With traditional venue and patron MoMA out of action until 2005, the 11th annual AICP show kicked off with a gala awards event in new, but still highbrow digs - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Over 1,500 took in the event which featured a panel, two screenings of the 60-minute show and a post-screening cocktail that saw a packed room of industry players and wags alike indulging in the oddly anachronistic setting of the Temple of Dendur. (Ra would not be amused....) Although the setting had changed, the awards retain their tie to the MoMA, with winners taking their place in that institution's permanent media collection.

The night's big winners included international/bicoastal @radical.media (Mountain Dew, Computer Associates, Miller High Life), bicoastal Anonymous Content (BMW, Nike), bicoastal HSI Productions (Nike, Aquafina, Mercedes) and bicoastal hungry man (Bud, Citizens Against Terror) - each taking home six awards. Wieden + Kennedy, Portland took top agency honors with nine nods for its Nike, Miller High Life and Powerade work. (For a complete list of winners and credits, visit http://www.aicp.com/show/gal1.html)

During the day prior to the awards, an eloquent keynote was delivered by Dr. Ken Robinson, senior advisor to the president, education at the J. Paul Getty Trust. Robinson, who coherently blended references to Paul McCartney and nanotechnology, emphasized the unpredictability of the future - barring that unguessed-at change was pending - but stressed that solutions were to be found in the proper application of creativity. Panelists from Fallon, Anonymous Content and Ogilvy & Mather debated whether that future would look like every media panelist's favorite showpiece, BMWfilms.com (which, incidentally is slated for a fall 2002 return).

When the Temple Of Dendur began to clear our, the official after-party at trendy nightspot Spa snared many commercial-making bon vivants who required more than a few drinks and chunks of mahi-mahi.

Unofficially, RSA threw an alternate post-show jam in the sub-basement of the Mercer Hotel, where electro beats, limited oxygen and low-ceilinged schmoozing ruled the scene. Amongst the various agency and production afficionados, at least four agency head of productions were to be found, as was actor/writer Luke Wilson.

Similarly, those full-bladdered revellers who made their way to the upstairs lavatory came face to face with Tony Kaye, who held court outside of the loo with an entourage of admirers.