CQ Roll Call is hosting its annual “Taste of America” contest. It’s a tournament-style food competition that pits state against state in a March Madness style bracket. Beginning today, readers will decide the winner by voting online for their state’s signature food.

The contest debuted in 2011. All the foods are listed here. Some notables: Virginia – fried oysters; Pennsylvania – Philly Cheesesteak; Ohio – buckeyes; North Dakota — sunflower seeds; Nevada — Chuckwagon Buffet (this is not dog food); Utah – cherry cobbler; Delaware – peach pie; and New York – hotdog.

The final eight states will be part of a reception at Nationals Ballpark prior to the Congressional Baseball Game, of which CQ Roll Call is a founding sponsor, where the winner will be announced on June 13. Publicist Sujata Mitra explained: “Members of Congress and their offices from the Elite 8 are invited to participate at the reception where the top 8 dishes are served and the winner is announced. It’s been a lot of fun the last two years and we’re looking forward to seeing who makes it to the Elite 8 this year!”

The rules… Read more

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

Somewhere, someplace is an archery range with FNC Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry‘s face as the bull’s-eye.

CQ Roll Call White House Correspondent Steven Dennis let his White House Correspondents’ Association membership lapse. He renewed it, but decisions had been made. The publication isn’t getting all the seats it wants this year. It’s a better deal than some pubs, which got shut out entirely. Still, this year there will be one table for CQ Roll Call. No extra tickets possible. Pretty strange considering CQ Roll Call has purchased tables at the WHCD for the past 20 years. A recent exchange between the publication and Henry, this year’s president of the WHCA and once the HOH writer for Roll Call, made it clear that the answer was no and that the seats had sold out.

We asked CQ Roll Call to comment on the matter.  Read more

that it’s raining at CQ Roll Call. As in literally raining. Water is falling from the ceiling in the kitchen. They’ve placed a garbage can underneath the leak.

What can we say? When it rains it pours.

The Economist Group, which owns CQ Roll Call, recently made changes to shift resources from Roll Call to the overall digital product. A bunch of reporters now have new bosses in various departments. We’re sure the leak in the kitchen has no connection whatsoever to the recent shifts.

We requested comment from the PR department. Publicist Sujata Mitra told “Yes, a pipe broke, we called building management and they’re taking care of it.”

Five Roll Call reporters  received word Wednesday that they now have a new boss. Instead of Editor David Rapp, they’ll now report to a different editor. What’s more: Their work will now be behind a paywall as it appears on CQ.com.

The big switch is part of a plan to realign resources and inject them into the overall digital operation. As sources inside the publication explained to FishbowlDC, the move allows the company to lower Roll Call‘s operating costs while they avoid laying off employees. Hypothetically speaking, insiders explain the shift could help if The Economist Group decides to sell or close Roll Call (athough they have not indicated there is no plan to do either).

Despite the fact that the two newsrooms are now fully integrated, confusion among readers still exists as some Roll Call reporters are still resisting the idea of having CQ invade their Roll Call. But they’ll have to adjust. Stories bylined by these reporters will still appear in the Roll Call print edition. If you’re a CQ.com subscriber, all Roll Call stories appear on CQ.com. In turn,  CQ stories pertaining to policy news of the day appear on RollCall.com and the Roll Call print edition.

CQ Roll Call sources tell us tensions are high as some of the affected reporters were less than enthused by the initial news. Some of those called on to make the switch include White House Correspondent Steven Dennis, who is switching bosses but will continue to maintain his regular beat as a CQ Roll Call reporter, House Leadership reporter Daniel Newhauser and Humberto Sanchez, who covers the Senate. Others affected include Adriel Bettelheim, who will write a new CQ Morning Briefing newsletter that starts Monday, Kate Ackley, and Eliza Carney.

CQ Roll Call brass considers the move to be positive. In a memo dispatched to staff Thursday from Susan Benkelman…

Read more

While some publications around town still have no designated spokesperson, CQ Roll Call is promoting its Manager of Media Relations.

The news outlet announced today that Sujata Mitra has been named Director of Marketing Communications, reporting to Valerie Voci, V.P., of Marketing.

See the abundance of praise for Mitra… Read more

That Taegan Goddard, a blogger who writes Political Wire, has an announcement coming in the new year as his four-year contract with CQ Roll Call expires. Sources tells us that Goddard and CQ Roll Call are in the process of breaking up. When asked about it, Goddard replied, “My four year agreement with CQ Roll Call expires early next year. I’ll have something to announce soon and will be sure you’ll be among the first to know.” When pressed, he added, “It’s been a pleasure to work with them [CQ Roll Call]. I have some exciting ventures planned for next year but nothing I’m able to announce yet.” Earlier in the year, we reported that Goddard was hoping to secure a new deal with either Politico or National Journal. At the moment, there are no signs that he’s headed for Politico.

We’ve requested a comment from CQ Roll Call. UPDATE: Sujata Mitra, Spokesperson for CQ Roll Call,  wrote back to say, “No comment at this time.”