The very popular daily video blog, Rocket Boom is no more. At least not in it's familiar form. What is that familiar form? Take a look.
Amanda Congdon. She was the host of the show for over 2 years. Yeah, she's hot. I know. And she's got a great personality on air and comes across quite knowledgeable. Not just a pretty face reading from her notes.
You might be asking what Rocket Boom is. I blogged about it a while back. Basically, it was a 3 minute daily (M-F) video blog hosted by Amanda that covered bits of tech, world culture, entertainment, and blog drama. Amanda always made it fun with her quirky and perky self.
The founder of Rocket Boom, Andrew Baron, gave Amanda 49% of the show at the very start. Keeping the other 51% for himself. It quickly grew into one of the hottest, if not THE hottest, video blog on the net. Averaging around 300,000 downloads a day. Yeah. That's right.
Sounds great, right? Well, it was until a few days ago. Actually, I'm sure it had been stewing for awhile. But, Amanda and Andrew have had a very public split and she is no longer the face or a creative force behind Rocket Boom. It was huge on the blogosphere and even reached major media outlets like The Washington Post and Business Week. It's become a very "He said, She said" debate. Andrew claiming she left to pursue her acting career in L.A. Amanda claiming she was fired and now lives with her parents in Connecticut. He left his message on the front page of the Rocket Boom site as a "special announcement." She left hers on her blog.
Many theories are abounding. Maybe they hooked up and it's a lovers spat. Plausible, but it seemed to be common knowledge that she had a boyfriend and he was mentioned often. Perhaps even helped with the show? Not sure. Andrew didn't like how she was getting so popular. A more realistic theory. It tends to happen. One person outshines the other. No one really knows who is telling the truth, but it seems like Andrew is keeping his mouth semi-shut after Amanda replied to a very cold and in my opinion, facetious, letter he sent. She breaks it down and responds in her blog. Maybe that is being petty, maybe not.
Whose side am I on? I bet you think I'm on Amanda's just cuz she's hot. You're close! I've read much on both sides. Andrew was even on one of my favorite podcasts (TWiT) a few weeks back. He came across very arrogant to the point that the other podcasters (whom I highly respect in the world of tech) we're poking fun at him. Not in a mean way, but in a more "take it easy and don't count your chickens" way. I believe he even said something to the effect of wanting to be the next Rupert Murdoch. Wow.
Not too shortly after, the info was out there that the show would be going on without Amanda. Sure, shows go on and sometimes become better with replacements. (See The Daily Show.) Or suffer and eventually die out. (See all of the replacements they went through after Arsenio Hall left his talk show.) Difference here is, Amanda was more than the face of Rocket Boom. She was a partner, creator of content, producer, director, writer and cheerleader. No one seemed to love her job more than Amanda did. You can argue that a 3 minute job is hard not to love. But, we all know it goes far beyond that. Research, production, etc.
I hate to say it. But, if the public spat continues and no agreement is reached for Amanda to come back in a fair way, then I hope Rocket Boom does reach its demise. Sorry, but it just wouldn't be the same. Andrew seems to be an arrogant and selfish prick who is ruining his own product over jealousy. Amanda will find work. She is already getting offers. Good luck, Amanda!
I'll miss you and Rocket Boom. Where else will I get my 3 minute daily fill?
Oh yeah. Porn.
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