Sun Valley Conference 2010

Day 1 — Day 2 — Day 3 — Day 4

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Day 4:

I’m told Harvey Weinstein was the first to arrive at The Drankin’ Hole – an Idaho-friendly way of saying ‘bar’.

During the conference, the bar has been dubbed the Herb Allen Memorial Drankin’ Hole.  I’m not sure why “Memorial” is in there since Herb is very much alive – but, that’s Idaho for ya.

After the past two horrible nights and after Manka Bros. received ZERO Emmy Nominations earlier in the day, I was in no mood to stay sober.  So I was relieved that we would finally be devoting an evening to the fine art of getting drunk.  And drunk we did get.

But my depression was Harvey Weinstein’s depression’s bitch.  He lost an entire studio earlier that day.  At least Manka Bros.’ standing as the World’s Largest Media Company is intact.  Harvey ain’t got shit.

The Drankin’ Hole is nestled deep within the Sun Valley Lodge and there would be no access to anyone lower than mogul status with the exception of bartender Bin Tran (best dirty martinis in the world!) whose job it was to keep the drinks flowing and the bar fully stocked.

The March of the Moguls into the bar began immediately after LeBron James announced he was going to Miami.  I don’t really care where LeBron goes – but it seems to me we can’t slam a guy who would prefer to spend his winters in Miami over Cleveland.  Call me crazy.  Most entering the room were talking about it and kept calling him a “moron” except George Bodenheimer – who called him a genius.  “Wait till you see the overnights!”

So… I won’t bore anyone with the bullshit chitchat that went on while waiting for the effects of alcohol to take over our brains.  (One side note:  Bob Iger did ask if I wanted to buy ABC.  I had to ‘gently’ remind him that I already owned a major broadcast network – MBS.  I must apologize to Bob.  I didn’t mean to dress him down so cruelly in front of the other moguls.  But I worry about Bob.  I think he’s starting to lose his memory).

I think it was Terry Semel who figured out how to turn on the Karaoke machine.  He was fiddling around with something on the little stage in the bar and suddenly there was BLAAHT from one of the speakers.

“Is this on?  Is this on?”, Terry said.  “I’d like to propose a toast… to Herb Allen for continuing to boost our egos by designating us the most important people of the world every year.  To my fellow Moguls… for being the most important people in the world.  And to Bin Tran – for making the best dirty martinis in the world!”  This last one got the biggest applause.  “Now let’s sing!”

Terry Semel started things off with Barry Manilow’s “Ready To Take A Chance Again”.  It was sung about an octave too low and was more spoken then sung.  But it had heart.  If you know Terry’s voice, you get the idea.

I would say the most embarrassing moment came when Harvey Weinstein sang a sloppy drunk version of “I Will Survive”.  We all seemed to feel this was a bit too on the nose.  It got truly pathetic when he sang the chorus “I Will Survive” and we all sang back “No, You Won’t!”  Sad sad sad.

For myself, I always start off with “Me and Bobby McGee” and then later I do “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam.  Always a crowd favorite – but I used to be in a band.

Other highlights included Jeff Zucker (“Desperado”), Brian Roberts (“Everybody Dance Now”), Haim Saban (“Summer Wind” and “My Way”), Diane Von Furstenberg surprised us all with the entire “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Chase Carey did an unbelievably killer version of “Keep On Rocking In The Free World”, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt really embarrassed themselves with “Livin’ On A Prayer” and Mark Zuckerberg sang some song by Kelly Clarkson that no one really knew or paid attention to.

We kept waiting for Barry Diller to sing that song he does every year from “Les Miserables” – but he decided not to sing this year.  I can imagine he’s exhausted from last night’s “event”.

The evening was concluded perfectly by Warren Buffett and Herb Allen who got together on stage and thanked everyone and then did a heartfelt version of “Last Dance”.  By the time it got the “fast skate” portion (a throwback term to my roller disco years in the 1970s), we were hopping around in a joyous drunken way, singing along and enjoying our power.

Last night was a truly great night.

Khan Manka, Jr. – Chairman & CEO – Manka Bros. Studios – The World’s Largest Media Company