Media Bitch

The 40th birthday bash for MediaCom's head of press Claudine Collins (pictured) was a worthy contender for party of the year. The guest list included anyone who's anyone in newspapers, and Richard Desmond, sent a mysterious special gift for Collins - bananas on a silver platter, perhaps?

Party regular Blake Chandlee of Facebook was also at the knees-up, as were Omnicom's Philippa Brown, The Sun's Mark Chippendale and Alan Brydon from Media Planning Group.

Most partygoers had come along after that evening's other major press do - The Independent's summer party. Guests there included ex-Mirror editor Piers Morgan, who was spotted leaving the party to go to Collins' 40th in a car with a woman who wasn't Celia Walden.

- Speaking of arm candy, The Mail on Sunday's Simon Davies was spotted stepping out hand in hand with his fresh-faced fiancee. Aaah. And during the speeches, comedian Mark Steel was less than impressed with the "right wing" bent of Indie commentator Bruce Anderson - he spent the rest of the night chatting to fellow contributor Johann Hari.

Meanwhile, at the IPC Magazine Planning Awards, held in association with Media Week, ZenithOptimedia and MediaCom scooped a double gong for their M&M's campaign - congratulations to all those shortlisted.

- Fat chance for Shape magazine

River Publishing had high ambitions for its first consumer magazine, women's monthly Shape, pitching it as a rival to the thinking woman's read, Psychologies. The title launched in April with a circulation of 70,000 but now - after just three issues - the magazine has died a premature death. The last issue was the July issue, published on 4 June.

River chiefs are standing firm on the official line that Shape was an unfortunate victim of the economic climate. Managing director Edward Axon maintains pride in his "fresh and innovative product", so perhaps the problem was plumping for a global brand (the Shape name is currently used in 23 countries). Advertisers, perhaps more switched on to the state of the global economy, were apparently less keen than River to commit to a new title.

Why Shape was still advertising in thelondonpaper after announcing its closure is another question altogether...

- Kinetic team raises thousands for charity

Five members of outdoor agency Kinetic have completed the Inca Trail in Peru in aid of Macmillan Cancer Research. After a challenging week, the team scaled the lost city of the Incas at Machu Picchu on 30 May, raising £23,800.

The task was physically arduous. Team leader Mark Dillon (pictured centre, above), slightly older than the rest of the team at 40, put in some "heavy training" before the trip, by walking to meetings from Kinetic's Paddington offices.

To donate, or just congratulate the team, go to justgiving.com/kineticPeruTrek2008.

- Five's TV quiz sorts the wheat from the chaff

Can media buyers recognise their own ads?

That was one of the challenges set out by Five's inaugural TV quiz, which attracted 140 teams over 15 nights.

Quite a lengthy competition, but it was all worth it when the 14 final teams attended a nail-biting finale at the Freemasons Arms, a mere staggering distance from Five's Long Acre HQ.

Enjoying their pints was winning team PHD's Jules Berridge, Simon Harwood, Katie Doveston, Amanda Franco and Ollie Wilton.

The team beat ZenithOptimmedia to first place by half a point, and received power, glory and a top trophy, plus super gadgets including a 37-inch HD Panasonic plasma TV.

Sales director Kelly Williams says: "We are aiming to roll this out every year."

Phew, if Five gets any more teams involved, Kelly might just be attending this event every night of the year.

- Great Viral... Smashing idea from Profero www.banboredom.com

Pick something dull and smash a car into it. A premise brought to life by Profero for Mini's ban boredom viral. Head to Banboredom.com, pick a website, upload a picture, or let Mini choose a target. We opted for the Media Week website, which is far from dull, but you get the idea. Bitch suggests having a picture of the boss to hand.

- Out & About

Vogue.com party: Gemma Irving, Gemma Owen, Natalie Cook, Jerome O'Regan, Sammy Pull (all from BLM Red).

IPC Magazine Planning Awards: Media Week editor Steve Barrett, with award winners Charlotte Reich (ZenithOptimedia) and James Harrison (MediaCom).

Willoughby PR's Jason Hartley, finalist in Company's Bachelor of the Year contest. See the August issue for the full photo-shoot.

* Email your pictures to ?hayley.pinkerfield@haymarket.com.

This article was first published on Media Week