As you may have heard, the Microsoft-aQuantive acquisition closed today. I actually had forgotten it was today and was surprised to see the above sign as I got off the elevator this morning. It was nice finding a free espresso cart and a fancier assortment of our usual Monday morning bagels, including lox and capers. Plus on every floor there were boxes of Hot Pot doughnuts. Sweet.
Back at our desks we had an invite for an acquisition party at the Convention Center, a congratulatory card, and a desk weight with the various aQuantive brand logos, which were all somewhat misshapen. In either case, neat surprises.
So it was a rather short day at the office. Around two o’clock my team and I left and walked to the big party and join the festivities. It was then an afternoon of speeches, mini food, several open bars, and a cover band in the Convention Center sky bridge. It was neat to again to see both Avenue A and Atlas folks all in one place. They also had a raffle for an Xbox and Zune every 30 minutes, which kept folks engaged. (No win here though.)
Anyway, it was a pretty fanfare-filled day. No, I’m not on Communicator. No, Avenue A | Razorfish is not losing its name. No, I don’t have a membership to the Pro Club. And no, I do not have a blue badge (yet). For the most part it’ll be business as usual, at least for the agency side of the business; but as always, we’ll see.