For its White House Correspondents’ Dinner party, BuzzFeed brought its entire politics team to D.C., but one of its members was noticeably absent from the party.

Andrew Kaczynski, the prolific tweeter and Internet video resurfacer, skipped out. He was at the actual Dinner, the one BuzzFeed had failed to secure a table at. CSPAN brought him as a guest.

“It must be nice, right,” BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith told FishbowlDC that night. “He’s like our celebrity.”

Even without their own version of a celebrity in attendance, the party was packed with hundreds of people, causing long waits at the bar, but even worse: Long lines outside to even get in. Senior Press Director Ashley McCollum manned the mess outside. At one point the general guest line stretched almost 100 people-deep.

For Dorsey Shaw, BuzzFeed‘s resident TV news watcher, it was his first time down from New York since the publication celebrated the launch of it’s Washington bureau in early August last year. He told us he was disappointed that he wouldn’t have time to see the monuments and other sights but that he’d make sure to schedule them in next time he’s in town. (He ended up being able to schedule in some time to see them Sunday, we hear.)

What and who else did we see? Read more

Rules are rules and BuzzFeed‘s Senior Press Director Ashley McCollum isn’t one to mess with on that front. Some TV network employees now know that.

As has been documented, after failing to secure a table at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, BuzzFeed hosted its own highly-attended party Saturday just a couple blocks away at Jack Rose whiskey bar. It seemed that anyone who didn’t make it into the dinner was at the BF party and those who were late were stuck waiting in long lines to get in.

We were told that night that a gaggle of network employees tried jumping ahead of the lines to enter the party but were told by McCollum they’d have to wait. With a slight air of entitlement, they tried talking their way in but McCollum wasn’t having it. She stood firm. After all, the party had reached an uncomfortable level of fullness with party goers nearly on top of one another at the bar, sweating like Newt Gingrich at a Zumba class.

Sensing their defeat, they stormed off.

“When she’s on, she’s on,” McCollum’s colleague Evan McMorris-Santoro, BF‘s White House correspondent, would later tell FishbowlDC. McMorris-Santoro had also tried having some of his friends skip to the front of the line Friday. He told us that McCollum didn’t let that happen either.

The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi gave fellow comedian Conan O’Brien a big thumbs up today, insisting he had the best joke of the night.

“Yeah, I thought he was good,” said Mandvi. “It’s a tough gig talking to people while they’re eating and following President Obama. I thought he was very funny and had the best joke of the night — the Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow joke.”

The joke involved comparing Obama and House Speaker John Boehner getting together to CNN’s Anderson Cooper and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “Nothin’s gonna happen,” he cracked.

The highlight of Mandvi’s weekend? “I guess meeting Michelle from Downton Abbey. I’m a huge Downton Abbey fan.”

Mandvi’s impromptu review of O’Brien’s performance was told to FishbowlDC today at the Thomson-Reuters/Yahoo! News post prom night brunch at Hay Adams, where a variety of journalists were buzzing around the room.

Spotted in the mix: BuzzFeed‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro and publicist Ashley McCollum, who, while making fun of her own boat shoes, said it made her feel so good being at such a posh party. Also dotting the room was WaPo‘s Erik Wemple (from the ERIK WEMPLE BLOG) and Jack Shafer (where does he work again, Reuters?) as well as The Hill‘s Emily Goodin and Judy Kurtz (Howiella!) and Washingtonian‘s Carol Joynt. A journo who shall remain nameless and genderless somehow sneaked his or her way into the party without being on the list (yes, crashing a party, even at the opulent Hay Adams, can happen.)

Quotable: “If this wasn’t here I’d be shitting my pants.” — FBDC’s Eddie Scarry standing on the balcony of the Hay Adams, safely inside the wrought-iron railing.

With the White House Correspondents Dinner a little over a week away, most news outlets have made their plans. They’ve invited guests, scored party invites and rented tuxes. One outlet that won’t be representing at the annual nerd prom is Buzzfeed. Despite their application for tables, the WHCD has denied them tables at this year’s event. We have to wonder if WHCD President Ed Henry has turned this into a personal squabble. Buzzfeed’s Michael Hastings wrote about his dislike of Henry in his book. We wrote about that here. Maybe Henry is a little touchy with his tables?

Despite the snub, Buzzfeed is turning WHCD lemons into lemonade. They are throwing their own “BBQ with Buzzfeed” DURING the Correspondents Dinner. It’s a ballsy move that will allow folks without tickets to the actual dinner to party with Buzzfeed. We hear the entire NY based Politics team, including founder Jonah Peretti, is making the trek.

More details. Read more

BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith is a thief, a “jerk” and a “shill for right-wing smear merchants.” That’s according to the photographer whose picture Smith has used as his Twitter avatar for more than a year.

Yesterday Daniel Sieradski, a self-employed photographer in New York, went after Smith on Twitter. “I would really like Smith to clarify his relationship to the Washington Free Beacon, Emergency Committee for Israel and Josh Block,” Sieradski said. “He obviously works for them.” The common link is a pro-Israel cause. The Emergency Committee for Israel is a pro-Israel political group, led by The Weekly Standard‘s William Kristol. Block is president of The Israel Project, also a pro-Israel political group. And The Free Beacon was founded in part by Michael Goldfarb, a well-known pro-Israel political activist.

Smith has reported on or published reports on these groups in the past and has paid loose compliment to Goldbarb in the NYT. For those six-degrees-of-separation connections, Sieradski believes Smith is “a shill for right-wing smear merchants.”

And for that, Sieradski, a self-described “left-wing supporter of a progressive Israel,” wants Smith to stop using the photograph he took. He tweeted at Smith: “I would still also really like [him] to cease and desist from using my copyrighted photograph as his avatar without my consent.” Sieradski also linked to his personal Flickr account that contained the original photo, taken at the American Jewish Press Association 2008 Annual Conference.

“About time to change the avatar anyway,” Smith replied. Read more

Quotes of the Day

Convo Between Two Journos: BFF’s discuss Adele, Chris Brown, Rihanna

NBC’s Luke Russert: “Loved how Adele didn’t even acknowledge Chris Brown before her hug to Rihanna. #Grammys”

Politico‘s Jake Sherman: “Good. Guy is scum.”

Female journos outraged over Fun’s capris pants

“So, man capris are not ok. We need a national conversation about that, for Fun.” — HuffPost‘s Elise Foley.

“After tonight, we shan’t speak of this again.” — NBC White House Producer Shawna Thomas.

NPR correspondent’s daughter succumbs to Justin Bieber

“For the first time ever, Kayleigh uttered the name Justin Bieber tonight. I pray it is the last we hear of him.” — NPR’s Andy Carvin.

Dating a woman from BuzzFeed means…

“My boyfriend who is not on Twitter: ‘Please don’t send a tweet to all your friends about this conversation.’ #doesthiscount#hellneverknow.”  — BuzzFeed Publicist Ashley McCollum.

Politico Playbook publish time: 7:53 a.m.

Guiding Sophia’s Light

“The reason we don’t stay committed today and love forever is because we analyze, think 2 much, & give up 2 quickly. #LostValentine” — theGrio and Essence’ Sophia Nelson.

Weekend party hazards

“When white girls go ‘WOOOO!’ and throw up hands it’s a eye hazard for tall bamas like me. #giantproblems #ouch” –BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton.

Hooked on ‘Homeland’: NBC’s David Gregory

“Only Homeland has given me as many headaches as the Wire from watching episode after episode without a break. ‘You feel me?’” — NBC “MTP” Host David Gregory.

Editor encounters enigma of city living

“Randomly oracular statements from lightly medicated schizophrenics u pass on street is one of the curious elements of urban life.” — TPM founder Josh Marshall.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“Started Cycle with @cyclemeter at 3:30 PM, on a new route, see cyclemeter.com/74b1bad6b8971c…, Cyclemeter will speak your replies to me.” — DCist‘s Ben Freed. Speak your replies? Do our ears deceive us? We just may have to try this, because why wouldn’t we want to converse with Ben Freed while he’s “cycling” around town?

Why Gov. Christie’s heft is a plus (no pun intended)… Read more

Asked to describe the idea behind “BuzzFeed Brews,” John Stanton says, “It’s like a first date. Get them a little drunk and relaxed so they can talk about things people don’t normally hear them talk about.”

Stanton is the Washington Bureau Chief for BuzzFeed and last night was the launch of the website’s new series wherein newsmakers are invited to sit before an audience and answer questions. And there’s free beer.

It’s essentially the same thing as Politico‘s Playbook Breakfast, “minus the stale bagels, plus the beer,” cracked BuzzFeed‘s Politics Editor McKay Coppins to FishbowlDC. (The site’s publicist Ashley McCollum boasts that she came up with that description.)

The first guest: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). For roughly 45 minutes Rubio answered questions from BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith about immigration, gay marriage and the future of the Republican Party. Of course, lengthy segments here and there were spent on why Rubio prefers Tupac over Biggie Smalls (“His lyrics are more insightful in my opinion.”) and whether he had to “think long and hard” before letting his son play recreational football. Stanton said that’s another thing distinguishing the Brews series from Playbook Breakfast, whose audience may not be interested in those things. Read more

Quotes of the Day

“Dog park at dusk.” — Syndicated lefty columnist and Bullfight Strategies’ Karl Frisch. With accompanying photograph.

The Observer

“Softball-sized grapefruits are a satisfying reminder that winter is not a permanent state.” — NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

Editor has quite an imagination

“Starting a band called Beyonce’s Child where Beyonce adopts me and we get matching hairdos” — WaPo editor Lindsay Applebaum.

Politico reporter urges coworker to run for office

“Now getting campaign emails from reporters for the Senate Periodical Press Gallery Executive Committee election. Where’re [sic] yours @mkraju [Politico's Manu Raju]?” — Politico transportation reporter Burgess Everett. Raju’s title is Senior Congressional Reporter.

Journo Love from Ann Coulter

“@EmilyMiller of the Wash Times was just interviewed on Fox News. She’s a better spokesman for gun rights than Wayne LaPierre.” — Conservative commentator and author Ann Coulter.

Reminder: BuzzFeed Brews, the new interview series, begins tonight at The 201 Bar on Capitol Hill. Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, the interviewer, may or may not let you in. Not to worry, Washington Bureau Chief and tonight’s emcee, John Stanton, will sneak you in the back door. Beware of publicist Ashley McCollum, who likes to stir up trouble. Festivities kick off at 7 p.m.

Convo Between Two Journos concerns Bloomberg‘s snack prowess. Read more

Quotes of the Day

Dear Fishbowlers: Various things stole our attention this morning, so just for today we’re offering an afternoon version of Morning Chatter. Won’t be a habit.

The “sexy-ass” Michael Tomasky

“@bpshow always good 2 get up early in san fran 2 see the sexy-ass Michael Tomasky on the tube. Bill, have him on more often!!” — Rhonda. Tomasky is a special correspondent for Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

Spotted in D.C…. BuzzFeed publicist Ashley McCollum, who was visited from Manhattan, drinking Jasmine-flavored tea last night at a mysterious tea house off Dupont Circle. We hear she later dined with BuzzFeed‘s Zeke Miller and Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

A word of advice to D.C. flacks

“Tip of day for DC flacks: If subj line of your email simply reads ‘Press Release,’ there is zero chance I am looking at it.” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Um, he’s has what?

“Hint: He’s white and has a penis.” — Metro Weekly political reporter, Justin Snow, reaction to a tweet from National Journal that asks, “Who will replace Jack Lew as Chief of Staff?”

Reporter gets yogurt news from Sen. Chuck Schumer

“Inbox: ‘SCHUMER REVEALS FAGE YOGURT TO BE SERVED AT THE PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL CEREMONIES ­ PRESIDENT WILL GET A TASTE OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY’ — Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner.

Important Q’s to Ponder: “Do I go to the gym four nights in a row? Am I that serious about losing weight?” — Randy Shulman, co-publisher of Metro Weekly.

A typical Washington scene setter, complete with doughy men who haven’t seen a gym in awhile…Also: see who’s now on the FishbowlDC Fan Club Board…

Read more

While heading to pre-tape an appearance for MSNBC’s “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on Friday, BuzzFeed‘s Chris Geidner broke two of his four eyes right in half.

Sadly, he was forced to sit through the segment largely unable to see and without his usual stylish frames resting on his face.

BuzzFeed‘s publicist Ashley McCollum forwarded a photo of the tortoiseshell casualty. Note that they’re Burberry brand (fancy!).

Though his vision may have been a blur, Geidner didn’t let it show on camera… Read more