Jim Courtovich, Managing Partner of Sphere Consulting, was named a top 50 politico by Politico newspaper. Read an excerpt from the article below or read the entire article at Politico.

He might host two of the biggest D.C. parties every year, but Jim Courtovich doesn’t fancy himself a social type.

“Being social and having a good time are two different things,” said Courtovich, 44, managing partner at Kearsarge Global Advisors and Sphere Consulting.

Fair enough. But one thing is certain: He’s definitely mastered the “good time” part — just ask any of the District scenesters lucky enough to be invited to his Gaucho barbecue (held each year in May) or Gaucho Christmas or both.

At the gatherings, White House officials mix and mingle with familiar-faced reporters, lobbyists — and even the guy who has done some woodwork around Courtovich’s Kalorama home. But no one is doing business. It’s pure fun.

“If you have to work all the time, and everything in Washington is so overbearing in terms of networking, I thought it would be fun to have a party focused on friends, food and drink,” he said. “You’d be hard pressed to find anyone working it.”

The idea for the now-famous event started six or seven years ago, when Courtovich was having Sunday brunch in Georgetown with the ambassador of Argentina. Courtovich, an avid home chef, invited over the ambassador and some of his colleagues for barbecue. “It was just an impromptu thing,” he recalled. Later that day, after the consultant sent out a round of text messages, more than 75 people filled his backyard and the d ownstairs of his home.

Read more at Politico.