• by January 26, 2005

IN-FLIGHT MEDIA, MAVEN - The Riff is hearing buzz that Alexander Schmidt-Vogel, the German chairman of Grey Worldwide's MediaCom unit, may be planning to set up shop permanently in the U.S. - at least temporarily. That news comes as a surprise to at least one New York-based MediaCom insider, who noted that Schmidt-Vogel already has an apartment in Manhattan. "Alexander has always spent about 25 percent of his time here, about 25 percent of his time in Dusseldorf, and about 50 percent somewhere over the ocean."

Beyond the proximity of MediaCom's chairman, there are plenty of theories surrounding a possible reorganization of the media shop, which itself is expected to be acquired and absorbed into Group M after WPP Group completes its acquisition of Grey. Then again, one observer noted that the WPP/Grey deal has yet to win approval from the European Union, and for the moment, all bets are off.

THOSE AREN'T GLASS CEILINGS, JUST THE WALDORF'S MIRRORS AND CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS - We don't know where you'll be eating lunch April 11, but we'll be at the Waldorf, and it's not just because of those fabulous salads, but because of some fabulous women. Specifically, the eight honorees of the 2005 Matrix Awards. No we're not talking about agent-fighting gals like Trinity, but women who've distinguished themselves in the media business enough to be recognized by New York Women in Communications, at an event hosted by The New York Times. And they're not even all from New York. One's from Hollywood, one's from Cincinnati, and one, well she travels all over the world, usually to some God-forsaken place that most of would never dream of going to, but which we watch about on TV. Is the suspense killing you yet? Well, here they are, in alphabetical order of the areas they accomplished themselves in:

Advertising: Nina DiSesa, chairman, McCann Erickson
Arts & Entertainment: Edie Falco, actor and our favorite "Soprano"
Books: Linda Fairstein, lawyer/author
Broadcasting: Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN
Magazines: Amy Gross, editor-in-chief, O, The Oprah Magazine
Newspapers: Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, Pearson
Online Media: Wenda Harris Millard, chief sales officer, Yahoo!
Public Relations: Charlotte R. Otto, senior vice president & global external relations officer, Procter & Gamble Co.

Good choices. No arguments here. But might we suggest a few candidates for your consideration for next year's awards:

Renetta McCann, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group
Geraldine Laybourne, founder, Oxygen
Laura Desmond, CEO, MediaVest
Betsy Frank, research diva, Viacom
Perianne Grignon, media chief, Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Wilma Jordan, investment banker, Jordan Edmiston Group
Monica Gadsby, managing director, Tapestry
Susan Whiting, CEO, Nielsen Media Research
Lisa Seward, media director, Fallon
Lauren Rich Fine, securities analyst, Merrill Lynch
Joanne Ross, president-sales, CBS
Ann Fudge, CEO, Young & Rubicam
Janet Robinson, CEO, The New York Times Co.