Bush, Scarborough Entertain Photogs

Some reports are trickling in from the White House News Photographers Association dinner, otherwise known as the tree that fell in the forest when no one was around this weekend.

Host Joe Scarborough bombed, or as the Examiner reported: “definitely not Scarborough country.” The President’s routine included a series of photos documenting White House photogs in strange positions, and one shot of former spokesman Ari Fleischer prompted Bush to muse that Fleischer is now “making up excuses in the private sector.” Bush explained that another photo of Karl Rove holding aloft a large sign that said “Free Kittens” was the new strategy for selling Social Security reform.

The Houston Chronicle’s Julie Mason, the night’s pool reporter, noted “the general intimacy and conviviality of the evening (friendly shouting, including at the pool).”

Chick Harrity, a long-time photog with the AP and U.S. News and World Report, won the Association’s lifetime achievement award. As part of the evening’s festivities, he was surprised by the now-grown subject of one of his most famous photos–a photo of an orphaned infant in Vietnam.

C-SPAN has the full video of the dinner.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.