table. Townsend was recently named to a top title in a new umbrella group, Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc., which combines back shop operations of Conde Nast, Fairchild and Golf Digest under one roof.
He has been getting increasing face time with Newhouse. Also at the new power table, Fairchild Chairman Patrick McCarthy, corporate p.r. maven Maurie Perl and Allure Editor-in-Chief Linda Wells.
Mitchell Fox, the one-time Vanity Fair publisher and now CEO of the Golf Digest properties was exiled to an outer table – but he had good company- GQ Editor-in-Chief Art Cooper and Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of flagship Vogue.
But one insider said Fox is taking measures to make sure that Si doesn’t forget him. He’s moving his Golf Digest sales offices into the Conde Nast skyscraper in Times Square, taking over space on the seventh floor that was vacated last year by Graydon Carter and the Vanity Fair editorial team. (They moved higher in the skyscraper).
Sources say Fox is taking over Graydon’s old corner office. “It’s so Mitch,” said one insider.
Fox plans to sublease some of the old Golf Digest sales offices on Broadway.
Steve Florio, Conde Nast CEO, still holds sway at the No. 2 table. This year, he broke bread with younger brother Tom Florio, publisher of GQ, Glamour Publisher Suzanne Grimes, Lucky Editor-in-Chief Kim France, Architectural Digest Publisher Amy Churgin and Beth Brenner.
The party was more low key, in part because many of the magazines in the empire are suffering along with the economy, said one of our spies.
“There was not much sense of infighting or comedy.
“Steve gave a good talk, and Si spoke about integrating the larger whole. But I don’t think this is the year that anyone wants to freeze in their memory economically.”
The biggest surprise of the day, sitting in the public dining area at the Four Seasons that day, was none other than onetime Si favorite and now bitter rival, Tina Brown, editor in chief of Talk.
*
“Ho. Ho. Ho. You’re Fired!”
The once sleepy Rodale was buzzing again for all the wrong reasons. Steve Murphy – onetime matre’d at Maxwell’s Plum and now the company president – played the anti-Santa Claus and shook up Men’s Health and the sports group.
Gone in the shake-up was 20-year company veteran Ed Fones, who was a senior vice president and managing director of the Men’s Health brand worldwide, and Paul Turcotte, an industry veteran who was the U.S. publisher.
Men’s Health was reporting a 7 percent drop in ad pages to 644 ad pages through November. But that meant it was outperforming the industry at large, which is showing an 11 percent decline in ad pages year to date.
Moving on up is Tom Beusse, who was head of the sports group and now will add the Men’s Health Group to his roster. Also moving up is Men’s Health International Publisher Mary Ann Bekkedahl, who becomes worldwide publisher.
The Conde Nast Holiday Luncheon at The Four Seasons
Table 1
Si Newhouse, Jr.
Cindi Leive
Richard Beckman
David Remnick
Jerry Tarde
Table 2
Steve Florio
Tom Florio
Kim France
Suzanne Grimes
Amy Churgin
Beth Brenner
Table 3
Chuck Townsend
Graydon Carter
Patrick McCarthy
Linda Wells
Nancy Berger
Maurie Perl
Table 4
James Truman
Ruth Reichl
Sandy Golinkin
David Carey
Chris Anderson
Gina Sanders
Mary Berner
Table 5
Steve Newhouse
Lucy Danziger
Dominique Browning
Barbara Fairchild
Paul Newman
Lisa Hughes
Outer boroughs: Anna Wintour, Art Cooper