A Holiday Party for Media's Downsized

The usual swanky media holiday parties have mostly been canceled this year, in case you haven't heard, and even in cases where they haven't been, plenty of the journalists and producers who would normally populate them are no longer on the guest list, having been laid off.

For one newly-unemployed editor, that's excuse enough for to host a celebration next Wednesday. Aaron Gell, who was executive editor of Radar when it shut down and a former editor at W, has formed a new support group that calls itself ASSME: the American Society of Shitcanned Media Elites. (The name is a play on this.) Gell, a former colleague of mine twice over, has lined up a venue (the bar Ella) and a sponsor (p.i.n.k. vodka) to serve two noble causes: the New York Cares coat drive, and an open bar for people still struggling to wrap their minds around the concept of paying for their own drinks. That includes, per the invitation, "recently downsized magazine, newspaper, publishing, advertising, TV and web professionals."

"Given all the canceled holiday parties, there's a tremendous pent up need among the media industry to seriously tie one on," he told me via email. "Christmas is saved!" He notes that the non-unemployed are also welcome as long as they don't mind being hit up for non-vodka drinks, assignments or jobs.