The main organizer is none other than Big Daddy himself, William Dean Singleton. He's CEO of MediaNews Group, Gannett's Denver-based co-investor in partnerships running newspapers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Northern California. (On its own, MediaNews owns the San Jose Mercury News, where the newsroom is now being slowly ground to dust through multiple rounds of buyouts and layoffs. Other California MediaNews papers are getting regionalized copy desks, a job-reduction move now taking place with some of Gannett's Wisconsin newspapers.)
Quite the choice in host, I'd say, for Corporate's big sendoff for a true lifer: 40-years-in-the-saddle retiring newspaper division Chair Sue Clark-Johnson (left). She's heading back to Phoenix, where she once ran The Arizona Republic. Helping me assemble a mental seating chart, a tipster has passed along the registration list for Nexpo: It reads like a Who's Who of the Gannett Glitterati, from CEO Craig Dubow on up (heh). I expect many of them will be drag -- err, driving themselves to Monday's 9 p.m. retirement party. The event's venue coincides with Clark-Johnson leaving the NAA chairmanship.
(There might actually be news earlier Monday; all three remaining presidential candidates are scheduled to speak to the conference by mid-afternoon.)
Singleton's headliner for Ship Sue Southwest is ancient rock 'n' roller Johnny Rivers (Baby I Need Your Lovin', Summer Rain, Secret Agent Man, etc.). I'm having a hard time picturing him perform in the Renaissance's gold-brocaded ballroom. And while Singleton nominally is host, he's sharing the cost; the party is sponsored by MediaNews, Gannett and USA Weekend.
What's a shindig like this cost? $100,000? $200,000? Your thoughts, in the comments section, below. Use this link to e-mail feedback, tips, snarky letters, etc. See Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
(There might actually be news earlier Monday; all three remaining presidential candidates are scheduled to speak to the conference by mid-afternoon.)
Singleton's headliner for Ship Sue Southwest is ancient rock 'n' roller Johnny Rivers (Baby I Need Your Lovin', Summer Rain, Secret Agent Man, etc.). I'm having a hard time picturing him perform in the Renaissance's gold-brocaded ballroom. And while Singleton nominally is host, he's sharing the cost; the party is sponsored by MediaNews, Gannett and USA Weekend.
What's a shindig like this cost? $100,000? $200,000? Your thoughts, in the comments section, below. Use this link to e-mail feedback, tips, snarky letters, etc. See Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
It would be interesting to find out why she is leaving her post after such a short time in it. I wonder if she lost hope after working with Dubow.
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets new eyewear in time for her party. Those glasses she wears,(at least the ones she's wearing in the posted picture)are awful. Come on Sue we know you can afford them!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the shindig will cost at LEAST what it takes to buy out several gray-bearded Gannettoids...
ReplyDeleteI'd be glad to cut her grass in Phoenix at the same fee that is paid to the Board of Directors.
ReplyDeleteShe's a smart woman for bailing...why hang around for more of the malaise.
SCJ will still run the newspaper division well after she leaves GCI. Let's face it, Dickey owes her EVERYTHING. He's just another name if it wasn't for her pushing for him to be her "successor". She will run the company from her cozy Lake Tahoe home...trust me, Dicket won't fart unless he runs it buy scj.
ReplyDeleteNow I see why it was necessary to do away with our mid-sized newspaper's annual summer family picnic and winter holiday party almost a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteThere were others with a greater need for that discretionary money.
It's hard to say how much the event will actually cost (considering we don't know how many people will be there...the menu), but I'm sure there will be an open bar.
ReplyDeleteI know in the not-so-distant past Ganentt/USAT used to have $100,000+ budgets for their internal Christmas (holiday) parties. So, use that as a yardstick when deciding what this shindig will cost.
Meanwhile, there are sites out there hosting holiday potlucks - where the employees have to bring their own food to observe the holiday season...seriously, there are papers that did that for Christmas 2007.
What a joke: The employees bringing their own food to go to company-sponsored party and the big wigs partying for free. LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe party on my own patio looking better and better - at least I am not surrounded by people that don't give a damn about their employees!
We still have a catered holiday party, but it is a luncheon, on a weekday, in the old mailroom. None of the underlings in my department are allowed to leave their posts to attend, so I don't attend, either.
ReplyDeletePlease have her gone already - the woman hasn't been to headquarters in months. Who really cares about her retirement? Aaaahhh, the brown noses - right. Let them worship her unproductive self. I'll have better things to do....
ReplyDelete