Who figures the OC chapter of the National Human Resources Association to put on the bawdiest show of the year? It turned that trick last week at the Hyatt in Irvine, where Oakley CEO Colin Baden managed to work a word that rhymes with brother trucker into his remarks to the crowd of 600—and that’s the Insider’s poetry, because Baden went with the actual purple prose. It came in his introduction of Caroline Kenyon, who took Executive of the Year honors. …
The comedy continued as the night’s other honorees—John Holtrust of Microsemi and Marcy Bruskin of Freedom Communications—also got humorous introductions from colleagues. …
San Diego developer Doug Manchester or any other buyer of Freedom’s flagship Register will get a leaner operation after cuts to nine positions in the newsroom. The furlough of Yvette Cabrera has drawn some outcry among her colleagues and some members of the community. Less attention to Randy Youngman, a staple of the Register’s sports page for nearly three decades, or Jon Cassidy, a young talent who distinguished himself with coverage of various shenanigans at Newport Beach City Hall. …
Re-Occupy OC: That’s how the Los Angeles Times is billing the addition of an editor and three reporters that takes its staff here to seven. Assistant Managing Editor Ashley Dunn talked about going beyond OC stereotypes, and then laid the groundwork for a few new ones of the “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” variety, saying in a memo that the extra hands will make the Times ready when news breaks “whether it be a salon massacre, a homeless killing spree or the all-too-familiar wildfires.” …
Quest Software has a $2 billion offer on the table and more potential bidders in the wings (see story, page 1). Quest cofounder and Newport Coast resident Eyal Aronoff is on to a new challenge through the Freedom Fuel Foundation in Irvine, which just sent $1.5 million to the University of Chicago to help pay for “data-driven research that policymakers and business leaders need to make sound, evidence-based energy policy decisions.” Aronoff cofounded FFF with Joseph “Yossie” Hollander, who lives in Shady Canyon and sold his New Dimension Software to BMC Software in Tel Aviv some years ago. …
Wylie Aitken’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party at Muldoon’s could be heard all the way back in Boston, a more obvious seat of Irish-American pride. Super lawyer John Hueston and “retired” banker Tom Rogers found out that they each have a daughter who not only attends Tufts University but is in the sophomore class of the veterinary program there. Rogers decided to ignore the time difference and awaken his wife, Sally Anderson, who was visiting her daughter (his step-daughter) Maddy Black to see if Maddy knew Tara Hueston. Turns out the two undergrads are working on a project together. …
The party produced a second gee-whiz moment when Darren Aitken and Dan Callahan crossed paths. The Insider recently mentioned that Callahan met his wife, Maureen, on a Bar Association-sponsored trip to Belize. Turns out Aitken met his wife, Laurie, on the same trip. …
RIP to former Conexant exec and newly minted author Scott Allen, and condolences to his family. The OCBJ remembers him fondly from his recent stint in our newsroom, when he rekindled his journalism background and quickly won our crew over.
