It’s been described as the single greatest collection of impressionist art under one roof, with over 181 paintings by Renoir, more Cezanne paintings than there are are in Paris, 59 from Matisse, 46 by Picasso, more by Manet, Van Gogh’s, Degas, Gauguin and on and on.   It was like walking through my college art class in real life.

The New York Times wrote a glowing review, and I was even able to snap one of their own artists at the opening gala last night – Bill Cunningham of the famous On The Street column and a great documentary that bears his name.

And the building is beautiful – perfectly designed, with matching landscape and lighting.  The architects described it as a “gallery in a garden, and a garden in a gallery.”   It also comes with a ton of controversy, well documented here, which adds to the story and the attraction.  In the end, Philadelphia came together and took Dr. Barnes’ vision and collection to the next level – and it’s spectacular.

Prediction: you will come to Philadelphia to see the Barnes – and you’ll love it.

The attendees are key – we work with our presenting compaines, agency partners, and our own networks to invite senior executives from across the Agency, Brand and Fortune 500 marketing world.  This year we had over 200 attendees from dozens and dozens of powerful agencies and marketers, including the top three advertisers in the world.

Our keynote speaker was Seth Godin – he didn’t use a single slide, but spoke from his heart about the new world of marketing.  He brought in pieces of almost every book he’s ever written, and he gave it all – and it all ties and hangs together beautifully, from Permission Marketing to Tribes to Linchpin.  I think when marketers look back, Seth Godin will be regarded as the Peter Drucker and Tom Peters and Jim Collins of the digital age.

The main part of the event remains the company presentations, and this year we had 11 great portfolio companies broken into Social, Mobile, Online and Offline, and Email and Beyond sections.

Presentations are 6 minutes long – we’ve scientifically proven that it’s long enough for an audience to understand what a company does and if they want to learn more, and short enough not to get bored if it’s not of interest, and wait for the next one.   And thanks to Richard Smith and Brett Berson of our Platform Team, the event happened without a single technical/presentation glitch – something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

Our portfolio company LiveIntent wrapped things up as the last presenting company by announcing their LFX product, and held their own launch party afterwards.

From all the feedback we’ve gotten at the event and since, this was definitely one of our best yet – thanks to all our companies and the attendees who made it happen!

But over the weekend, I saw my friend Jeff Bell post something on Facebook that caught my attention – he articulated something I’d been thinking about:

“BY BRAND LAW, IF EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING, IT IS NOT COOL.”

That, in my opinion, is Apple’s major threat – too much success.   It may not happen for a very long time, but at some point their dominance might become their biggest brand challenge.   In the meantime, I bet Apple hopes we all focus on how insanely great the product are more than how everybody and their mother has one too.

We started with Agency Days in 2008, then AdSummit 2010, and now AdSummit 2012 is looking to be our biggest and best yet.  We’ve got 11 companies presenting plus a special guest speaker you won’t want to miss.  And we’ve got a few seats left – apply be a part of it.

Yesterday at the AdAge Digital Summit I saw Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announce that they would only charge advertisers for 100% completion rates.

Then I saw that First Round portfolio company Say Media launched their Cost Per Exposure model to ensure that ads are seen.

And today Google/DoubleClick announced the Active View and Active GRP – their way of ensuring ads are viewed and the audience is measured properly.

Coincidence?  Maybe, but I think they represent a trend and a step in the right direction.

AOL took 66 months.   eBay and Amazon started around the same time and took around 24 months.  Fab was 5 and Path was .5 months.   Draw Something by OMGPOP was .3 months or 10 days.   Billions of potential users along with new social and mobile distribution platforms are really changing everything.    Hat tip to Brett Berson and the FRC Platform team for pulling the data together.

And here’s their latest endeavor:

Great views of the park, right on the 14th Street subway stop (4/5/6/N/Q/R/S)

2,987 square feet, 2 conference rooms, 1 large office, 3 regular offices, 5 desks/cubes, reception area and kitchen.

Interested?  Let me know or contact ABS Partners: John L. Gols 212-400-9477  jgols@absre.com and Ken Findley 212-400-9482 kfindley@absre.com NO BROKERS