Dinner, Discourse and Dish: MB Hosts Women’s Mag Editors at Four Seasons

By Rachel on October 28, 2005 7:04 AM

Wednesday night MB Founder and Cyberhostess (and Fishbowl boss-lady) Laurel Touby hosted MB’s third annual “Dinner + (Dis)course” event for women’s magazine editors at the Four Seasons, featuring heavy hitters from across the NYC magazine world: women who can whip off headlines about hemlines with a dek always on deck, find the Zeitgeist in every feature, and make an entire magazine’s worth of material better with an eagle-eyed stroke of the proverbial red pen — usually while looking pretty damn put together and sporting some objectively hot footwear. (To the men who were in attendance: you do all that, too, but hopefully in slightly different footwear. Though here at Fishbowl we do not judge). We do, however, have no doubt that they got where they were by studiously avoiding awful puns like the one above.

Gracious co-hosts Janice Min of Us Weekly, Cindi Leive of Glamour, Brandon Holley of Jane, Isobel McKenzie-Price of All You, Mandi Norwood of Shop Etc., and Kate White of Cosmopolitan gamely gave up dessert to sit on a panel for the group, answering questions submitted by those assembled (and, Laurel surmised, by their assistants who were unfortuanately not on hand to reap the knowledge).

The group was primed for the discussion by the cocktail hour and delicious dinner preceding it, accompanied by wines (and spirits!) thoughtfully provided by sponsor Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard (the Zinfandel was Zinfandelicious! Damn, did it again). While enjoying juicy steak/succulent fish/delicious risotto the crowd merrily chatted over talking points, both provided (how is the internet rocking the print world?) and unprovided (Judy Judy Judy Rove Libby Rove). I was lucky to be seated at a lively table featuring Ellen Kampinsky, Senior Editor, News at Glamour, Stephanie Abarbanel, Senior Articles Editor of Woman’s Day, Elaine Lafferty, Features Editor of More as well as More Executive Editor Joanna Coles, who was wearing a pair of very funky flower-printed pants. I assured them that our conversation would not be reproduced on this blog, but suffice to say that I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for a great dinner, ladies!

While we tucked into our peach tartlets a la mode/ice cream sundaes with chestnut sauce/decadent brownie-mousse cake/after-dinner port, the members of the panel chatted about their own experiences and thoughts on the biz as a whole. Brandon Holley said that yes, she did miss having models on the cover more because there was more creative freedom with a model. Mandi Norwood knew at 20 that she wanted to be an editor-in-chief, and plotted out a five-year plan to get there (she did it, too). Janice Min thanks the good Lord for the help of her husband in balancing work and two children, but said she’s able to make it work thanks to the reliable weekly schedule (no weekend work at Us! Whee!). Kate White shakes her head in bewilderment at late nights; Cosmo staffers are encouraged to leave by 5 and take work home if that makes life easier (hmm, taking the Love Lab work home, now that’s an idea!). WWD’s Jeff Bercovici asked the group how celeb mags like Us Weekly had changed the landscape; Cindi Leive said that Us had really driven home the importance of visuals. Another audience question: how much influence did publicists wield? Min professed relief at being a more events-driven weekly; she said she was far less at the mercy of publicists that way.

Which led to the big question of the night: Were Nick and Jessica broken up or what? You know, despite the fact that it came up twice and the crowd rumbled in approval, we never actually found out. Min’s no dummy; she knows she’s got a good few more covers to eke out on this one. And we’ll all be reading.

After the panel concluded, handshakes, card-exchanges and warm farewells were exchanged as the party broke up. Downstairs, attendees were gifted with a big lovely bag from Shopping.com which contained a pearly-shiny pink laptop bag, a mouspad with an ergonomically-friendly gel wristpad, a $25 gift certificate to Diamond.com (because, hello, what’s a girl’s best friend?), a purse mirror and a USB plug that I’m sure someone who knows about computers would know what to do with. Even so, fun presents! Thanks, Shopping.com!

Goody bag in one hand and purse/cellphone in the other, well-fed, well-watered and well-discoursed, the crowd dispersed. We didn’t know whether Nick and Jessica were together, but we would, eventually. That’s the thing about magazines: they’re worth the wait.

Celebrated Women’s Mag Editors Talk Impact of Celebrity [Folio]
Ladies’ Night [WWD (3rd item)]

Photos by ERIC GREEN. Thank you, Eric!